tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-152361582024-03-07T10:58:37.706-05:00Themes For a Road Trip MixtapeThoughts on the mental, spiritual, and physical road trips we take through life's ever-changing landscapes.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-36641281916721690272013-07-27T18:06:00.001-04:002013-07-27T18:06:33.554-04:00Gray<br />
It didn’t take much more than the initial crack of the sliding glass door to wake me. One of the perks of being a light sleeper I suppose. “It’s 7am, Monday morning boys” He said with a smirk, hands clasped in front of his face like one of those praying hand tattoos with the rosary beads. “Where are my songs?”<br />
<br />
A strange request at a quiet hour on a peaceful island off the coast of cape cod. My roommate and I caught eyes across the room with a subtle amount of panic. Mondays were the day our writing assignments were do. I had started a song the night before but it wasn’t quite done, in fact that particular song wouldn’t truly be finished until years later. But we jumped out of bed in a frenzy throwing jeans on and grabbing hoodies to brave the cold morning air.<br />
<br />
“Boys”, he said, “Relax I’m just messing with you. Chris, why don’t we take a walk.” “J, stop by the house around 3 and show me what you’re working on.”<br />
<br />
Chris had been struggling with depression for most of the semester and Will would often meet up in the morning to get Chris out of bed, listen to his struggle and simply be a friend.<br />
Will was our song writing coach, he was always pushing us to dig deeper, feel stronger, think harder, be more articulate or less poetic or more hooky. He was an honest mix of firm and gracious. It was a strange season living on that island, I’ve lost touch with most of the other students from that semester. It’s funny you always think you’ll be friends forever when you go through such a unique experience with people. Five months living communally on a tiny New England treasure with 30 strangers that become family and unfortunately become strangers once again.<br />
<br />
I did stop by Wills cabin around 3 that day. He was there with his wife Angie. She brought some fresh fruit and cookies if memory serves me correct. “So what’s this song?” When I showed up for the program I was a musical mess. I had no idea who I was or what I sounded like. Most of my songs were knock offs of whatever artist I was listening to the most that week. I asked Will if he had a keyboard or piano. He looked a bit puzzled, you see I’m not much of a piano player. But he pointed upstairs to a small piano in the loft that overlooked the living room. “May I use it?”<br />
<br />
I climbed the stairs a bit nervously, this song was the most honest I’d been lyrically all semester. It was about a girl who was also a student. A girl I had all but fallen in love with.<br />
I finished the song and came back down stairs for my evaluation. Will leaned forward with that same smile I had seen earlier that day and said, “What’s that song called?<br />
“Lockdown I said”<br />
“J. Morris has found his sound!” “That’s you man that’s what I’ve been waiting for.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Maybe it was luck or magic or heartache that brought that song to me I’m not sure. For an artist finding your sound is like coming of age. Honestly I’ve struggled for 7 years to find that same magic and only in the last 10 months do I feel like I’ve honestly been able to truly uncover it.<br />
<br />
I’ve seen Will a handful of times since we all left that place. Once in LA and a few times here in Nashville. We catch up and talk about music and faith and food. Sometimes the line between friend and mentor would be blurrier than others. I liked those times. A few months ago I was in LA and sent will a message, hoping to connect. His response, “Hey thanks for reaching out! We have to play everything by ear because of my sickness but please message us when you are here”<br />
<br />
I didn’t realize it at the time but Will was very sick. Today my mentor, my friend Will Gray is no longer suffering. His battle with cancer is over. For this I am grateful. With hands clasped and eyes upward I ask God to comfort the grieving loved ones that carry on here without him. I among many many others will miss you dearly Mr. Gray.<br />
<br />
j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-48371340216475605032013-07-27T17:59:00.001-04:002013-07-27T17:59:23.633-04:00Gray<br />
It didn’t take much more than the initial crack of the sliding glass door to wake me. One of the perks of being a light sleeper I suppose. “It’s 7am, Monday morning boys” He said with a smirk, hands clasped in front of his face like one of those praying hand tattoos with the rosary beads. “Where are my songs?”<br />
<br />
A strange request at a quiet hour on a peaceful island of the coast of cape cod. My roommate and I caught eyes across the room with a subtle amount of panic. Mondays were the day our writing assignments were do. I had started a song the night before but it wasn’t quite done, in fact that particular song wouldn’t truly be finished until years later. But we jumped out of bed in a frenzy throwing jeans on and grabbing hoodies to brave the cold morning air.<br />
<br />
“Boys”, he said, “Relax I’m just messing with you. Chris, why don’t we take a walk.” “J, stop by the house around 3 and show me what you’re working on.”<br />
<br />
Chris had been struggling with depression for most of the semester and Will would often meet up in the morning to get Chris out of bed, listen to his struggle and simply be a friend.<br />
Will was our song writing coach, he was always pushing us to dig deeper, feel stronger, think harder, be more articulate or less poetic or more hooky. He was an honest mix of firm and gracious. It was a strange season living on that island, I’ve lost touch with most of the other students from that semester. It’s funny you always think you’ll be friends forever when you go through such a unique experience with people. Five months living communally on a tiny New England treasure with 30 strangers that become family and unfortunately become strangers once again.<br />
<br />
I did stop by Wills cabin around 3 that day. He was there with his wife Angie. She brought some fresh fruit and cookies if memory serves me correct. “So what’s this song?” When I showed up for the program I was a musical mess. I had no idea who I was or what I sounded like. Most of my songs were knock offs of whatever artist I was listening to the most that week. I asked Will if he had a keyboard or piano. He looked a bit puzzled, you see I’m not much of a piano player. But he pointed upstairs to a small piano in the loft that overlooked the living room. “May I use it?”<br />
<br />
I climbed the stairs a bit nervously, this song was the most honest I’d been lyrically all semester. It was about a girl who was also a student. A girl I had all but fallen in love with.<br />
I finished the song and came back down stairs for my evaluation. Will leaned forward with that same smile I had seen earlier that day and said, “What’s that song called?<br />
“Lockdown I said”<br />
“J. Morris has found his sound!” “That’s you man that’s what I’ve been waiting for.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Maybe it was luck or magic or heartache that brought that song to me I’m not sure. For an artist finding your sound is like coming of age. Honestly I’ve struggled for 7 years to find that same magic and only in the last 10 months do I feel like I’ve honestly been able to truly uncover it.<br />
<br />
I’ve seen Will a handful of times since we all left that place. Once in LA and a few times here in Nashville. We catch up and talk about music and faith and food. Sometimes the line between friend and mentor would be blurrier than others. I liked those times. A few months ago I was in LA and sent will a message, hoping to connect. His response, “Hey thanks for reaching out! We have to play everything by ear because of my sickness but please message us when you are here”<br />
<br />
I didn’t realize it at the time but Will was very sick. Today my mentor, my friend Will Gray is no longer suffering. His battle with cancer is over. For this I am grateful. With hands clasped and eyes upward I ask God to Acomfort the grieving loved ones that carry on here without him. I among many many others will miss you dearly Mr. Gray.<br />
<br />
j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-20815762136432094962011-06-06T13:54:00.000-04:002011-06-06T13:54:12.883-04:00an old pair of new shoes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINaIp-rQLKf9ZZ_8dcMj2gxyygNZsD1MumkBmr3976JyAmnjIvCa0I1k171YgzOzUVlRGi59y-zxYRIeSStR55HHj9L-JRrkfbPofuth9VkSBkwFGm3PsYE_Ws2mKLGyi1KwjDA/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINaIp-rQLKf9ZZ_8dcMj2gxyygNZsD1MumkBmr3976JyAmnjIvCa0I1k171YgzOzUVlRGi59y-zxYRIeSStR55HHj9L-JRrkfbPofuth9VkSBkwFGm3PsYE_Ws2mKLGyi1KwjDA/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>My buddy / Co-worker Jake gave me my first pair of cowboy boots. I feel like the marks the beginning of a new era.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-20381376410309912432011-06-04T15:11:00.000-04:002011-06-04T15:11:24.067-04:00What Child Abuse Taught Me About God's Favor<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">...and other benefits of skipping 3rd Grade. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aaron moved in next door the summer after my second grade year. On a street full of houses mine was the last one on the right, and on the other side of our fence was a small apartment building. It was a strange location for apartments but as a kid those ugly brown buildings just held significance as the place where my best friend slept when he wasn’t at my house. Aaron’s mom had just gone through a divorce and was trying to get back on her feet. She and my mom became close as well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The year my mother started homeschooling me I would have been going into third grade. A few other moms from church were homeschooling their children and convinced her to jump on the band wagon. But she didn’t just start teaching me; she started homeschooling Aaron as well. Since Aaron was a year older and starting 4th grade my mother decided third grade wasn’t that important and started me in fourth as well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Homeschooling with my mom, who had been diagnosed with Lupus and Fibromyalgia a few years earlier, was a mixed bag. Some days she’d be in full teacher mode. Other days looked more like a list of assignments in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and the rest of the day playing with action figures and reading comic books until Aaron’s mom picked him up after work. I liked those days better.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aaron was not the easiest best friend to have. He was taller than me, a better drawer than me, had more girls who liked him than me and he “accidentally” broke my ankle... twice. Also there were the 11 stitches on the top of my head thanks to Aaron and an incident with a large icicle. Come to think of it I’m lucky to be alive. Ironically I think we were both a little jealous of each other. My mom had just re-married so I had a Dad, and a house, and a mom who didn’t beat me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember quite vividly an afternoon at Aaron's’ apartment, he got in trouble for mouthing off to his mom and she got so angry she smacked him across the face with a pair of scissors. As a kid you don’t know what to do in those situations. I remember being pretty scared. A few weeks later he lied to my mom about something and she called him out on it. She told him she would have to tell his mom and he’d have to write out </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will not tell lies to Mrs. Morris</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on paper a million times (okay it was probably only a hundred but when you’re in third fourth grade it’s the same thing). I was so afraid of his mom’s anger and punishment that I begged my mom to let me take the blame. We hadn’t been going to church that long but I threw out some beginner Sunday School jargon about grace and Jesus taking our punishment.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I did. I wrote until my arm felt like it was going to fall off and then I wrote some more ... </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will not lie to Mrs. Morris.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And, yes, I wrote it out as if I were Aaron, which might have been the hardest part because for those few hours she wasn’t my mom. She was “Mrs. Morris”. Later in life she told me how hard it was to not just let me go and excuse the whole exercise. I wish I could say there were never times later that year when I was getting in trouble that I wished he’d stepped in and done the same for me ... or when he “accidentally” shot me in the arm with is Blow Dart Gun I didn’t think, “Seriously?! After all I’ve done for you?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then again I was 9.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I did for Aaron had nothing to do with how nice he was to me, or how cool I thought he was. I mean, yes, I looked up to him; but in that moment it was my nine year old understanding of anger and pain that made me want to step in and rescue him.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had seen firsthand what would happen if his mom got upset and so it was compassion - not his height, or drawing skills, or luck with the ladies - that was at the heart of me taking the fall for my friend.</span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isn't that what the Gospel is all about?" Jesus taking the fall for us? The fall of Adam, the fall of man, of humanity! Not because of how much he likes us or how cool we are (though He is fond of us!) but simply because He is good. He LOVES us, wants to be reconciled with us, and doesn't want to see us suffer... “That NONE should perish.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things with work have been pretty rough lately. Finances have been tight. And I've been thinking a lot about favor; about how growing up I heard that if God liked you enough he’d give you favor and money and nice cars. Sometimes when work gets slow I wonder if maybe God just doesn't like me or something. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know, technically, that's not true but it's sort of this subtle conditioning that I have to fight against.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The more I read and study the more I wonder if favor is less about God building us up and setting us on some high pedestal and more about grace, and coming down to walk along side us, making way for redemption, loving us. I was looking at one of the words for “favor” specifically in Proverbs 3:3-4</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://bible.cc/proverbs/3-3.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do not let kindness and truth leave you;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bind them around your neck,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Write them on the tablet of your heart.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://bible.cc/proverbs/3-4.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you will find favor and good repute</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In the sight of God and man.</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the Greek and Hebrew</span><a href="http://www.biblos.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.biblos.com</span></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">favor</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gracious, pleasant, precious, well-favored</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From</span><a href="http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/2603.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chanan</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; graciousness, i.e. Subjective (kindness, favor) or objective (beauty) -- favour, grace(-ious), pleasant, precious, (well-)favoured. see HEBREW</span><a href="http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/2603.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chanan</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> beseech, fair, be, find, show favorable, be deal, give, grant graciously</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A primitive root (compare</span><a href="http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/2583.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chanah</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">); properly, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow; causatively to implore (i.e. Move to favor by petition) -- beseech, X fair, (be, find, shew) favour(-able), be (deal, give, grant (gracious(-ly), intreat, (be) merciful, have (shew) mercy (on, upon), have pity upon, pray, make supplication, X very.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">see HEBREW</span><a href="http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/2583.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chanah</span></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior...which reminded me of this...Philippians 2</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/2-3.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;</span><a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/2-4.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">merely</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.</span><a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/2-5.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,</span><a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/2-6.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,</span><a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/2-7.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> being made in the likeness of men.</span><a href="http://bible.cc/philippians/2-8.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wonder if it's possible that I've spent all these years praying for the "Favor" of God when maybe I've had it all along. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What if it was that simple? What if the favor of God was simply the cross, and redemption, and the humility of a king being emptied that our hearts might be filled. I wonder if the fullness of God’s favor comes from unity and selflessness. Maybe favor is just the grace to keep loving God and loving others. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I once had someone pray over me and they said they felt like God was saying I was going to wear nice clothes and drive nice cars, and that He was going to use me to bring millions of dollars into the kingdom while having one foot in the ministry and one foot in the business world. I used to get frustrated when my bank account would be in the negative and I’d say to God (sarcastically), “where are those millions you promised?!?” And who knows? Someday I might look back and find that the old man who prayed for me was right. But the truth is, the balance in my bank account has nothing to do with how much God loves me. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Am I blessed and highly favored? Let me answer the question with a question. Did Jesus rise again? </span></div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-19829413993703539282011-05-24T14:00:00.002-04:002011-05-24T14:03:15.280-04:00What I learned about the trinity from breathing.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been thinking about the trinity lately; about how I’m not sure if it’s really like an egg or an apple or water/ice/steam. Isn’t part of the beauty of God the fact that He’s a mystery? Let me ask the question in much less spiritual way. If the last scene of INCEPTION ended any differently would it have been as good of a movie? There’s something frustratingly beautiful about the unresolved tension of the unknown. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a more full explanation of the following quote toward the end of this video start 7:45 - the end. </span><br />
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<div style="background-color: transparent;"><div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/KNBKt87AWjA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jewish name for God – Yahweh – was not spoken, but breathed. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Its correct pronunciation is an attempt to imitate the sound of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">inhalation and exhalation. We do that every moment: our first and </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">last word as we enter and leave the world.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richard Rohr </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Genesis we read the creation story and see the spirit moving across the face of the waters. That word spirit is “Ruah” and it’s Greek equivelant is Pnuma” which means to breath, more specifically to blow. Which is what we see happening as life is breathed into Adam. And we have Jesus referred to the “word in the beginning, that became flesh” All three of these things are very much connected to the mouth. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life is sustained by breathing in the essence of God; by inhaling and exhaling love. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Holy Spirit is that exhaled wind breath that doesn’t just sustain but forms and shapes. And when breath and exhalation are mixed with sound it creates the essence of love in truth, the word clothed in humanity. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>Definition for “VOICE” by Webster. </i></span></i></span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">c</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> expiration of air with the vocal cords drawn close so as to vibrate audibly (as in uttering vowels and consonant sounds as \v\ or \z\)</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></i><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Loving God and Loving others is like inhaling and exhaling. Jesus is simply the perfect example of how to breathe. To live is pray without ceasing. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Israel Redeemed -Isaiah;43</span><br />
<a href="http://bible.cc/isaiah/43-1.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.</span><br />
<a href="http://bible.cc/isaiah/43-2.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. </span></div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-42828437487283528162011-05-22T16:49:00.007-04:002011-05-23T12:59:23.131-04:00Babies on planes that teach me about Jesus.<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Hands"</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.03736180788837373" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.03736180788837373" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was sitting on the plane on my way to Dallas, next to a single mom who was visibly concerned that her child was going to be disruptive over our next 90 mins in the air together. Apparently the previous leg of the trip was quite rough for the young one. That’s in the top five worst air travel scenarios right? </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><ol><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting next to a screaming 2 year old. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting between two people who just asked for seat belt extensions.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having a connecting flight that leaves 10 mins after the first one landed late and having to sprint to concourse double Q.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drawing the losing straw in the TSA pat down/naked x-ray game</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being stuck in Baltimore for 3 days because of a snow storm. </span></li>
</ol></div><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I was prepared; I had my new smart phone loaded with some movies to watch and the worlds largest set of noise canceling headphones. So imagine my surprise when the potential noise maker started making oogley eyes at me. Her mom held her close and the little baby girl started petting my arm, I was sort of distracted at first by my phone cinema. But she fell asleep, head on her moms chest, hand on my arm. I don’t think the mom even noticed and I honestly thought it was kind of cute. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all do this sometimes, instinctively, we reach out somewhat blindly for comfort, to feel connected, to feel love. It’s not always a healthy or wise endeavor. It can get twisted and show up between adults in the form of misappropriated sexual activity, competitiveness, fame mongering and a number of other self centered outcries. The “me monster” takes over and we lose ourselves. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But deeper than all of that there is something good and right and true. Something waiting to be redeemed. An opportunity to respond to the kingdom and interact with the Gospel. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div><blockquote>LUKE 4:40 <a href="http://esv.scripturetext.com/luke/4.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">English Standard Version</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.crossway.org/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0092f2; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(©2001)</span></a> </blockquote></div><div><blockquote>Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. </blockquote></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus' touch, His hands, were an instrument of wellness. God give me the grace and let my hands be like His. When my neighbor, friend, and stranger reach out, out of their brokenness and into mine, may they be met with redemption, restoration, and a loving grace that is covered and anointed in the very essence of Jesus. Jesus whose hands not only healed the sick, but also took nails and flowed blood so that none should perish. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh church let’s not forget that we are named as the very same; Hands of redemption. Broken that redemption may abound. Though the idea of being the "hands and feet of God" is not a direct bible quotation, we are the Embodiment of Jesus the Christ. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A prayer of St.Teresa of Avila</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christ has no body now but yours, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No hands, no feet, on earth but yours. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your are the eyes through which He looks </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #366388; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Compassion</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on this world </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yours are the feet </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With which He walks to do good. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your are the hands </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With which He blesses all the world </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yours are the hands, yours are the feet. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yours are the eyes, you are His body. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christ has no body now but yours, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No hands, no feet on earth but yours </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yours are the eyes, through which He Looks </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">compassion on the world. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christ has no body now on earth but yours.</span></blockquote>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-40520214645166238002011-05-05T15:21:00.000-04:002011-05-05T15:21:43.541-04:00Who are YOU?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">IDENTITY THEFT & SELF AWARENESS</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/uGGXgjfOWTc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'd like to start a conversation; with a question. What is it that defines us? </div><div style="text-align: left;">For some it's work, faith, community, and so on. I'm not so much interested in the the "right" answer </div><div style="text-align: left;">as I am in digging into the honest tension of identity. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For those of you who are believers, that is you maintain some level of personal relationship with God. I'd like to take the conversation just a bit deeper and ask. </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="kk" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 5px;"><div id=":yr"><br />
</div><div id=":yr">1. What is your view of your spiritual identity and how did you arrive there?</div></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;">2. what makes up the you underneath</div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There are lots of tools out there like "love languages", "strengths finders", core values, spiritual gifts, and others. Have you found any of these helpful, and in what ways? Maybe you have a story of a moment when your identity became solidified in a tangible way. A mission trip that changed you or a family tragedy. </span></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/l_FZVD5lsAw/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l_FZVD5lsAw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l_FZVD5lsAw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Maybe your not a believer in the evangelical sense. What is it that drives you, motivates you, gives you purpose? </span></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My interest is not in debate, but rather in honest dialogue. My curiosity is in the human spirit and what brings it to life. What does the journey look like, what is the arc of the narrative of personal development? How self aware are you and why? </span></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What are the thieves of substance that rob us of who we are and who we are designed to be? </span></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="kl" dir="ltr" id=":ys" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">J. </span></div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-33499086713738453672011-04-28T12:25:00.001-04:002011-04-28T18:31:09.629-04:00Hipsters, E-Harmony, and Why You Should Date God<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN">Spiritual Truths from Online Dating<br />
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Going to see live music is just part of the fabric of life in Nashville. At one point, while I was trying to sell myself as a music producer I was getting 6-10 show invites a week in my inbox. Going to all the shows is financial suicide; death by cover charge and PBR. But the night I met Alex and Rachel I was out to see a close friend of mine play drums with his new band. “The End” is an interesting little joint. It has all the trappings of a dive bar; the dim lighting, the poster-littered walls, and the big ole’ sound guy who’s been there since country was cool the first time. That particular night it seemed like all of the hipsters were in a swank match to see who could have the skinnier jeans and the more artsy fedora. The room felt like a Hollywood caricature of the Nashville Scene. Like some director filled the room with pretty people straight out of an urban outfitters catalogue. I remember thinking, “Where are all of these people in real life? I never see them out in the wild”. <br />
<br />
Alex and Rachel were one of those unbelievably good looking couples. We began chatting while the stage was being reset for the next band. There was small talk for a bit and then I happened to ask how the two of them met.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN">“E-harmony” Alex said. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN">I honestly thought he was joking at first but he went on to tell the story. Alex was new in town and didn’t know anyone. He signed up for the service and met Rachel just a couple weeks later. They were just friends at first but it quickly became something deeper. My conversation with the pretty hipster couple didn’t go much further, the next band came on and I left after their set. <br />
<br />
Later that week, I received an email informing me I could make a profile and try a free weekend on one of the online dating sites. I gave it a shot. I went out with Erica, the feisty sarcastic hairdresser who was slightly less attractive than profile pictures lead me to believe; Angie, the nanny who tried to get me in bed after the first date; and Danielle, the bartender who would have been perfect if she knew as much about Jesus as she did about Jersey Shore. I decided three strikes were enough for me. That was the end of my online dating adventures. <br />
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The thing about the online approach is that while a profile page can give you a picture of someone, tell you about them, let you know how much you have in common; a profile is not in and of itself a relationship. It leaves much to be desired. The inflections of a voice, the gentle touch of their skin, the goodness in their eyes are the things you cannot experience from a website. <br />
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And so I ask this question. I wonder if Scripture is like God’s E-Harmony page to humanity. Move past the obvious irony and consider it for a moment. The written word gives us a picture of who God is, but it is not the relationship itself. It’s a starting point but not and end unto itself. John tells us the “Word” has existed since the beginning. It was the Word that brought creation to life and that same Word that became humanity and gave up His life to redeem the very creation He once formed. To “obey” the Word is to follow Christ. Not Just a historical figure but rather the essence of truth and love that was embodied in Jesus and has existed throughout time. </span></div><span lang="EN"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN">Is the written Word profitable for doctrine and reproof and correction and instruction in righteousness? Yes. But I submit to you the idea that maybe we could view this written Word as a diving board into a deep pool of relationship. Forgive me for my harshness here but I am beginning to believe the reason we as believers strive so hard for dogma and doctrine is because the idea of a truly relational God by proxy of the Holy Spirit in our lives is scary. </span><br />
<span lang="EN"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN">Do you believe your God is big enough to care about you and your specific situation to speak to you in a real way? Is the Heavenly Father you pray to more than some cosmic pen pal who wrote us a letter 2000 years ago and hasn’t responded since because He assumes all we need to know is written in the first letter? I have a hard time believing that. Either God is alive and well and breathing and moving and desperately longing to have an intimate relationship with His beloved or He’s not. </span><br />
<span lang="EN"><br />
</span><br />
<span lang="EN">The God I know is wildly imaginative, insatiably personal, eternally relational and in no way stoic, formulaic or mathematical. Do you want the 66 book e-harmony pocket edition Jesus or do you want the fullness? Brother, Sister, I implore you ... hear what I am saying. The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. All of it. So yes! Take in all that scripture has to offer. Let it be a firm foundation for your faith. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN">But honey there’s more. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN">So much more. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-25369372214977954002011-04-14T13:30:00.009-04:002011-04-14T13:51:41.031-04:00The Back-storyNorth of Chicago, right on Lake Michigan, there’s a little town called Kenosha. I get up there once a year or so to spend time with one of my spiritual fathers and his family. I also go up there to clear my head and slow things down for a couple days. There’s a great little coffee shop on the water called Common Grounds where the barista asks questions like, “If you could be personified by one event in history, what would it be?” It’s the kind of place I imagine an author writing some inspiring memoir or iconic piece of fiction in; the kind of place that feels like it should be experienced in black and white. <br />
<br />
Just down the road on the Main Street, which feels like the main street in many small towns, is a flower shop called Summer’s Garden. On one of my trips, I stopped in to kill a few minutes before the wine bar next-door opened up. There was a fantastic aroma coming from the front of the store but it wasn’t the flowers. It was soap! There were a number of different scents, some smelled more like something I wanted to eat than use in the shower. The shop owners, Lyna and Kevin, were so kind – I must have asked them a million questions about soap and they answered every one. Lyna makes it at home. She explained the process and the ingredients and the difference between good soap and great soap. She also told me about growing up in Kenosha and living in two houses her whole life. She began to tell the stories of each of the soap labels which were old family photos repurposed. Lyna had a fascinating story. I was so glad to have spent those ten or fifteen minutes listening before buying some soap to take home. I wasn’t just buying soap though – I was investing in her story. <br />
<br />
One of the things I love about my church is the importance Pastor Jamie places not only on the narrative of the gospel but also on the interpersonal narratives within our community. Almost every year our small group takes a few weeks and gives everyone in the group an hour or so to share their back-story. It has really helped to create a deeper “soul environment”. It’s not easy telling people where you’ve been and what you’ve done but when you are with people that love you it takes the pressure off. It also opens up space for a continued conversation. The idea that a story doesn’t have to be a testimony is kind of refreshing. I mean that in the context of creating a space where the person sharing their back-story knows that it’s an unfinished narrative and it doesn’t need a happy ending. I’d like to share one such story with you, this is Sherry’s story – it’s not pretty but it is beautiful. <br />
<blockquote>I was a victim of childhood molestation at the age of 5-6. As a teenager I got involved with drugs and alcohol. I overdosed in Jr. High. I was raped at 15 and began to live a promiscuous life style. By the end of my senior year I was pregnant and that pregnancy ended in abortion due to pressure. I moved from home just before I turned 18, into the home of a man twice my age that I had known for less than a month. We married 2 years later and the marriage ended in its first year. I had another relationship that resulted in a pregnancy and the father pressured me into having an abortion. Shortly after, he ended the relationship and moved across the country. I met another man that I shared my secrets with who assured me he loved me and he would never leave if I got pregnant. When I found myself pregnant once again, he tried to pressure me to have an abortion, saying it was something I had done in the past and he didn’t see why I couldn’t do it again. But I chose to carry my baby this time, and did it as a single mom. </blockquote><blockquote>I felt guilt, shame, rejection, abandoned, and damaged for all the bad choices I had made. I didn’t know how my life could change. But I loved my baby more than anything and I wanted to be better. </blockquote><blockquote>I tried psychological counseling but they wanted to excuse my behavior as “the only choices I could have made at the time” when deep down inside I knew that wasn’t the truth. The memories haunted me. My health was suffering, and I ended up having to take leave from my job. </blockquote><blockquote>Surgery and chronic pain left me addicted to pain meds and as a result my doctor placed me in a hospital for withdrawal. However, the in-house psychologist decided I should stay longer to address the past issues. I was in denial of my need or their ability to handle my need. My 3 day stay became a 30 day stay. </blockquote><blockquote>I hated being there, separated from my child. One night I cried out to God – on my knees in the library, asking if there really was a God, would he help me, admitting I couldn’t do it alone. </blockquote><blockquote>Through the rehab program I met my husband. He brought us to a church where I heard that Jesus loved me and wanted to forgive me for all my sins. In December of 1988 I was introduced to Jesus in a personal way and was amazed that He loved me and would forgive me for all I had done. </blockquote><blockquote>I was excited to be involved in church, serving in the office, prayer meetings, learning, and eventually even leading ladies studies. But inside of me I still cringed every time I heard a message on abortion and the murder it was. I sat in silence, guilt, and shame, believing that if anyone knew my story they wouldn’t want me teaching their kids, leading studies or even be part of fellowship. I was forgiven, but still in bondage. </blockquote><blockquote>I heard a woman speak on the radio one day who talked about the affects of abortion on women. When she listed the symptoms of post abortion trauma she was talking to me and the tears flowed down my face. I contacted the ministry and that was the beginning of my transition from forgiveness to healing. </blockquote><blockquote>The Word of God taught through the study helped me to see my sin and my life in light of God’s Word; to identify areas I needed to confess of my sins and ask forgiveness. But it also identified areas in my life where I needed to be willing to forgive what others had done that hurt me and showed me how to depend on God’s grace to walk out the choices of forgiveness. </blockquote><blockquote>Psalms 32:3-5 says, “When I kept silent in my sin my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was zapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” and you forgave the guilt of my sin”. </blockquote><blockquote>The enemy wants to keep us silent, groaning, drained, depressed and guilt ridden, but God doesn’t want that for us. God not only forgave the sin, he forgave the guilt of the sin. Continued guilt from confessed sin is not from Him. </blockquote><blockquote>Healing is a process…Confession and forgiveness is huge parts of that process. </blockquote><blockquote>Years ago a medical professional sexually molested me during therapy. I was devastated. I was almost crippled, as if I were the 5 year old child. But this time was different, I knew God, and I knew He would help me. So this time, instead of living in fear, hiding and owning someone else’s actions, with the support of my husband, my child, and my pastor I addressed it head on. It was one of the hardest and most painful things I ever faced. But, I was not alone. God’s love and grace walked with me through every uncomfortable step. And when the trial was over, although my assaulter was let go, I was free in a way I had never known possible. I had done the right thing and stood up. </blockquote><blockquote>As a result, I went to the ministry where I began my walk of healing, and inquired to become a bible leader and online counselor. I completed that training in 2008 and have since then shared my story with individuals, spoken at churches, and banquets. God did the healing and He always goes before me and prepares me when I speak. In 3 years I have worked with over 50 women through this program, either online or in person. </blockquote><blockquote>Most Christians know that I John 1:9 say’s “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” So, we know that God forgives our sins, but it is common for women and men involved with abortion to read this verse and think, “every sin but this one”. But 1 John 1:9 doesn’t say “every sin but this one.” It says; He forgives us all our sins, even “this one”. </blockquote><blockquote>I don’t live in my past. I don’t glorify my past. I seek to glorify the one who redeemed me from my past and made me whole… Jesus. When he places a hurting woman in my life, be it as a result of the ministry, or in an unexpected place, I am no longer ashamed; I know who I am in Him. That is true freedom.</blockquote>It would be easy to zoom in on any part of Sherry’s story and be angry at God, on the surface it seems that there were decades where His goodness was missing. I don’t have an explanation for this. I do know that God worked all of that hurt and pain together for good. God is a God of redemption. Her love for God hopes all things and believes all things and has kept no record of wrong doing. <br />
<br />
The narrative of Sherry’s life is deeply personal because the third pregnancy, the child she decided to carry was me. She is my mother.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-15530531999766108372011-04-11T21:38:00.005-04:002011-04-11T22:34:53.399-04:00Angel on Ice Skates<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Unity of the adventure<br /><br />Rochester, NY is known for a few things; like being home to the Kodak Film Co., Zwaggals Hot Dogs, their delicious Garbage Plate, and being bitterly cold in the winter. I spent this particular weekend in Rochester working on some demos in the studio. Mark’s brother was in a band and they had a pretty killer recording set up at his house.<br /><br />On a good day the trip from Rochester back up to campus took about 4 hours. Winter weather however, is always somewhat of an unpredictable mystery. Between the lake effect snow, incoming nor’easters, and the occasional ice storm, the ride to Potsdam, NY can stretch out to six or seven hours. This was one of those rides; driving ten to fifteen miles under the speed limit, through white-out snow, wearing out whatever cd was in the deck. It was somewhere in the seventh hour that the snow turned to ice. The sun was setting and the road began to freeze.<br /><br />Other vehicles had already pulled over but I am from New England. We believe we’re nearly invincible when it comes to storms and we are stubborn. I kept driving. I drove with the car in low gear and went no faster than 10 miles an hour. As I crested a hill and began the descent my wheels started to slip on the now thickening sheet of ice that had replaced the pavement. My little car was drifting. I knew I was in trouble.<br /><br />My car slid off the road and hit another car, it was the only other vehicle for miles. Crunch! I got out and assessed that there wasn't any serious damage. Nor was there anyone around. I managed to get my little car out of the ditch and out of the way but there would be no more driving in this weather. The road was a sheet of ice.<br /><br />My cell phone had no reception, the temperature was below freezing and dropping, and I was alone on highway 11 with a car in the ditch and nothing but a set of ice skates in the trunk. Staying in my car until it ran out of gas and I started losing appendages to frostbite seemed like a bad plan. Not that my contingency was much better. You know that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCov0TYXBp8">Joni Mitchell song</a> about skating away on a river? I kind of tried to do that. I strapped on that pair of ice skates in the trunk, locked my car, and started gliding – quite ungraciously – down the road. My skating escapade lasted about two miles before a set of head lights was shining behind me. Miss Annette and her family were intending on driving from NYC to their daughter’s new college due north. Unfortunately they had driven about 4 hours west when I met them. Miss Annette was a Jazz singer on the lower east side – a lovely women with a beautiful family. The picked me up and we braved the next several miles together. I told them about driving in a lower gear for traction and they told me about their crazy road trip across the state of New York. Eventually we made it into town, eyes tight from laughing.<br /><br />They dropped me off at the top of the block. I waved goodbye and they shouted, “Thanks for being our angel on ice skates.” Since I left my shoes back in my car I clopped up the steps to my friends' house like a kid on the first day of pewee hockey. The next morning there was a knock on the bedroom door. </p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">"J, the NY State Police are on the phone."<br />“Hello?”<br />“Son we are going to need you to come down to the station and fill out some paper work.”</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Good morning to you too officer.<br /><br />I went to the station and told them what happened. They were practically rolling on the floor as I told the story. One of the officers had actually seen me and thought for sure I was a drunken fool out of his mind. I got a ticket for "skating away from the scene of damaged property" but to be truthful, it was totally worth it. I called the woman whose car I damaged to apologize and she was very gracious.<br /><br />While I only shared a short period of time with Miss Annette and her family they were grateful for my company, the story, and even the advice from someone who had just learned the hard way what not to do. <span style=""> </span>If anything, they saved me from my own silliness. But being an “angel” to them wasn’t like a hero reaching down and pulling a peasant out of the dirt, saying, “Oh you poor thing – let me help you.” It was all of us on the same adventure together; they were saving me too. I wonder if the greatest heroes don’t rescue victims but rather rescue friends. When we come along side of each other and really see one another like neighbors and family then we give and receive so great a help. The dualism of “us” and “them” begins to break, and the unity of loves begins to triumph.<br /></p><blockquote><br />“I wonder if anything is more urgent today, for the honour of Christ and for the spread of the gospel, than that the church should be, and should be seen to be, what by God’s purpose and Christ’s achievement it already is – a single new humanity, a model of human community, a family of reconciled brothers and sisters who love their Father and love each other, the evident dwelling place of God by his Spirit. Only then will the world believe in Christ as Peacemaker. Only then will God receive the glory due to his name.” -John Stott, <span style="font-style: italic;">God's New Society</span><br /></blockquote><p></p>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-30463754991055839132011-04-09T21:38:00.003-04:002011-04-09T21:45:45.679-04:00Nice Legs & Jesus<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Miscommunication Heartbreak and the Holy Spirit<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">I missed the first couple weeks of class due to my trip to Europe with Mark the Photo Journalist, which wouldn’t have been a big deal save one very important piece of information. This media course required 10 one-page paper assignments to be turned in throughout the semester. That much was made clear. What wasn’t communicated was the academic value of these seemingly inconsequential tasks. So I missed a few here and there, shrugged a couple off, and at the end of the semester was met with a very surprising F. My assumption was that skipping a few simple assignments would be innocuous. I was wrong. Those suckers were worth 60% percent of the grade.<br /><br />I did, however, meet Kelly the Communicator in that class. She sat two rows behind me. I looked over my shoulder a lot that first class. I liked her right away. She was attractive and she laughed at my jokes. She was the first girl I met who possessed a self-help, pop psychology, relationship book library as large as mine. I started walking Kelly back to her dorm after class; we would flirt and exchange stories. I remember being too scared to ask for her number so one day after class I said, “Hey call me later and let me know if you’re going to the basketball game” at which point, in a moment of successful manipulation, I got her to ask for MY number.<br /><br />She quickly became a very close friend to both my sister and I; which was perfect at the time. Kelly is the kind of girl that makes a guy <i style="">want</i> to grow up and become better. She carries herself well, she’s articulate, and she is very loyal. When a couple guys from my floor decided to get a house off campus, Kelly and my sister decided it would be fun to rent out the house next door with a couple other girls. And so was the beginning of our little community. I finally asked Kelly the Communicator out at the end of the spring semester. She was the first girl I dated since high school. I was living the dream; dating the girl next door, playing music with my roommates and racking up heaps of student loan debt to do it.<br /><br />Kelly was a great teammate, a trait I probably took advantage of too much. She was constantly helping me with class and even some of the work I was doing at the time. After my car was stolen she became my chauffeur. That poor girl did the best she could to put up with my worst. Looking back my truest failure was in my disillusion; I wanted to be a rock-star, plain and simple. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I think Kelly liked the idea of dating a musician until we started talking about the future. All of a sudden the uncertainty overshadowed the excitement and lent itself to worry. This was the beginning of the downward spiral. Little fights became big fights, feelings were hurt, and egos were bruised. My favorite argument was over a Jimi Hendrix poster in my music room. We duked it out over the phone for twenty minutes while I was wandering around a record store in the mall. Years later I realized her problem was not with the poster but with the ideology it represented.<br /><br />We had many discussions that were tainted by miscommunication. What she would say and what I would hear would be different and vice versa. We did try to work through our differences. I would even wager to say we might have been too educated for our own good at that point. All those self-help relationship books shined in our ability to theorize on how to communicate with one another but proved destructive to the actual conversation. While she encouraged me to be the best possible version of myself academically and professionally I interpreted her loving encouragement as a threat and ploy to get me to give up on my dreams, quit music, and become a College Professor. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">One night I asked Mark the Photo Journalist for some advice. He asked me two questions. 1. Does she love Jesus? and 2. Does she turn you on? The answer to both was yes. But I needed more than nice legs and Jesus to convince me that Kelly and I were meant for each other.<br /><br />Sometimes relationships are like that media class I failed. You think you’re doing great and the mistakes you’re making are inconsequential. It feels familiar and easy but the next thing you know it’s over and your heart has a big F on it.<br /></p><blockquote><br />1 Cor 13 6-8<br />6 {love} rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.<br />8Love never fails.</blockquote><br />There’s no big red ribbon, no white-horse-happy-ending. Kelly and I broke up. It was ugly. I hurt her pretty deeply and we both made mistakes. <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">God is a God of restoration; this is one thing I know. Not only that, He’s also a God of relationship. I don’t know what eternity looks like; I’m not a scholar on the new heavens and the new earth. But I do wonder if those we tie our souls to in this life, the ones we let in, connect with on a deeper level, the people who are like family to us; I wonder if those are the people our spirits will rejoice with in eternity. If that’s true it makes me want to love well – here in this present life – so the next stage can be a little sweeter. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Years later Kelly and I reconnected and repaired our friendship. Clarity is a funny thing. It usually comes thirty seconds to late. Learning to listen, learning to communicate, learning to love isn’t something I’ve found in pop psychology books. It’s a painful beautiful process that I will walk through the rest of my life as I follow the spirit and commune with the Father.</p>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-8416809126002151752011-04-06T07:06:00.013-04:002011-04-06T11:09:55.783-04:00Cheap Beer, Cops, Weed & Jesusday 30 <br />finding God's presence in the dark <br /><br />Have you ever smelled something that took you to another place? Or maybe heard a sound that turned your brain into a time machine? Doctors call it “involuntary recurrent memory”, more commonly referred to in TV and film as “flashbacks”. For some reason every time I catch the scent of yogurt covered raisins (which isn’t very often) I instantly flashback to second grade, grabbing a snack out of the pantry in my parents’ house, right before a wild pitch with a tennis ball took out a window pane in our garage. <br /><br />One of the more meaningful involuntary recurrent memories I have is from a road trip, my Junior yr in college, to Charlotte, NC. I’m sitting in the back seat of an old Geo Metro. The kid on my right smells like alcohol and energy drinks; we’ve stopped on a side street and the other guy in the back seat steps out to purchase some of his “medicine” (marijuana) for the trip. I’m pretty sure I was the only one in the car who was over twenty-one; so when the Charlotte metro officer pulled up behind us I was more than a little concerned about how the next few minutes of my life were going to unfold. In that moment I asked myself a question that is very important to ask yourself in these types of situations. <em>“What am I doing with my life?!”</em> <br /><br />My first semester at Lee University had its share of hardships; with my car being stolen, losing a close friend to suicide, coming back from Europe quite ill, and fighting with depression, not to mention the normal frustrations with adjusting as a transfer student. My head and my heart were burnt out. I had been trying to cope emotionally, catch up academically, and stay alive spiritually. But I wasn’t doing any of those things well. <br /><br />My social drinking started becoming more of a hobby. This will get you friends when you live on an alcohol free campus. I became known as the guy with the bottle of Jack Daniels stored in the drop ceiling above my closet. Occasionally I would come across complete strangers in my room, with a freshly mixed drink, a couple bucks on the table and low muttered “thanks bro” as he walked out. I’m not sure when my closet attained open bar status, but when you’re hooking the right people up, you don’t get in trouble. <br /><br />A couple days before I left for Charlotte I was talking to my Sister; she was trying to pray some sense into me. She said, “J. You need to start Loving the Lord; I don’t think you love God very much these days”. And she was right. <br /><br />Sure between drinks and classes I had tried to find God a few times that semester. I looked for God with my guitar, on my bed, in that prison cell of a dorm room, I checked a few churches in my town to see if He was there, even looked for him on a couple of dates with “good girls”. But I didn’t find Him. At least not the Him I was looking for at the time. <br /><br />I don’t remember anything about the ride to Charlotte, only that I couldn’t wait to get away from the dorm rooms in Bowdle Hall. So there I am, in a back seat full of very incriminating evidence scrambling to hide the empty bottles of Smirnoff ice and 211 Steele reserve. Praying to a God I hadn’t kept in touch with, to keep me out of jail. Sometimes it takes those aha! moments of “what had to go wrong in my life to end up here?” to really clear up the brain fog. <br /><br />The next few minutes seemed like an eternity, and I may not have been very close to God earlier that day but you better believe I remembered how to pray real quick. So somewhere between answered prayer and dumb luck that officer stayed in his a car and carried on with his business. The next morning, as a sign of good faith I decided to pay God a visit. I went to church with my friend Manny. Manny’s father was the pastor of a black church in Charlotte. After the service Pastor Threatt invited me over for lunch. That afternoon I opened up, I told him about my roommate’s death, my stolen car, my search for a God I had once loved so much. I explained how I had been feeling burnt out and how any attempt to find, love, or serve God was kind of empty and more out of habit than faith. Fully expecting him to commiserate with me and pat me on the back, imagine my surprise when he said, “The only time people get burned out is when they don’t spend enough alone time with GOD. Let me show you.” He then took me upstairs to a small finished attic space. It was there in that little room with its pink carpet, plush pillows, and unscented candles for the first time in a very long time I felt the presence of the LORD. Pastor Threatt told me that this was his prayer room, where he “hung out” with God. Usually I would say this was hokey but down deep I knew it to be true. I could tell this man had long talks with God, like they were friends or brothers or something. <br /><br />Even though my ride to Charlotte wasn’t very memorable I’ll never forget the ride back. I was silent the whole time. I felt the darkness starting to lift and the words of my sister Lore’ and Pastor Threatt kept repeating in my head. Love God and spend alone time with Him. Could it really be that simple? <br /><br /><blockquote>john 15 26 "When the Advocate is come whom I will send to you from the Father's presence--the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence--He will be a witness concerning me. <br /><br />John 16 27 for the Father Himself holds you dear, because you have held me dear and have believed that I came from the Father's presence.</blockquote>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-33492887345241318362011-04-04T21:01:00.004-04:002011-04-05T01:40:53.961-04:00Unrequited love songs<div class="MsoNormal">day 29<br />God as the hopeless romantic</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I write a lot of songs. I’ve been lucky enough to write with some amazingly talented people over the years. Some famous, many not, but all very passionate about their craft. Song writing is such a strange process because for some it’s not really a process at all; it’s more like an experience. For others it’s much more mechanical; show up at work, write some melodies, articulate some lyrics, throw in a catchy guitar riff and move on to the next one.<br /><br />Many of my songs are inspired by my woeful love life or the romantic happenings of my friends. One of the recurring themes in my songs and in my life is “unrequited love”. I have a skill for being captivated by the uninterested. Don’t get me wrong this is not a cry for sympathy as much as it is a communication of empathy. Most of us have experienced that pit in our stomachs when someone we like walks into the room, and we are dying to confess our feelings but we don’t for one reason or another. Also, I imagine many of us have mustered up the courage to actually speak our heart only to be let down easy with some sort of thanks but no thanks.<br /><br />Rejection hurts, whether we are paralyzed by the fear of it or immobilized by the feelings after it; it’s painful. I read an article recently about how great music comes from broken people. For me this is true, some of my favorite songs were reflections on my least favorite moments in life. There were the girls with whom I fell in love with the idea of them, the ladies with whom I landed quickly in the friend zone, and the women who I actually shared my feelings with only to be shot down like a bird in hunting season. Yet, I have no regret of being willing to take chances with love.<br /><br />Does it hurt to not be loved back? Yes. I have been disappointed and let down by those who used me as their backup plan, as the emotional fill in or the fake boyfriend. Though, if I’m honest, I’m guilty of the same with others. Everyone wants to feel love; relational, brotherly, or otherwise. We crave it, live by it, and above all it’s part of who we are designed to be. It’s no wonder the great commandment is to love God and love others. When humanity is deprived of love it is deprived of the richest of all natural resources. </div><blockquote>Wikipedia<br />“Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections.”</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br />The greatest unrequited lover is Love Himself. He has deep affections for us and sometimes we are completely oblivious. Sometimes we make God the backup plan. We give him a call when we’re a little sad or lonely. We send him a drunken text when things with whatever idol we’ve replaced him with aren’t going so well. We put Him in the friend zone and only allow our ability to give and receive love to go so deep.<br /><br />One of the worship leaders I played with years ago used to say, “Christians don’t tell lies they just sing them”. “...I give you my heart, I give you my soul, I live for you alone” or “All I want is you...” Grace is God saying, “I love you” and worship is us responding “I love you too”. Sometimes that looks like songs of adoration; sometimes it’s feeding the hungry or praying for the sick. Whatever it is that we do to not just love but <i>do love</i> is worship.<br /><br />There is a God in Heaven who is desperately longing for a relationship with us. He is fascinated by us, enamored with our intricacies, unabashedly proud of who we are, and completely overwhelmed with compassion and a desire to see us walk in the fullness of who we are designed to be. </div><blockquote>1 Cor 13<br />2 And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br />Would it be safe to say that I could be the most spiritually gifted believer on the planet but if I don’t have, poses, receive God as the fullness of love, then it profits me nothing? </div><blockquote>1 John 4<br />7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.<br />15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us.</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br />He loved us first, with no hesitation, and put all his cards on the table. The cross stands as a shameless display to win our affections. The Groom is down on one knee, ring box open, saying, “I know you don’t really know me, but you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve been watching you for a while, your whole life in fact, I love everything you do. I see so much goodness in you. I want to spend all of my time getting to know you better from now until forever. I’d be honored if you would let me.” And sometimes we say no.<br /><br />I’ve written a lot of songs, some great and some not so great. But there’s an author writing the poems and prose of eternity on the pages of humanity – a pen dipped in the ink of compassion. How incredible is the invitation to have a part in this story?</div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-38536270684739843582011-04-02T13:05:00.003-04:002011-04-02T14:31:39.230-04:00The story of Johny GelatoDay 28<br />There's a difference between sharing the gospel<br />and sharing of the gospel <br /><br />If you’ve ever been to a larger city you’ve seen the street meat cart; those shiny metal boxes filled with delicious, wax paper wrapped heart attacks. Hot dogs, pretzels, Gyros, you name it I probably bought one from a street vendor. In the Summer of 2005, before Mark became the photo journalist capturing images for the Times and The Journal, he was running a Marketing Company in Rochester. I came down late that spring to help him out with a few projects. When I arrived at the office on the 5th floor of the Goodman St. complex the place was a mess. There were sheet metal and insulation pieces on the ground, and the over-sized whiteboards on the east wall were covered in strategies and plans for something. <br /><br />One of our friends hat recently returned from a trip to Italy. While he was there he experienced the delight of fine homemade Venetian gelato. The idea was simple. Bring an international dessert to NY and sell it out of a cart. We had a superior product from an amazing supplier, a vintage style mobile ice box, and of course the key to the whole thing was our friendly face to the masses. Which I didn’t realize until the end of Mark's pitch, was me. <br /><br />It seemed like a good plan. I’d put on my candy stripe button down and my newsies cap, head down toward the pier, and sell cart fulls of dessert cups. We tried everything to get that business off the ground. We took it to festivals, fairs, birthday parties, anywhere we could get people to try it. You would expect that being a salesman for something that everyone should like would be easy right? I’d give history lessons on gelato to potential customers, I’d offer free samples, we even had punch cards to encourage repeat business. <br /><br />That cart quickly became the bane of my existence. It was a quarter mile from the storage facility to our spot on the pier, and it was literally up hill both ways. I spent 12-14 hours a day, six days a week, trying to sell that stuff. We eventually hired high-school Kate to operate the cart because the company couldn't afford to pay me. <br /><br />I remember one of our early business meetings, one of the selling points was that we were going to all make so much money we’d take a trip to Italy, and eat gelato in Venice or Milan. Ironically enough, Mark and I did end up in Italy together, on a missions trip. Unfortunately, it was for about 12 hours, most of which were spent in an airport, waiting for our flight to Hungary. <br /><br />You learn a lot from failure. Once you experience it, it loses some of it’s fear factor. We started a business, used every trick and most of the money we had, but it didn’t work. I wish I had 7 reasons why Johny Gelato failed and 6 steps to success, but I don’t. And this is how sharing your faith can feel sometimes. I don’t mean sharing it in the, "I left a chic tract in the gas station bathroom", or the "If you were to die tonight” tactic. I mean wearing Jesus on your sleeve, choosing to take up your cross and follow him; constantly trying to hear from and follow the voice of the Holy Spirit. Sharing your faith like a pre-schooler shares her Oreo cookies.<br /><br />As if to say, “Here’s something I love, that my mommy or daddy gave me, it’s awesome. Do you want some?" Which is kind of what we were doing with our frozen dessert, “It’s awesome, I know you’ve never tasted anything like this before!" "Sure, there’s other stuff down the road that’s similar, but this is the real thing!” I hope that’s kind of the place our faith sharing comes out of. A place of relationship, with an honest story, and a genuine heart that really translates to people. <br /><br />But when it doesn’t, that’s okay too. In the kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom we are praying daily to come as "His will be done”, success is not measured by conversion numbers; it’s not even measured by how obedient we are to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, though that is vital. Success in the kingdom of God is Christ, and Him crucified, risen and coming again. Should we be faith sharers? Yes! As long as it is the love of Christ that compels you toward compassion for those in need of Love. People are the only thing that are eternal; Why invest in anything else?<br /><br />Philemon 1<br />Greeting<br />1Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,<br />To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:<br />3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.<br />Philemon’s Love and Faith<br />4I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.a 7For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-62867725985351204652011-03-31T13:17:00.027-04:002011-03-31T14:06:12.792-04:00A different kind of mountain top experienceDay 27 <br />it's a down hill battle <br />and it's all up hill from here. <br /><br />I know I’ve mentioned the time I spent working on the mountain as a ski and snowboard instructor. I thought you might be interested to know how exactly that happened. My high school was just a few miles from the mountain and lift tickets for locals were cheaper than a value meal at a fast food joint. The very first time I strapped into a snowboard I was with my best friend Jonathan. I had a brand new board my parents had given me as a Christmas present, some goggles I bummed off my buddy in lost and found, and a pretty killer jacket I nabbed from the thrift store where my Mom was the bookkeeper. Being skiers for a number of years, Jon and I opted out of taking snow boarding lessons and decided to wing it. To our credit we handled the bunny slope pretty well and after an hour or so we felt like it was time to step up our game and take it to the next level. <br /><br />On skis I had made that Range View run a hundred times and could cruise the trail from top to bottom, full tuck, in under three minutes. On this particular day it took Jon and I just under two hours to make it down. I’d say two thirds of it we spent on our butts, backs, knees or with our face in the snow. I spent the next three days of my vacation in bed, too stiff to move. If not for the fact that I already owned the stupid snowboard I probably would have quit right then and there. Not only did I own the board, I begged for it, and there was no way my parents would let me turn back now. So I took lessons for six weeks from a long-haired hippie with dreads and purple sunglasses. By the end of the season I was a better rider than I ever was a skier. I still spent my fair share of time with my face in the snow but at least by then I was biting it on black diamonds instead of bunny trails. <br /><br />I wish I could say that I started teaching out of some noble respect for lessons and how much they helped me. In a round about way that’s true. I fell in love with snowboarding and found out instructors not only got to ride for free but actually got paid to do it. I do accredit my love for teaching to that season of life. There was something exciting about spending every weekend with a class of 15 or 20 students who each came from different ethnic, age, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Finding a way to take the basic principles that were necessary and make them relatable to everyone in the group. <br /><br />The first thing your supposed to teach your students is how to fall. There’s a right way and wrong way to do it. It may seem like your setting them up for failure but the truth is when learning something new like that, you are going to fall. If you don’t do it correctly you are going to get hurt. On the other hand, if you know how to fall, the damage is less impacting, you get up quicker, and you can continue the learning process. <br /><br />I think in some ways this is how faith works. As believers we get so concerned with not falling, failing, or making mistakes that we never learn how to fall gracefully and get up quickly. The truth is all of us fall. James says, “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2) and Paul says, "We all fall short of the glory of God." So I think, for some of us, we are living in the tension between religion and faith. <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Religion looks over our shoulder and says, “Oh my God, what have I done”. Grace looks forward with faith, hope, and love and says, “Thy kingdom come they will be done”</span>. <br /><br />When I was teaching I was constantly telling my students, “Don’t look at the ground! Look where you want to go. Where your eyes are is where you will end up.” And it’s the same for us. Where our eyes are is where we end up. I think it’s good to acknowledge our faults, to be open about them, and to let the light cover them. Whether we are in faith's green circles or black diamonds there’s going to be something that gets us off our feet with our face in the powder. <br /><br />As brothers and sisters our call is to help each-other up. To be empathetic, because we’ve been there too and probably will be there again. And to remind one another to keep our eyes up. Romans 12 16-18 and 21 16<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. </span>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-79201314372857628032011-03-30T11:39:00.019-04:002011-03-30T12:17:34.363-04:00Breaking and EnteringDay 26<br />Breaking and entering into your uniqueness <br /><br />Not long ago my friend Mark, the photo journalist, and I took a road trip across the south. I met him in Texas and we spent the week before Christmas with no real agenda other than to end up in Florida. It was one of those trips that was more about the journey than the destination.<br /><br />A few miles outside of New Orleans there’s a Six Flags that was abandoned after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. Mark and I had heard about this location from a friend. The theme park has been shot by many well known photo journalists, mainly as a piece for their personal collections. We slid our car around to a side entrance that was hidden from the main road and jumped the fence. <br /><br />It was like a time machine in some ways. Beyond the looting, vandalism, and water damage were snapshots of a facility that was quickly evacuated; photos of workers' families remain in upper level offices, Profit and Loss statements blowing around the grounds. I even saw a dressing room sign for my friends' band in one of the doorways; they played a show there just a few days before the storm. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODTEfaNsx4yaFrP1jzVzdSXoylODIziHgRkTBxAmpgVY2otV5l8TFE0TzIOeSkhh1z4dN4BGfpKz2bC5FXfIXpO7L9Sl_pm_AB7khyphenhyphenp7l4di1pV971pptikwgzmeDS4YiFiZDLA/s1600/_MG_7179+%25281%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODTEfaNsx4yaFrP1jzVzdSXoylODIziHgRkTBxAmpgVY2otV5l8TFE0TzIOeSkhh1z4dN4BGfpKz2bC5FXfIXpO7L9Sl_pm_AB7khyphenhyphenp7l4di1pV971pptikwgzmeDS4YiFiZDLA/s320/_MG_7179+%25281%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589899418577688722" /></a><br /><br />Exploration. Most of us gravitate towards it in one form or another. The scientists explore protons, romantics explore each other, and the rest of us explore the Internet. We look for the next video of laughing babies or clever cats or the coolest of un-cool bands that no one's ever heard of. We have been exploring Gods creation since He created it. Discovering new lands, new Galaxy's, new sounds - humanity loves cultivating "new". <br /><br />Which is how I got to the topic of self discovery. We as humans are created beings, carrying a unique deposit of God’s image. Doesn’t it make sense that we would desire to explore the creation that is “us”? Just as getting to know others is uncovering the God in them, getting to know ourselves is a way to unearth the God in us. <br /><br /><blockquote><em>12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. 13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 <strong><em><em>Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching</em></em></strong>; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. </em></blockquote><br /><br />I don’t believe the encouragement to pay close attention to your self is connected to “teaching” by chance. It seems like there’s this subtle nudge to dive into who God has made you while still remaining tethered to the Word. It’s like repelling or cave diving; you wouldn’t just start your descent without being attached to someone or something at the top. Introspection can be dangerous but when the goal is uncovering who God has formed us to be, it can also be freeing. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2b4QZ_SkZGfOghNY7bxAbYft4rCfCN58cf4ozuM7n89flpJA7iSVvTLMJJ1epJEpSHzhNq5E2w6LBRIzSUVzP9PIQlBfpG6A32lWRDJJuIHo1wbvQtXhKdD7BWlGmtfGVt4mtfQ/s1600/_MG_7303.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2b4QZ_SkZGfOghNY7bxAbYft4rCfCN58cf4ozuM7n89flpJA7iSVvTLMJJ1epJEpSHzhNq5E2w6LBRIzSUVzP9PIQlBfpG6A32lWRDJJuIHo1wbvQtXhKdD7BWlGmtfGVt4mtfQ/s320/_MG_7303.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589899565479252626" /></a><br /><br /><br />For Mark and I the excitement wasn’t that no one had ever been to that abandoned park. It was the fact that it was a mysterious place to us. There were conceivable dangers, possible rewards, and a whole lot of unknown for us to find on our own. At first it was quite intimidating and then things started to become familiar. When we had taken our share of photos and memories we snuck back beyond the fences and set off to discover something new. <br /><br />The next few posts will discuss ways to jump the fence into our own Imago Dei, become familiar with who He’s made us to be, so that our “progress may be evident to all... to ensure salvation both for [ourselves] and for those who hear [us]."j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-61131745067749783162011-03-27T22:04:00.003-04:002011-03-27T22:56:16.505-04:00Damn That's Goodand other thoughts on the image of God. <br /><br /><br /><blockquote>Excerpts from Emersons’ Gnothi Seauton (Know Theyself)</blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">God dwells in thee. <br />It is no metaphor nor parable, <br />It is unknown to thousands, and to thee; <br />Yet there is God.<br /><br />Give up to thy soul----- <br />Let it have its way----- <br />It is, I tell thee, God himself, <br />The selfsame One that rules the Whole, <br />Tho’ he speaks thro’ thee with a stifled voice, <br />And looks through thee, shorn of his beams. <br />But if thou listen to his voice, <br />If thou obey the royal thought, <br />It will grow clearer to thine ear, <br />More glorious to thine eye. <br />The clouds will burst that veil him now <br />And thou shalt see the Lord.<br /><br />Therefore be great, <br />Not proud,-----too great to be proud. <br />There is nothing else but God <br />Where e'er I look <br />All things hasten back to him <br />Light is but his shadow dim.<br /><br />Shall I ask wealth or power of God, who gave <br />An image of himself to be my soul? <br />As well might swilling ocean ask a wave, <br />Or the starred firmament a dying coal,----- <br />For that which is in me lives in the whole.<br /></span><br />I have a friend who is genuinely fascinated with her own reflection. It’s not even a matter of vanity, she just gets distracted easily by mirrors. It never fails, we’re walking through the mall and she’ll linger just a little longer as we pass the more reflective windows. Though I feel like this is just a more demonstrative example of something most of us do. We love our image. Our culture is obsessed with it. <br /><br />Thinks about your morning routine, think about how many things in that routine are for your actual health and longevity as a human as opposed to something that helps you get to that final check in the mirror before you start your day; so we can look ourselves in the eye and and say, “okay, let’s do this”.<br /><br />How about when there’s a new baby and everyone discusses whose eyes or chin the child has. <br />We love our image, we love the idea that a child could hold part of that image. That in some way they could be a reflection of us. Sure some of us are obsessed with our image in the opposite way. Wishing we could be more this and have less of that but it’s an obsession none the less. <br /><br />I’m not sure that this sentiment of self fascination is completely bad. I wonder if it’s not just misdirected? In Genesis we overhear this conversation that appears to be between God, the spirit, and “the word” , where God says, Let us make man in our image. So then we see Adam, made from dust, and given life through some sort of deistic nasal CPR. And this is where life begins with man kind looking into the eyes of love, with the sweet aroma of loves’ breath as the first fragrance. Love is looking back at man, and maybe there is excitement! “He’s got my eyes, and my mouth, oh! oh! and my hands! “ <br /><br />I mean it’s not like God hadn’t been taking a moment to appreciate everything else He’d created to “see that it was good”. So God breathes life into Adam, and Adam awakes intimately close to the face of his creator and God sees the first born of humanity and says, “this is very good”. Sometimes I wonder if the phrases we use to define God like, “God is good” and “God is love” don’t get lost a little. God IS Love, love doesn’t define God, God defines love...What is love? Love IS “GOD”. I think we mix it up sometimes and so when God does something that doesn’t align with our understanding of love we assume that it can’t be of God. Is it possible that Gods ways are bigger than our understanding of Love? Because allowing your only born son to be murdered brutally in front of your eyes doesn’t sound like any love I would be apart of. Not until you zoom out over 10 thousand or so years of human history in need of a dynamic act of compassion and see that Love sent it’s very essence wrapped in humanity to radically repair the damage done when the first of humanity allowed the scent of love to leave his breath and be replaced by the scent of lust. The subtle perversion that severed our intimacy with Love itself. <br />Maybe “this is very good” could be read as God saying, “this is very me” Like a parent to a child or a painter to a vibrant canvas; it’s that moment after you’ve made the best meal of your life and it’s presented in a breathtaking fashion on the table awakening all of the senses; and you sit back with your hands rested behind your head; and all you can say is, ‘damn that’s good”.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-76106426778831468292011-03-26T12:28:00.001-04:002011-03-26T12:31:00.817-04:00Broken vs UnwellDay 24<br />If you’ve ever had someone take care you when your sick, you know the tension of being so grateful, yet feeling so helpless. There’s literally nothing you can do in that moment to pay back the kindness, you can only receive it. I’ll be honest not so deep down inside, I love to be taken care of. Because for those one or two days it’s acceptable to do nothing but get better. Lot’s of naps, and juice, some tv, and maybe a little ice cream. Essentially you get to act like a six year old in the name of getting healthy. <br /><br />Being unwell makes us less productive in our work, makes us a threat to others in many cases, and usually is a cause to slow down for a period of time. I see so many of the people I counsel and converse with who understand this principle in the natural but totally miss it spiritually. They are afraid to slow down, to stop serving, to put ministry on hold. Meanwhile they are un-well, their spirits are aching, and they are in need of some relief. <br /><br />If you know anyone who has survived Cancer you know it’s often referred to their “battle” with cancer. Why? Because they did whatever it took to become well. When you fight that hard for wellness, you better believe it’s a battle. <br /><br />There are many ways our spirit can become unwell. Sometimes it’s a soul wound from loosing someone close to you. It can be from business in ministry or family or work where we reach the point of burn out. Even the end of a serious relationship can bruise our soul. The process of two becoming one may come to a greater fulfilment in marriage but it starts much longer before that. That’s what a truly loving relationship is, it’s the process of two souls intertwining and being bound together with the third element of faith making a three strand cord. <br />Eccl 4 <br /><br /> 9Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 11Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?12And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.<br /><br />So when that relationship is severed the soul is confused there is a lot damage done by the ripping apart and untying. There are lots of ways to incur damage to your spirit, to become unwell. But how then do we become well and why is that important in the first place?<br /><br />Mat 19;19 “...and Love your neighbor as your self”. I want you to notice the word AS there. <br />The Greek word can most definitely be translated “in the same way”. Which makes since we usually love our selves with a spirit of self preservation. We, for the most part, don’t let “us” go hungry, thirsty, naked, without a place to sleep, or completely devoid of human contact. And I honestly believe that for those who God puts in our path that need help we should love on them in the same way. <br /><br />That word “as” in Mat 19 can also mean “as you go” or “while you are” it’s a continuous action. I truly believe we can not love others in the healthiest ways unless we are taking care of ourselves. As we are taking care of ourselves, keeping ourselves healthy and loved than we can pour that on other people. And the source of our filling must be the love of the Father. <br /><br />Neh 8;10<br />Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."<br /><br />It is not selfish to take care of yourself, to get well, to be healthy. If anything for those who are in Christ it’s an expression of love for those who God will use us to serve in the future. <br /><br />Galations 6<br /> ...but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.<br /><br />Let me quickly explain that there is a difference in my mind between serving out of brokenness and serving out of un-wellness. We are all broken and God is a God who loves to use the broken. We have flaws, we are not perfect, that’s His job. Sometimes we beat ourselves up to keep pushing and we end up serving out of a place that's unwell and it's not our best. <br />I believe God wants us to be well. and to love others as we are loved My mother describes the difference like this, <br /> “Brokenness I think it is a willingness to be vulnerable about our struggles and pain and deficiencies; but willing to be obedient to God's leading, to continue to serve others in need. And<br />unwell, I feel, means that I am not walking with the Lord in heart and spirit, and if I attempt to minister, it would be in my own wisdom not Holy Spirit guided wisdom, therefore I am unwise to serve in that state.”<br />And I would agree and say often it is our brokenness and our transparency that is the beginning of wellness and healing for our soul and spirit.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-75252879540507286462011-03-24T20:24:00.001-04:002011-03-24T20:26:01.290-04:00Good Griefwhat death can teach us about how to live. <br /><br />Day 23<br />I was talking with a friend who had recently lost her father. He was young and it was rather sudden. His condition declined rapidly and in ten days he was gone. We were talking about how <br />in those times of mourning empathy can sometimes get lost. When you’ve just lost a parent or child the story of a friends aunt or dog passing away doesn’t seem quite rateable. In my experience part of that grieving process is fighting the subtle sense of pride that comes from inside. That feeling that says, “you don’t know how I feel” or “you couldn’t possibly understand”. Because on the surface we want to be alone. But why? Why do we push away the loving consolation in trade for our solace? I believe it’s rejection. <br /><br />Loss, is a club that many people are a part of but no one wants to be in. And it’s very hard to relate to those who are in it, if you haven’t been there. Loss leaves deep impressions. It’s like pushing your hand into one of those memory foam mattress’. It takes time to decompress. And that pressure often causes us to impose our hurt feelings on other people. We become less trusting because someone or someones along the way abandoned us at a time that was “inconvenient”.<br /><br />I first experienced death in a very real way in first grade. My cousin was accidentally ran over in his grandfathers driveway and he did not survive the impact. He was only a few years younger than me. I didn’t fully understand but I saw the pain that hit my family and the way it eventually destroyed his. When I was 12 my grandmother lost a battle with cancer, this time the pain was more personal because for the 11 months preceding her death most of the family my mom and myself included, were by her side. We tried every possible option natural and otherwise, but there was no reversing it. The deepest impression of grief on my soul came just a few weeks before my senior class trip. It was a Wednesday, I would usually stay at my friend Chris’ house on Wednesday nights so we could go to church together. I had just gotten my license and my parents didn’t really love me driving on the NH roads late at night. About an hour before church I got a call from my mom begging me to come home. We fought for a while and then I got in the car and made the 30 min drive back to my house. Her face was flush and my immediate thought was, “who died?”. She stood there with my Step Dad, they were holding eachother and she said, “honey, I’m so sorry, Rodney is dead.” “He had a heart attack just a few hours ago.” Rodney was my moms ex-husband, a man who in no un-certain terms was my Dad. He was my godfather, and he and his wife were ironically enough two of my parents best friends. Rod was the reason I started playing music, the one who helped me design my first website, the man I talked to about all my girl troubles, he even taught me how to pirate music. <br /><br />I remember running into my room and looking at the gun in my closet, it was a little bolt action 22, but I was feeling so much pain I didn’t know what to do with myself. Thankfully I didn’t do anything harmful to me or anyone else, at least not in the physical sense. Instead I put on my strong face. I tried to be the soldier for my parents and everyone else. I locked down my emotions, I made it through the class trip, and a few weeks later a soldiered through graduation, I even made it through my first semester at college. My second semester however, I was at a prayer meeting on campus and for some reason no-one showed up except me and Mike. Mike and I had been in a band together in NH and he kind of followed me / I talked him into coming to school with me so we could be rockstars. <br /><br />MIke knew something was wrong and that night he pushed my buttons, and he kept pushing them, bringing up a past I wasn’t ready to face, pouring salt into wounds that had been covered up but not healed. He kept digging in, making me talk about it, about Rod, about how mich I loved him and how mich I missed him and what he meant to me. Mike wouldn’t let up, I was angry at God and mike knew it and he wouldn’t let me go until I got honest. And I got honest, I yelled, I swore, and finally I cried, for the first time since that moment I shared with my 22 I cried. So hard in fact I passed out for a few minuets. And though opening up and breaking down didn’t make it all better it started the healing process. I process I could not have done on my own. <br /><br />The truth is we all grieve at some point, and we all hear these words, “If there’s anything I can do...”. They sound so hollow and so empty at the time, but they also mean everything. <br />Love believes all things, hopes the best, keeps no record of hurt or wrong. So when you lose someone you love, is it possible to not hold it against them? To love them in their absence. More importantly is it possible to not force the pain and rejection we feel, the abandonment, the longing, on those who are trying to be there for us. Just because one person leaves me, hurts me, let’s me down, doesn’t mean everyone in my life is out to get me. It just means I’m wounded. <br /><br />It’s okay to be wounded. we just can’t live there. <br />Romans 12<br />10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,13contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.<br /> 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.<br /><br />Mike didn’t just make me grieve, he grieved with me. He climbed deep into my story and so even though he had never experienced loss in the same way that I had, his empathy was real and sweet and freeing. I had to be willing to let him in sure, but he had to be willing to come in the first place. Being family, together, as believers, is hard. It’s messy and frustrating and sometimes hurtful. But it’s also beautiful and redeeming. Follow the voice of the holy spirit and if you are lead to come along side someone, even if it’s tough, do it. If I have no arms I can not hug, with no feet I can not walk beside you, If I have no mouth than I have no comforting words to say...with this in mind how much more important is it for us to be the “body” of Christ. To be a hug to the hurting, to walk beside the broken, and to speak life to the lost and dying. Amen.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-1942910785053277822011-03-24T02:02:00.000-04:002011-03-24T02:03:11.261-04:00New And Improved and other myths of happinessDay 22<br />A while back I was going through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course. One of the lessons was about communicating with your spouse. He was communicating that in most relationships there are two personalities represented. One is the free spirit and the other is the nerd. Financially speaking the tight wad hoarder and the care free spender. And sometimes I feel like this is how we approach God and His Love. We think God’s love is free and open and hippie dippy or we think he should be revered, holy, and solemn. And it’s this differentiation that entire doctrines, dogmas, and denominations are built upon. <br /><br />If there are two words we love in the west it’s “new” and “improved”. Not as much in recent years, but before the economies substantial downturn we loved all things bigger and better. Houses, SUV’s, Value Meals, we were all about the upgrade. One of the things Nashville is known for is it’s large selection of churches. Which creates what some call the “consumer” Christian. Someone who kind moves from church to church taking it its goodness until he or she finds a reason to become board or disenfranchised and moves on. <br /><br />But isn’t this somewhat of a common thread through out church history over the last 200 years or so? There is a specific move of God or a unique encounter with the Holy Spirit for a particular people in an appointed place. It’s a beautiful anointed experience and then next thing you know there’s a book on the shelf with seven easy steps to get God to perform the same way again. So one pastor in England feels called to fast and pray for 30 days and documents his story and his encounters with God and then a small revival breaks out in his village. Our tendency is to look at that and say, “okay if I pray and fast for exactly 30 days, and pray like that pastor prayed, then God will send revival to my neighborhood too. <br /><br />We make God a math equation. It’s like some sort of divine word problem where the end result is...THIS is how we do church now! Which is a very different conversation than, “this is how we do church NOW”. One assumes the past is obsolete and pushes toward new as the greater good. The other understands that while the fundamental truths of the faith are non-negotiable many of the systems and process are only for a season. It’s strange how with each revelation of grace we quickly turn God’s goodness into a system. We trade one form of slavery for another. <br />What was once “We MUST go to church on Sunday night because it’s part of keeping the Sabbath Holy” was Traded for “We value family so we don’t meet on Sunday night but members MUST go to a small group meeting once a week”. We trade hymns for “contemporary” worship songs. We trade wine for grape juice, stained glass for fog machines and pulpits for wireless headset microphones. <br /><br />None of that stuff is necessarily bad until you start to despise the older and revere the newer as “better”. As with so many things in the Christian faith we trade relationship for a system. We’re taught that the reason we don’t cheat on our spouse is because it’s “BAD” and Christians shouldn't do bad things. I don’t stay faithful because it’s bad not to, I stay faithful because it’s unloving not to. Because cheating on my spouse breaks my intimacy and trust and relationship. <br />I don’t take the Lord’s name in vain because it doesn’t show love for someone I genuinely care about NOT because it’s bad. The same goes for many of our traditions. <br /><br />As a worship leader I use contemporary songs the majority of the time because that’s what the people I”m serving connect to God the best through. However, there are times when singing a more traditional hymn is just right. It touches a place that the spirit is trying to move at that moment and thus it becomes “better” than something new. It’s honestly not about what is or is not “better” in the broad sense. Only what is good and right and true in that moment. <br /><br />Please do not confuse this for wishy wash beliefs. God never changes. His truth is consistent. His love endures forever. The way experience God as a community of believers however, is an ever evolving process. For many years I felt uncomfortable when someone would recite the Lords prayer or the Apostles Creed. Why? Because I was raised in a culture that had moved out of religious and nominal Catholicism. The verse that was often quoted was, “speak not in vein repetition”... For us at the time the logical application was to cease all prayers and recitations for fear of being involved in these vein repetitions. The problem with that stream of thought is the key word in that verse is vein NOT repetition. <br /><br />Many of the traditions we have set aside in our attempts to be “relevant” are rooted somewhere deep in the history of the church, and are not vein at all, but rather quite special. I’m not saying we should all go out and put stained glass in our meeting centers. I’m just saying before you discard something as passe’ look at the history. Take a little time to know how we got to where we are now. You might be surprised just how deep some of those roots go. <br /><br />We’ve done a good job of keeping Jesus famous. We’ve traded cathedrals for megaplex facilities and bell towers for 80 ft. crosses on the side of the interstate. And all along the way someone has thought …”this is the best way to honor God”. I don’t know what the best way to make Jesus famous is. But I do have some thoughts on what He should be famous for. And it’s not a building, a ceremony, a music style, or a best selling book. If we seek to know and share God as the center of a true and honest relationship and fight the urge to make a system of ever changing new normals I truly believe something special will come of it.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-44328646271647911152011-03-21T12:04:00.000-04:002011-03-21T12:05:26.193-04:00What's in A nameTaking the family name for better or worse. <br /> day 21<br />Over the last few years the term “Christian” has gone through some intense scrutiny. Many well intentioned believers have become hesitant to use that term because of all the baggage that is attached to it. At which point we developed all sorts of colloquial spiritual euphemisms as a substitute. When asked about our beliefs we answer with things like, I”m spiritual but not religious or I’m not a christian so much as I am a follower of Christ. <br /> <br />Isn’t it amazing how much power is in a name? A couple of words that come fully loaded with 2000 years of history for better or worse, from Crusades, church governments, revivals, and renewals to protests, outreaches, amazing music, not so amazing music and so on. It’s all there in this one word. Christian. Some of it’s embarrassing, hurtful, and destructive. Some of it is beautiful, redemptive, and compassionate. <br /><br />My Mom got re-married to my step dad when I was five or so. I remember not totally loving the idea of their marriage at first. In fact I think I said something to the effect of, Why are going to have a wedding with him can’t you just marry me?”. Thankfully she declined my offer. Ten years later, when it was time to start thinking about getting my license and work papers I asked my parents an odd question. I asked if I could change my name. Legally I still carried my mothers maiden name. I had been sort of using my step-dads last name casually for years but the State is not cool with such in-formalities. I didn’t want to be the only one in our little family with a different last name. So we went to the courthouse, filled out the paper-work and presented our case. The judge granted the request and my “new” name became official. <br /><br />I carry that name proudly. When I started my Advertising Company in 2007 I used my last name as part of the company title. But the Morris family doesn’t exactly have a spotless record. Our family history is full of alcohol and drug abuse, sexual misconduct, anger, abandonment and that’s just in the last two generations. Lord knows what kind of skeletons lie in the closets of the Morris clan 1200 years ago in Scotland. At 15 though, I wasn’t concerned with any such sentiment. All I knew was I loved my family and wanted to share their name. <br /><br />And maybe that’s what the name Christian is. Maybe it’s less about an ideology and more about taking a family name. I mean, there are numerous references in scripture to us being the family of God and Jesus teaches us to pray “our Father”. And if it is a family name, doesn’t that mean we have an opportunity to do it justice, to carry it with pride, and try to bring just a little restoration? The truth is even will all of the horrible things that have been done in the name of Christianity there have been some beautiful ones as well. Those are the stories that need to be told, lived, and written. As believers we have a unique opportunity to re-define what Christianity means in our family, neighborhood, and spheres of influence. <br /><br />Is it possible that Christianity doesn’t have to be shaped by Jesus fish and WWJD bumper stickers? Can we be known for more than having our own t-shirts and music? Is there a chance for us to show the world what we are about and not what we are against? We chose to be in this family for a reason. I hope that reason was as a response to a Loving God and not to attain some sort of fire insurance. The early church was known for it’s generosity, for how it took care of the orphans, widows, and needy. That’s how the gospel was spread, people experienced the good news, they didn’t just hear about it. Community is not sharing MY life with YOU, or YOUR life with ME, It's sharing HIS life with EACHOTHER.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-73219775820330855862011-03-18T14:52:00.002-04:002011-03-18T15:00:09.740-04:00Bouncers and Bad PublicityDay 20<br />God's image as our compulsion to love<br /><br />it's a constant process. So many people they can't "see" God and so God gets mixed in with religion and it all becomes part of this whole cultural exhistance. The truth is we can "see" God if we are looking through the lense of the Holy Spirit...I can see Him in you, In the face of the poor and hungary, In the kindness of strangers, even in nature or unbelievers because they all carry traces of the Image of God<br /><br />Jesus is moments from taking his last breath. Hanging on the cross, totally mutilated, exhausted, and surrounded by the darkness that had fallen at mid-day. Then Jesus asks a simple question of His Father. “Where are you, why have you abandoned me?”( Matthew 27) And the word abandoned is rooted in this imagery of being made an outcast. An outcast from what? It seems to be, from the intimate presence of God. Much like Adam and Eve after their sin, when God removed them from the garden. Their interaction with God changed. And it was sin that caused Jesus’ interaction with God to change at that moment, our sin, the sin of humanity. It seems Jesus was abandoned for a moment so that we could have acceptance forever. <br /><br /> I’ve never met anyone who was happy to be stood up, or excited to be left at the altar. It’s a horrible feeling and it quickly changes the way we perceive the world around us. In my early twenties I spent many of my weekends hanging out at bars and clubs, the swanky ones with the pulsing sub-woofers and drinks served from real glasses and a dress code. There was always a bouncer, that single solitary figure standing between you and what you only hoped would be the best night of your life, since last weekend. And most nights getting in was no big deal, flash the ID, get the glow in the dark stamp, and be about your business. But every once in a while something would go a little askew. The cover would be astronomical, or my over-priced pre-ripped jeans wouldn’t be acceptable for the dress code, or occasionally there would be a bouncer who just straight up didn’t believe the guy on my license was me. Let’s be honest I was insecure enough as it was, so being rejected but what I could only assume was either A. an ex Conn or B. a police academy reject, made me pretty upset. It would start with, “ I deserve to get in. It’s my right, and would wind up somewhere around, This club sucks any way, that guy’s a moron, I’m out of here. <br /><br />And that’s how it goes. One min we’re waiting in line with great anticipation of something great, the next min. we’re considering putting a call in to the health inspector to “report some rats.” Because not only are we never going to that club again; We are going to do everything in our power to make sure none of our friends, family, or social network, go either.And isn't that how we as Believers act sometimes. We act as some sort of pseudo-spiritual bouncer for the kingdom. It's a whosever will may come with an "as long as" clause. Whether it be corporately or individually we make these little judgment calls on who is and who is not a good candidate for community and ultimately grace. WIth that rejection comes the repercussions. The Church has found so much of it's identity in what it's against that we miss out on the opportunity to show people what we are for. <br /><br />Why is rejection so hard for us? God in his very nature is an eternally relational being. Genesis points out the when man was created God said, “let us make man in our image”. It would seem the dialogue is happening between God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Word. Which isn’t quite as strange as it sounds. Don’t we do this all the time. Twelve o’clock rolls around and your body gets hungry, and your emotions say I want a steak, and your mind reminds you that you can’t afford steak, and this internal dialogue between your brain, your emotions, and your physical need starts to happen until a decision is made. We are a less complex, assimilation of a God who is both personal and expansive. We are created in the image of that eternally relational being and thus it would seem rejection is contrary to the very foundation of our creation. <br /><br />The longer I am a believer the more I really question if the Great Commandment and the ten commandments and the Levitical law and the letters of Paul that we have made such cemented Dogmas around are not more descriptive than prescriptive. I completely take II Timothy 3:16 at face value. I hold fast that the Word of God is true. But also try to be very clear that I worship The God of The Bible NOT the Bible itself. I really think much of that stuff was written as a survival guide and a love letter. Some of it was very culture specific for a people and a time and most of it is transcendent, good, applicable stuff. Love God & Love Others seems pretty relational to me, coming from a God who designed us in His image. A God that takes up titles like husband and father, a God who asks us to pray for his Kingdom to come, so that the space between Heaven and earth can close in just a little bit more each day. <br /><br /> We can "see" God if we are looking at each other through the lens of the Holy Spirit...I can see Him in you, In the faces of the poor and hungry, In the kindness of strangers, even in nature and those who are not yet saved, Because all of creation carries these traces of the Image of God. When we reject them we reject him. We love because HE first loved us. He Gave us the first fruits, the top quality selection, of His love. As we recieve that love we begin to see humanity as Image Carriers. We place value you on our believing brothers and sisters, we gain a compassion for the broken and the hurting, we tap into a desire to communicate with those who are not relationally engaged with God the Father to hear their story, share our own, and pray that the power of the gospel compels their soul to light up and walk out it’s deepest destiny. To know and be known. Love Others.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-81741046033779817722011-03-17T18:25:00.001-04:002011-03-17T18:27:55.106-04:00A quick note on loveHere are some lyrics from a song I've been working on with my friend Julia. <br /><br />Wait - why’d you look at me that way?<br />You took my breathe w/ just one phrase<br />Then disappeared like yesterdays<br />I didn’t know I felt this way<br /><br />For you now<br />Something has changed<br />And I never saw it coming<br />but you got my heart running in spades<br />I know that it’s no game<br /><br />Lovers and friends<br />Lovers and friends<br />And you break up my day<br />You change all my plans<br /><br />Lovers and friends<br />Lovers and friends<br />Sketching out hearts <br />With our toes in the sand<br />(Trading a walk in the park for a dance)<br />I’m so in love...<br /><br />I love our Saturday’s<br />Coffee and a matinee<br />The sweet nothings that you say<br />They mean everything to me<br /><br />Take my hand<br />We’ll drive the city home<br />I never will regret<br />having given you the best of my heart<br />Cause I know it’s just the start<br />Lovers and friends<br /><br />Your kiss is like a roller coaster, your touch is like a movie scene <br />Baby come a little bit closer, you got me on the edge of my seatj.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-58036055072338928992011-03-15T01:16:00.002-04:002011-03-15T01:19:19.230-04:00Love Letters from Mt Sinai PART 2Imagine if you were planning a trip to Uganda and had never visited Africa before. How grateful would you be for a letter written by a local or someone who had lived there for an extended period of time, a letter with advice on what was safe to eat, what plants to stay away from and how to interact with the natives. Maybe we should look at the law less like a rule book and more like a survival guide. What about the Ten Commandments? Well let’s look at what Jesus says about the Law. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Fulfillment of the Law<br />17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.<br />Murder<br />21“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,a and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.<br />23“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.<br />25“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.<br />Adultery<br />27“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’e 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.<br />Divorce<br />31“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’f 32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.<br />Oaths<br />33“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.<br />An Eye for an Eye<br />38“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.<br />Love for Enemies<br />43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.<br /></span><br /><br />or maybe more simply stated in Matthew 22<br /><br /> <span style="font-style:italic;"> 34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”</span><br /><br />And it seems like that’s all the law ever was. It’s relational. Look at the tend commandments, it’s like God was giving the children of Israel some practical advice on how to maintain good community. Like He was saying, “If you love me you will hang out with me once a week, you will keep me as the most important priority in your life, you will only use my name in high regard.” and “If you love each other you will take care of each-other, you’ll encourage each-other to be thankful for what you have, you’ll hold life to a high esteem. Maybe these commandments were more descriptive than prescriptive and all Jesus was doing by saying, I’m not abolishing the law but fulfilling it, was hitting a reset button. <br /><br />The leaders of the Hebrew faith had almost 400 years between the close of the old testament and the birth of Jesus to “interpret” the law. And by interpret I mean they turned it into a non-relational, religious, who measures up and who doesn’t systemic approach to holiness. <br />Jesus was kind of saying, “Hey guys, listen, remember in the beginning when it was relational and love centered? Yeah, I’m here to bring it back to that. No more killing animals, no more priests or holy of hollies, it’s me.” Before we can sit on our high horse and point fingers at the Pharisees for “missing the point” we have to admit that we do the same thing. Let’s be honest it’s really hard to accept the grace that doesn’t come with strings and it’s really hard to believe that “obeying” the law could be so simple. Simple but not easy.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15236158.post-12974931352386975122011-03-15T01:12:00.003-04:002011-03-15T01:16:24.943-04:00Love Letters from Mt SinaiDAY 18 <br />God Law Filled Love Letter<br /><br />My friend Dan is a youth pastor. Dan was telling the kids about about Jesus feeding the multitude with the loaves and the fish. He was making a correlation between Jesus’ miracle and and the way God can do powerful and crazy things in our lives. Dan asked the kids to think of some examples of things they could pray for, areas they were hoping God would do something amazing. My favorite party of the story was the response of one of Dan’s Ninth Graders. Charleigh raised her hand and simply replied, “Jesus multiplied the loaves in the fish?, Like out of thin air?, Like some kind of magic trick?”.<br /><br />I think what Charleigh was articulating was a sentiment that resonates with many of us. Sometimes we’re so busy digging out the deeper truths that we miss the beautiful STORY of the Gospel. I believe both approaches are valuable, but what seems to happen is that many believers spend years under life application teaching and miss out on the power of the larger narrative. I know for me as a teacher there is a constant tension to find that balance. It’s a tension that Jesus walked through so beautifully, referencing the Hebrew Scriptures, using parables, and making bold direct points. <br /><br />Recently I was talking with a friend of mine, who is an assistant at the Sister church of the ministry I work with. She and I were discussing some different spiritual topics and the subject of “The Law” came up. What is the law, and why are we so afraid of if? Sometimes in an attempt to simplify things our theology gets diluted down to speaking points and Jesus covered catch phrases. Which is where we get ideas like, “I live by the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law.” or “I’m a son I’m not a slave” , or even “We’re not under the law anymore, I live by grace”. None of which are necessarily bad statements. In fact they are amazingly powerful, beautifully rich statements when you know the 4000 years of history associated with them. <br /><br />What is the Law? Imagine a nation that has spent 400 years in slavery. Uneducated, worked to the bone, and unfamiliar with anything other than the culture of their captures. This is where we find Israel as Moses leads them out of Egypt. Leveticus is a book often overlooked because it’s full of awkward and sometimes disgusting lists of things to stay away from. But the Levitical law wasn’t Gods way of taking people out of one form of slavery and placing them in another. It was a love letter to an otherwise ignorant group newly freed Hebrews. A way to protect the people that He cared so much about. (TO BE CONT>>>)j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07487671505391910710noreply@blogger.com0