Discipleship verse of the week - Second Timothy 3:16 - 17

Scripture is God breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training so that the man of God is thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Heralding (the condemned art of) introspection

Josh Allen hit a nerve with his post, The Curse of Objectivity. He addresses the fact that subjective thought is discouraged in the scientific community. He balances his observation with the merits of objective thought, but concludes that subjective thought has essentially been thrown out and that is not good.

So go read his post, you'll get more out of it than anything I might say here! Then consider how objective only thought has foisted itself upon you. Also consider the similarities between objective-only thought, and naturalism or humanism.

As a simple analogy I might consider objective thought my eyes and subjective thought my ears. If I am deaf I can still function, but am limited. If I am standing on train tracks I can only see one direction at a time. With ears I can be looking one way and still be aware of a train rumbling down the tracks behind me. I can then turn my eyes to see the source of the noise, and step aside before it is too late. Subjective thought is similar, it wells up inside of us and speaks of something we cannot see, or even easily express. Without it we are as deaf people, unaware of the screaming sounds of the city, or the roar of a train barreling right at us. Unaware of the wind rustling through the trees, or cicadas singing their mating song.

Discipleship verse of the week - Psalm 1:1 - 3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but he delights in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaves shall not whither. And whatever he does shall prosper.

Discipleship verse of the week - Luke 9:23 - 24

Then he said to them all, "If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."

Sharing laughter

I like to make people laugh, and now I might have some idea why beyond "it makes them happy and me happy". Laughter is involuntary. Laughter results from sharing some thought, or observation, or event that triggers an involuntary response. Some call this striking a chord, and now I think I get why. For someone to laugh in response to something you said, you must "strike a chord", a part of them that is deeply ingrained, and if so deeply ingrained that it has an involuntary result then both of us must share some level of deeper understanding.

So partially why I want to make people laugh derives from a desire to see evidence of some deeper, shared understanding.

Cleaning up my online life

It began yesterday with facebook, and has filled up much of today with gmail.

I’ve made up my mind how I will use facebook. Initially I was going to deactivate the account, but my older sister requested I keep it so that she could tag photos with me. A silly reason perhaps, but it got me to consider alternatives to complete deactivation. Essentially, I have reduced my set of facebook “friends” to only those people I am or have been very close to. In reducing that set I’ve gotten past the idea of offending people by de-friending. Which isn’t to say I don’t care, I do, but for me personally the point of facebook is not to be magically connected to hundreds of people I rarely or ever think about (not even considering how much or little they think of me). Instead, my new purpose for facebook is to please my older sister. We’ll see how it goes. I may still eventually decide to deactivate the account.

My gmail inbox has turned into a horrifying, unwieldy, beast of a box. The sheer volume, my inability to make it clean, has resulted in me checking it sporadically—perhaps once a month on average. It had 3200 unread messages, all important I’m sure, now it has 1. I left the one unread to remind me to follow up on it Monday. Cleaning out that inbox took about 3 hours. An hour per thousand messages it would seem. Having used all that time I hope to keep it clean, and establish a regular schedule for effective use, perhaps once a week. I’ve unsubscribed from every single email newsletter possible, and am prepared to junk any newsletter I could not unsubscribe from.

Happy Birthday Annalee!

She is now 23 years of age. It is especially exciting because now I’m only 3 years older than her rather than the 4 years older I have been since June 29th.

For Freedom

It's become more and more obvious to me recently how in and out of a good mood I can be. One day I'm in, the next, I'm out. It affects others. I've also been struggling with loving Jesus...the effect of my struggle with accepting his love. Cause and effect. But Jesus has not forgotten me. He has sent encouragers and encouragement to me noticeably often recently. Although, that statement isn't obvious unless I take time to notice. My mom wrote me a note today. A friend invited me over to hang out after receiving a downcast cry for help in the form of a text. It's easy to consider things like that "little things" with the effect of taking them for granted. But each are really big things. They are big because they happened, big according to what happened, and big on account of why they happened.

• It happened - The alternative is nothing happened.
• What happened - A conversation that stated Jesus does want me, to know me, and for me to know him. A note encouraging me not to give up.
• Why it happened - I am downcast and someone noticed. I feel some need and asked for help.

Those are big things. Here are the verses from the note:

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Take My Yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

World Changers interview

Tell us a little about the impact of world changers project on the community and participants.

World Changers emphasizes sharing Christ’s love, and provided plenty of opportunities. I did not know most of the people who were going, including the 3 passengers in my van. Fortunately we had a road trip and what better way to get to know someone than on a road trip. There are so many ways to share Jesus’ love. In most cases there is nothing glamorous or complex about doing so. In fact, the most effective means I know of for sharing His love look exactly like sitting down and talking.

Of course, the main thing that World Changers does is fix houses. I was aware of three major types of projects: siding, roofing, and flooring. My project group was responsible for residing a very old house. Although the house’s great need of repair was obvious, the owner, Mr. Smith, simply did not have the financial or physical resources required to reside his house. Looking back now I see that meeting someone’s need in this way aligns perfectly with the Gospel message. Christ met a need we could never meet on the cross.

World Changers emphasized sharing Jesus’ love from the individual level on up to the community level and beyond. I had an opportunity to tell a University of Missouri media student what we were doing and why we were doing it. She came out to Moberly specifically to interview volunteers on camera for a class she is taking. World Changers anticipates and invites opportunities like this, and provides guidance to anyone being interviewed. By preparing me ahead of time I was able to rightly recall that we came all this way to share Jesus’ love through service. I believe a college classroom of media students will now get to see and hear the simple message that “Jesus loves”.

Tell us about one way God has used the trip while being back home.

Having been gone from work for a week, co-workers would regularly point out they hadn’t seen me for a while, or ask where I have been. World Changers emphasis on the why we were there, and not just what we were doing flowed into every encounter like this. I had multiple opportunities this last week to tell co-workers that I was with 150 others sharing the love of Christ through fixing up houses. It was a very easy thing to say, and now I’m anxious for more opportunities to share how Christ loves. Now none of the times I shared with a co-worker led to a deep, spiritual conversation, but it did say more to many than I had said before. It said “I believe Jesus is real”, “I believe Jesus loves people through me”, and “I am someone who is willing and ready to talk about Jesus”. Where is goes from there I leave in God’s hands, but I do pray for more opportunities.

Learn more:

• http://www.world-changers.net/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Changers
  

The message heard from the beginning

We should love on another!

1 Peter: Sojourning

A temporary stay.

Cut Christ out of me

and I bleed to death.

What the heck is the local church anyway?

Dear Reader,

Yesterday I discovered that I either never knew or have forgotten what the local church is, is about, exists for, and why I should care or encourage others to care. I doubt that I am alone in this, and wonder if you feel the same.

Having gone to church non-stop the past 4 years it is a strange thing to suddenly realize that I don't even know why I am going, what a local church is, or why it should exist. Instead of responding with dispair, disillusionment, or some other dis I tried to find some more info. I gleaned the following from a DesiringGod.org recording. I'll summarize here, but don't take my word for it listen to the recording yourself: The Local Church: Minimum Vs. Maximum

John Piper's 7 minimum essentials of a local church

1. Give evidence of being a Christian
2. Baptism
3. Regular assembly
4. Must be worship
5. Exhortation from the Word of God
6. Celebrate the Lord's supper
7. Appointed leaders

Maximum: Zealous for good deeds

We are coming out of an era in American church life in which it has been possible for evangelical Christians to give a tithe to the church and then devote themselves financially to building the good life and all the while keep a clear conscience. It was an era in which for conservative evangelicals ethics meant primarily the avoidance of certain sins rather than the pursuit of good deeds. (John Piper)

The era of comfortable isolation for us American evangelicals is ending, because its justification is crumbling and because the misery and destitution of the world is coming too close now to ignore. And as it approaches, local churches in whom the Spirit of God dwells will feel themselves drawn to some fairly radical reorientations of lifestyle, reorientations calculated to maximize good deeds for all men and especially for those of the household of faith. (John Piper)

Beckoning

Why is it so often the case that our joy is not found in him but in the things of this world. Our vision, cast so very low that we see a pebble of pleasure and exclaim wonder while the cliffs of his grace, glory and love hang just overhead waiting patiently for us to lift our eyes.

Not for sale

purity integrity honesty

The helpless...

...and ungodly.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Some things must be soaked in before they can become worth our time. I'm soaking this in. Who might I dare even to die for?

I remember a conversation I had with a random person on campus a year or so ago. He was a journalist for the campus newspaper, an inquisitive fellow, with very good questions. We talked at great length about Jesus. Possibly the longest conversation I had with any random person about Jesus and the Bible. The one thing I remember was his skepticism concerning God becoming like man (not so different from Hercules). He thought it felt man made, the statement that God became man. I can't say I disagree with that stance, but I think what he overlooked and I failed to communicate clearly was what made Jesus very unlike man.

I'd say my tendency is to assume that I'd "do the right thing" given the opportunity, and that is why I can read through those verses with hardly a second thought for what God has done for me. The truth is I get the opportunity daily to do right, but rarely do I "do the right thing" even with the simplest of things.

Consider getting out of bed. Something elementary to living. Something I've been doing as long as I can remember, and yet I still struggle to actually get up when I know I should and even plan to. Hence, my alarm clock goes off, I turn it off and lie in bed for the next 15 minutes or so. Whereas what I'm certain God has laid on my heart is to get up when my alarm clock goes off, not have to rush about, and instead have some time to enjoy a bite of breakfast with God and his word.

What a simple thing to do and yet how often do I "do the right thing"!?! And so I ask myself how many times have I pushed off doing things I know I should do? How many times have I avoided telling the truth or outright lied? How many times have I said something in such a way that made me sound better than really was the case, or even made someone else sound worse than really was the case? How many times have I had the opportunity to "do the right thing", and yet, somehow found a way out through excusing myself from doing it? You get the point. These are simple things that have nothing to do with life and death, and yet I find excuse.

Now I'm not one to beat myself up, and that certainly isn't the point here. Instead I want a better grasp of what God is expressing in these verses, and so I set my tendencies against God's. What I see is a God who did something completely undeserved for a life consumed with self, unwilling to admit there is or even may be a God, and hateful of the idea that there might be a God that actually cares.

I think a father might give his life that his son may live, but I know that there are fathers who would not even dare to do that. I know that there are mothers who would not dare to give their life their daughter's. And yet when I hated this God the most, even the thought of his existence he surrendered his place in heaven and eventually his own life to guarantee me new life and a place in heaven.

And so I soak, trying not to believe I get it just because I can read the words. If I'm honest, I don't get it, but with the Holy Spirit's help God's own word says I can.

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5)

So let us hope that we can know God, know the love of God, know the love of our fellow man and woman, know the love of our enemy, the love God poured out within our hearts.

Does GPA matter?

Yes and no, but it can be a helpful indicator of work ethic, honesty, humility, character.

A coworker asked this as she considers possible people for hiring as an intern. This was my response:

My GPA was wretched even when i graduated, but I still think it's worth looking into because it says a lot about work ethic and a person's ability to focus on what's important. My GPA sucked because I slacked off and averaged Cs for about two years. When I finally came back around to Bs and As they only pulled it up to a 2.8 from 2.2ish. (I consider 2.8 low.) Therefore I think a low GPA is something worth asking about, but a low GPA does not say much of anything by itself.

Conversely, it's easy to argue that a good GPA does not guarantee an excellent employee, but I think it is more likely. Simply put, it's easy to be arrogant and arrogant people can make troublesome employees even if they're trying to "help". I've overwhelmed myself more than once thinking I could complete something new and complex with too little time.

The lesson I'm learning and learning again is be honest with oneself, and don't think to highly of my own abilities. Had I been more humble I would have been able to be more honest. Having been more honest I would have seen the need for more time. Having acquired more time I wouldn't be stressed all the time.

Hopefully I'm improving with this humility/honesty thing. Future projects will tell.

God's speed

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8)

So what is God's speed but His good timing.

listening to learn...learning to listen...

Today's page out of my 100 days of man character building book was on listening to God. St. Francis of Sales (seriously) wrote something like 30 minutes a day with God is essential and when times are busy an hour minimum. I took it for a test spin and discovered...my mind is very noisy but with each new noise was an opportunity to lay that at the feet of the cross of Jesus and thereby take up my own. By the end of it my mind had quieted some, and I could begin to listen for God's voice. Then my dad came down and that was that. I think I'll try this again tonight. All the tossing and turning after being wired up all day has been driving me crazy the past few nights. I think I'd much rather spend sometime with God, and only go to sleep when it seems right then try to force myself to fall asleep independent of his will.

36:5.001 - Just turned four!

4 years ago today Jesus crossed the threshold with me wrapped in His arms, and set me down to rest in the joy of His salvation. Much healing, growing and streeetching has ensued since whence it began 4 years ago, but as with Jacob they have seemed to me but a few days because of His love for me and my love for Him.

And yet even today it's a wonder I rejoice, these past two weeks have brought me to tears regularly. Having encountered yet another wall I ducked out of work early to escape the frustration. On my way home I decided I should finally change my car's oil. While doing so I was reminded that today is my rebirthday, and something unthinkable came to mind... I thought 365 days of devotionals is something I should do. Haha and apparently this is day 001. Like any clever dork might, I picked out a vision verse:

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. (Psalm 36:5)

Get it 36:5 yar yar. And so I hope to grow in dependence upon God's steadfast love as I take this 36:5 journey. It's about spending time with God each and every day, and sharing some of our time here. The big thing is consistently coming to the feet of God. For the times I'm unable to post here immediately I intend on writing something down on paper for posting here later.

This is really out there for me because I haven't journaled once for a very long time, but I believe God longs to see me through it and is faithful to complete the work He has started. I'm looking forward to being excited about meeting with God each and everyday. Prayer for the journey and comments are very much welcomed! Who knows, maybe you'll want to join me. Let me know if you start your own "36:5"!