I think this is one of the best evangelical tools out there. Solarium is Latin for "sun" and oh how it can shed new light in contextualizing the Gospel to a visually based culture.
www.campuscrusade.com/WSN/soul.htm
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Where The Wild Things Are
This is what I have been dreaming of all week. Please watch this in HD.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=--N9klJXbjQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=--N9klJXbjQ
Sharks
“If you watch the movie ‘Jaws’ backwards, it’s a movie about a shark that keeps throwing up people until they have to open a beach.”
Thursday, March 26, 2009
To Trim, To Bite, To Brim
Okay here is the story. I am very proud of my finger nails. I normally do not feel this way, but the last few weeks I do. Why? Because usually I will use my teeth to "manicure" my nails.
Now by manicure I do not mean metro-sexually polish, file, paint ect. I mean I take care of them. I upkeep them. A guy a work with--Buys--disagreed with me tonight about the definition of "manicuring." Buys is a warrior among men. I will liken him to a soldier from 300, only with a dislocated collar bone (which causes him no pain I might add), a Virginian accent, a tattoo, and an incredible knack for sniffing out a car trying to nosedive into the valet lot. Basically the man, excuse me, warrior, is the Apollo Creed of our generation.
Naturally Buys thinks any word relating to a man that sounds remotely feminine is off limits to the tongue of our gender.
Nevertheless, I used the word manicure. I should have known better. We then spent the next 20 minutes looking on dictionary.com first defining "manicure," then defining "trim," and finally moving on to define "bite."
Buys thought people who "manicure" their nails without the use of finger nail clippers in fact "bite" their nails. I disagreed.
I viewed biting as a form of chomping with no other purpose other than to appease an oral fixation. Biting in my mind had no purpose. For example, a person does not bite their food. No, their purpose is to nourish their body and so they "chew" their food. If this is true I also do not "chew" my nail as I would food.
Instead I suggested that I "trim" my nails. By saying I trim my nails I tactfully define manicure and I avoid having to admit that I bite my nails.
Upon looking up these words however we came to find that I in fact used to bite and trim my nails.
So what then was our response?
...
...
...
"BRIM."
Now by manicure I do not mean metro-sexually polish, file, paint ect. I mean I take care of them. I upkeep them. A guy a work with--Buys--disagreed with me tonight about the definition of "manicuring." Buys is a warrior among men. I will liken him to a soldier from 300, only with a dislocated collar bone (which causes him no pain I might add), a Virginian accent, a tattoo, and an incredible knack for sniffing out a car trying to nosedive into the valet lot. Basically the man, excuse me, warrior, is the Apollo Creed of our generation.
Naturally Buys thinks any word relating to a man that sounds remotely feminine is off limits to the tongue of our gender.
Nevertheless, I used the word manicure. I should have known better. We then spent the next 20 minutes looking on dictionary.com first defining "manicure," then defining "trim," and finally moving on to define "bite."
Buys thought people who "manicure" their nails without the use of finger nail clippers in fact "bite" their nails. I disagreed.
I viewed biting as a form of chomping with no other purpose other than to appease an oral fixation. Biting in my mind had no purpose. For example, a person does not bite their food. No, their purpose is to nourish their body and so they "chew" their food. If this is true I also do not "chew" my nail as I would food.
Instead I suggested that I "trim" my nails. By saying I trim my nails I tactfully define manicure and I avoid having to admit that I bite my nails.
Upon looking up these words however we came to find that I in fact used to bite and trim my nails.
So what then was our response?
...
...
...
"BRIM."
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
A Dangerous Train of Thought
It seems easier for people--me specifically--to sin in today's world as opposed to pre-passion time. (By pre-passion I mean before Jesus went to the cross. Specifically during the time when Jesus was walking the earth.) Why? Well as I was thinking about sin today I thought, "No I can't let myself sin because my sin, along with everyone else's, is the reason why Jesus needed to die." Then I thought, "But Jesus already died and came back to life, so technically I'm not relly hurting anyone because the suffering already took place. All I would really be doing is frustrating God."
Friends that is forsaking the Gospel! I share this thought with you for a few reasons;
Jesus died to atone, propitiate God's wrath, expiate our uncleanness, give us hope in the midst of this broken world and to be the chief glory of the father. Please do not allow the Gospel of Christ to become a historical event which you think you are not apart of. Be assured you are.
For more info read the letters of Paul and Peter.
Start at 1 Peter 1:3-9 then move on to verse 13 noticing when Paul says THEREFORE he is refering back to verses 3-12.
Friends that is forsaking the Gospel! I share this thought with you for a few reasons;
- To tell those of you who may say the same thing in the midst of your habitual sin and or addiction that you are not unique, I share your sinful thoughts.
- To inform you that this train of thinking is dangerous, heretical and sinful. So DO NOT buy into it.
- To tell you the Gospel of Jesus do not just end with his death on the cross! We must take into account the ressurection. There is so much power in that. (That is a topic for another blog though)
Jesus died to atone, propitiate God's wrath, expiate our uncleanness, give us hope in the midst of this broken world and to be the chief glory of the father. Please do not allow the Gospel of Christ to become a historical event which you think you are not apart of. Be assured you are.
For more info read the letters of Paul and Peter.
Start at 1 Peter 1:3-9 then move on to verse 13 noticing when Paul says THEREFORE he is refering back to verses 3-12.
Why Do Church?
This is a posting from Mr. John Piper's blog. A theologian among theologians, this man has one of the deepest understandings of the christian life/christianity i have ever heard articulated.
For more info check out youtube.com and type in his name or read some of his other blog postings.
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1700_Why_Do_Church/
For more info check out youtube.com and type in his name or read some of his other blog postings.
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1700_Why_Do_Church/
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thoughts from 3/18
A few days ago Jessica asked me how I was doing. Jessica is the lovely girl from North Carolina. If you have never met Jessica let me give you a window into her personality; she has a fervent "dislike" for UNC, she dances and smiles a lot, she has an amazing family, and she is very....very good at grammar.
Where was I? She asked me how I was doing, right. So this was my response on 3/18
"Today I am predicating my intimacy with the Father on MY pursuit of Him through the saturation of truth--the Bible--rather than on the person of Jesus through the work of his life and cross. I am learning there is such a weight in Jesus being the way to the the Father. The living reality that Jesus intercedes for us is huge."
Give my words grace, I was trying to fit a few hours of thought into a text message answer. Naturally it lacks depth, but allow me to expound. Being rooted in scripture--by that I mean reading, memorizing and discussing scripture--is vital in the process of renewing our minds.
However, on a day like the 18th I found myself thinking a very dangerous religious thing. I thought, "Man I don't FEEL very close with the Lord today. It is probably because I haven't been reading my Bible very consistently. Yeah I really need read the Bible THEN I will be right with the Lord."
Can I share with you the lie in that? First, our relationship with the Father does not hinge on how we feel. Our relationship with the Father--Christian's call this the new covenant--hinges on the work of Jesus' life, climaxing at the moment of the cross and resurrection. Hear that please. You were gifted the opportunity of relationship with Holy God. You did not earn. You do nothing for it. You did not deserve it, because frankly, you suck at life.
Now at this point don't get all hard heart-ed, I suck too. If you keep reading this blog you will see just much I suck. So feel better knowing that I am right there with you and I'd be glad to tell you all the ways that I do, but that is not the point in this blog. The point is you and Jesus and the Father.
Second, to say that I need to read my bible then the Lord will be close to me is backwards theology. Is it good, pleasing to the Lord, Biblical, beneficial to read our Bibles? Absolutely. Should we pursue the Lord with all passion, fervency, and zeal? Absolutely. Does the Lord respond to our pursuit of Him? Yes. BUT (and this is a HUGE "BUT", one of the most important "Buts") we ought not think that we gain right standing with the Lord based on our level of effort. We should put effort forth, the christian life is marked by putting effort forth, BUT not before we accept the free gift of grace from Jesus that puts us into right standing with the Father. This was not where my heart was on the 18th.
My heart's condition was one of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, independence, and pride. Am I being too harsh? Not if rebuke and conviction drives us to a deeper appreciation of Christ.
In addition, it is important to understand God has a different set of standards than we do. And I do not mean the 10 commandments only. No, we must not look only to those standards. We must look to the law of Christ. What does He say about how we are to examine ourselves.He is creator, we are creation. He is judge, we are not. He does not think like we think. He does not act like we act. We must look to him as our character reference, not man made moral standards.
Ok so what is the point? 3 things.
1. If you are under the false doctrine of self-sufficiency and are looking at your relationship w/ the Father as an "If, Then Statement" you should repent. Turn toward truth and embrace the gift of grace.
2. Read the scripture. Paul speaks volumes as to what the Gospel of Christ is. Galatians and 1 Peter 1:3-9 are wonderful pieces of encouragement.
3. Pray about these words, as you should about all the words you read here. As Bryan Stupar, teaching pastor at Calvary SLO, says, "I can promise you two things from this blog; messes and Jesus."
Where was I? She asked me how I was doing, right. So this was my response on 3/18
"Today I am predicating my intimacy with the Father on MY pursuit of Him through the saturation of truth--the Bible--rather than on the person of Jesus through the work of his life and cross. I am learning there is such a weight in Jesus being the way to the the Father. The living reality that Jesus intercedes for us is huge."
Give my words grace, I was trying to fit a few hours of thought into a text message answer. Naturally it lacks depth, but allow me to expound. Being rooted in scripture--by that I mean reading, memorizing and discussing scripture--is vital in the process of renewing our minds.
However, on a day like the 18th I found myself thinking a very dangerous religious thing. I thought, "Man I don't FEEL very close with the Lord today. It is probably because I haven't been reading my Bible very consistently. Yeah I really need read the Bible THEN I will be right with the Lord."
Can I share with you the lie in that? First, our relationship with the Father does not hinge on how we feel. Our relationship with the Father--Christian's call this the new covenant--hinges on the work of Jesus' life, climaxing at the moment of the cross and resurrection. Hear that please. You were gifted the opportunity of relationship with Holy God. You did not earn. You do nothing for it. You did not deserve it, because frankly, you suck at life.
Now at this point don't get all hard heart-ed, I suck too. If you keep reading this blog you will see just much I suck. So feel better knowing that I am right there with you and I'd be glad to tell you all the ways that I do, but that is not the point in this blog. The point is you and Jesus and the Father.
Second, to say that I need to read my bible then the Lord will be close to me is backwards theology. Is it good, pleasing to the Lord, Biblical, beneficial to read our Bibles? Absolutely. Should we pursue the Lord with all passion, fervency, and zeal? Absolutely. Does the Lord respond to our pursuit of Him? Yes. BUT (and this is a HUGE "BUT", one of the most important "Buts") we ought not think that we gain right standing with the Lord based on our level of effort. We should put effort forth, the christian life is marked by putting effort forth, BUT not before we accept the free gift of grace from Jesus that puts us into right standing with the Father. This was not where my heart was on the 18th.
My heart's condition was one of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, independence, and pride. Am I being too harsh? Not if rebuke and conviction drives us to a deeper appreciation of Christ.
In addition, it is important to understand God has a different set of standards than we do. And I do not mean the 10 commandments only. No, we must not look only to those standards. We must look to the law of Christ. What does He say about how we are to examine ourselves.He is creator, we are creation. He is judge, we are not. He does not think like we think. He does not act like we act. We must look to him as our character reference, not man made moral standards.
Ok so what is the point? 3 things.
1. If you are under the false doctrine of self-sufficiency and are looking at your relationship w/ the Father as an "If, Then Statement" you should repent. Turn toward truth and embrace the gift of grace.
2. Read the scripture. Paul speaks volumes as to what the Gospel of Christ is. Galatians and 1 Peter 1:3-9 are wonderful pieces of encouragement.
3. Pray about these words, as you should about all the words you read here. As Bryan Stupar, teaching pastor at Calvary SLO, says, "I can promise you two things from this blog; messes and Jesus."
Saturday, March 21, 2009
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