I am interested in your thoughts on this so please post comments...
"After we had previosly suffered and been outrageoiusly treated in Phillippi, as ou know, we were emobldened by our God to speak the gospel of God in spite of great opposition." ! Thess. 2:2
Within the gospel of God there seems to be an element that, almost naturally, stirs up opposition and disdain in the soul of man. Why? Man angrily rejects the truth that a free gift has been granted him if only he would take it. What is it in us that makes us that way? Is it pride? Think deeper. What is it that rises up in man when the gospel is given as the truth?
If a man began on a road trip with abosolutely no destination and at some point during his trip he realized he must have a goal. He must at some point decide where he wants to go. Would he then become hostile when the desitnation was revealed to him? Would he reject the one who gave him directions? Is this the sel-made man, or the "nuclear man" as Nouwen called it? The man who makes his own life, his own destiny, even if in doing so he is conforming to one or the other already chosen for him?
3.31.2007
Biggest Loser Update...
I'm down 7 lbs baby. Maybe its water, maybe its fat, maybe I'm a weight loss machine!!!! Either way the scale says i'm lighter and on my way to being $90 richer! Only problem is there is a month and a half left...YIKES!
3.27.2007
3.21.2007
The Biggest Loser
For some reason I agreed to do the Biggest Loser competition with two of my coworkers. Yesterday was our first day, so we weighed in (not a pretty thing). The competition ends on May 18th, our last day of work. I figure either way, whether I win the $90.00 pot or not, I am a winner. I have a good shot. I am facing two big guys. Right now this doesn't seem like so much fun, lots of excerise, little eating, I'll keep you posted on how its going.
3.19.2007
my selfishness hates your selfishness
I witnessed this moment on my flight yesterday that I have been putting a lot of thought into. You know that moment, I mean the very second, the plane has finished taxing up to the gate and everyone shoots up out of their chairs like their seat is on fire? They all the sudden have to get off the plane or they just might die? It never happens that you can just get off, you have to wait till they open the door, but everyone will stand up and get their stuff ready, I guess to save a few seconds. Anyway, this lady two seats up from me shot up and looked at the guy in the row accross the aisle and said, almost panicked, "Excuse me, I need to get my bag down I have a plane to catch in 30 minutes." The guy quickly complied. I then heard a lady two seats behind me say outloud, "Like none of the rest of us do." She said it to no one in particular, but really to everyone around her as if she hoped to find support in her disdain for this first lady.
I started thinking about that situation and about selfishness. The second lady was calling the first lady out on her selfishness, on the world being centered around her needs, but why did the second lady care? It had nothing to do with her, so why did it seem to affect her so? Selfishness is funny like that. If I am not concerned about my own well-being (selflessness) someone's selfishenss has no impact on me. But when another's selfishness begins to rub up against mine, that is when that "second lady" comes out. The selfishness of others is a threat to my selfishness, it rubs against it and makes me say and think things like, "As if she's the only one, I have a plane to catch to." If I wasn't selfish, or so concerned about my needs, lady one's comment would evaporate in the air. I saw more of lady two in myself than I would have liked.
I started thinking about that situation and about selfishness. The second lady was calling the first lady out on her selfishness, on the world being centered around her needs, but why did the second lady care? It had nothing to do with her, so why did it seem to affect her so? Selfishness is funny like that. If I am not concerned about my own well-being (selflessness) someone's selfishenss has no impact on me. But when another's selfishness begins to rub up against mine, that is when that "second lady" comes out. The selfishness of others is a threat to my selfishness, it rubs against it and makes me say and think things like, "As if she's the only one, I have a plane to catch to." If I wasn't selfish, or so concerned about my needs, lady one's comment would evaporate in the air. I saw more of lady two in myself than I would have liked.
3.18.2007
Know thy self
This has been a year of realization and revelation. It has been both painful and powerful, it has been a catalyst for change in my life and in my heart, moving me to places I never thought I would go, strengthing my character, refining my faith in the fire, making me into image of Christ.
Something that has occured to me recently is that it is impossible to know yourself outside the realm of community. They say you don't know someone until you live with them, well I would take it a step further to say you don't know yourself until you live with someone. Its the eyes of other people that see you more clearly than you could ever hope to see yourself that you begin to see things that you never knew existed, both good and bad. You learn so much about yourself when you have someone who knows what you're like when you wake up, when you go to sleep, when you eat your meals, when you've had a hard day, late at night, when you cry, when you're goofy, when you're frustrated, in your every little comings and goings, when you interact with the world around you, when you interact with Jesus....this is the person who knows you better than you know you.
If you are every lucky enough to have a friend/roommate combo like this, one who deeply cares about you as a person, you will begin to learn things about yourself that you never knew existed.
I am THANKFUL for my roommate. She has taught me so much about life, Jesus and myself. She reinforces the good in me I fail to notice and she tells me when I'm being an idiot and couldn't be more clueless. I think this is the definition of community, of brotherly love. My heart is filled with gratitude.
Something that has occured to me recently is that it is impossible to know yourself outside the realm of community. They say you don't know someone until you live with them, well I would take it a step further to say you don't know yourself until you live with someone. Its the eyes of other people that see you more clearly than you could ever hope to see yourself that you begin to see things that you never knew existed, both good and bad. You learn so much about yourself when you have someone who knows what you're like when you wake up, when you go to sleep, when you eat your meals, when you've had a hard day, late at night, when you cry, when you're goofy, when you're frustrated, in your every little comings and goings, when you interact with the world around you, when you interact with Jesus....this is the person who knows you better than you know you.
If you are every lucky enough to have a friend/roommate combo like this, one who deeply cares about you as a person, you will begin to learn things about yourself that you never knew existed.
I am THANKFUL for my roommate. She has taught me so much about life, Jesus and myself. She reinforces the good in me I fail to notice and she tells me when I'm being an idiot and couldn't be more clueless. I think this is the definition of community, of brotherly love. My heart is filled with gratitude.
3.17.2007
A new way to pee your pants
So, this is both really gross and really funny, enjoy! So today Trey and I were going to go to Walmart really quick and buy a wireless router for my mom. I had some gym shorts on my floor I had worn yesterday so I put them on real quick and we went out the door. Halfway to Walmart (a 15 minute drive) I smelled something funny....then I felt something wet. Not just anything...one of my shorts legs. Yep, doggie pee. SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trey laughed hysterically and said turn around....I was determined not to turn around, but I was severly grossed out the whole trip.; YUCKIE!!
Spring Break 07
I spent my spring break in San Antonio, Texas with 60 college students, 1 charter bus, 9 soaking wet tents and 5 days of non-stop rain. We worked with the homeless in the city. It was an amazing trip for so many different reasons. We stayed in this gorgeous camp ground called Paradise Canyon, set on the Medina River fed by natural hot springs and surrounded by a rock face canyon wall. The only problem was it started raining on our second day, flooded our tents and soaked all of stuff. So all 60 people moved into this small cabin we happened to rent out for the week on the land. I have never seen community build like I saw there, constant brushing up against people formed this amazing bond.
While we were there I started reading this book called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It is a autobiography of sorts of this guy is living out the Way of Jesus through his ministry to the poor. It is quite fascinated, convicting and down right disturbing. He is doing the very simple commandments in the bible in his daily life, the ones we like to idealize and never actually do, the ones we sit at Starbucks and discuss and never actually put into action. He says this about giving to charity,
"It is much more comfortable to depersonlize the poor so we don't feel responsible for the humna failure that results in someone sleeping on the street while people have spare bedorooms in thier homes. We can volunteer in a social program or distribute excess food and clothing thourh organizations and never have to open our homes, or beds, our dinner tables. I'm just not convinced Jesus is going to say, "When I was hungry you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me, or when I was naked you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me." Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He seeks concrete acts of love: "you fed me..you visted me in prison, you welcomed me into your home...you clothed me."
Very interesting...so am I, by blogging about this, being another detached Christian who loves to idealize the way of Jesus or am I seeking to change my very nature and act on what I know to be the command of Scripture?
While we were there I started reading this book called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It is a autobiography of sorts of this guy is living out the Way of Jesus through his ministry to the poor. It is quite fascinated, convicting and down right disturbing. He is doing the very simple commandments in the bible in his daily life, the ones we like to idealize and never actually do, the ones we sit at Starbucks and discuss and never actually put into action. He says this about giving to charity,
"It is much more comfortable to depersonlize the poor so we don't feel responsible for the humna failure that results in someone sleeping on the street while people have spare bedorooms in thier homes. We can volunteer in a social program or distribute excess food and clothing thourh organizations and never have to open our homes, or beds, our dinner tables. I'm just not convinced Jesus is going to say, "When I was hungry you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me, or when I was naked you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me." Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He seeks concrete acts of love: "you fed me..you visted me in prison, you welcomed me into your home...you clothed me."
Very interesting...so am I, by blogging about this, being another detached Christian who loves to idealize the way of Jesus or am I seeking to change my very nature and act on what I know to be the command of Scripture?
3.09.2007
Series of Scripture Part 2
"And the Word became FLESH, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
The Word became flesh!!!!!!! Enough said! Thank you Jesus!
The Word became flesh!!!!!!! Enough said! Thank you Jesus!
3.06.2007
The odd fruit
I have recently seen this fruit everywhere, I have even eaten a few. I started thinking, "Why grapefruit?" I mean it isn't a grape, nor does it favor one in any form of fashion. It is also, not common to define a word with the word itself. Why add fruit to the end of name, isn't it obvious that is what it is?
It would be like naming a cucumber a "broccoli vegetable" instead of a cucumber and that is just absurd.
Any thoughts?
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