Three things

1. It is nearly midnight on a Saturday night. It is a true grace that I get so excited about Sunday mornings now. I can't wait to see the people at church. The music will lift my gaze to the Risen Son of God. The preaching will challenge me to take up my cross. I can't wait.
2. I was painting a rather large room in our house this evening. As I was doing this, I listened to a few sermons and some music using iTunes. It struck me how much my life has been improved by iTunes and the iPod. Not to get too deep here, but God knew that some Apple guy would invent iTunes, that I would be able to have a computer, that I would download a sermon on I Peter that was incredibly relevant, and that I would listen to it while painting a room yellow on a Saturday night. He ordained all of this before time began. Cool.
3. I love cold cereal. Maybe more than coffee....okay, not more than coffee, but just a little more than ice cream.

Three things

1. We have a young girl at home that is expressing her feminity in new ways. Emotional* ways, to be specific. I only point this out because I wonder how an evolutionist would account for the existence of emotions?
2. I don't want to be hasty here, but Obama is President now and it doesn't seem that anything has changed. On that note, there has been a lot of talk about how history will judge Presidencies. If I had that kind of influence, I would be infinitely more concerned about how God will judge my time in office.
3. Jesus said "do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Well, tomorrow is now today and, you know, He was right.

*Please note the intentional neutrality of this statement. I am not trying to get into anyone's doghouse here.....

Uh-oh, Beware the Anti-blog

I haven't posted anything orginal in quite a while. This is partly due to the fact that I haven't had much to say. But the other part of my excuse is that I have been doing other things. Secret things. Important things.

I have rediscovered the greatness of prayer. The time that I would normally spend writing and watching TV has been spent communicating with the Creator of the Universe. I haven't gotten all of the answers that I want. The chief result has been a change in what I ask from the Father. The Psalms have become more meaningful (Psalm 16 in particular). I am trying to memorize Ephesians 3:14-19, because it is a powerful prayer. Trying, being the key word.

So that is my excuse for less blogging. I am apologetic, but not defiant. Evidently, prayer is anti-blog. And Aaron will just have to be good with that...

:)

God is greater than the downturn

This was timely. Listen and find rest:

Food for thought

Nutrient dense:

"Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humility of its God."

- Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, p. 3

Just cool to watch

A water dropping on sand....

Facebook

I am now on Facebook. What I once mocked, I have now adopted as my own. What I once distained, I have now accepted. What I once would not consume, has now become that most forbidden of trivial snacks.

Social Pressure + Curiosity + Mr. Underdog = Facebook Rookie Knucklehead

Sigh.

Three mysterious* things

*Not really, it just sounds better that way

1. Nothing is worse than seeing your child in pain and not being able to do anything to help. I got to experience that firsthand this week. It makes me more grateful that God saw the sickness of our sin and stopped at nothing to heal us.
2. I talked at length to my dad about the topic of suffering last week after his small group had a discussion on Romans 5. I wrote a whole post on observations from Scripture about suffering, but as my hand hovered above the Publish Post button, I thought "What qualifies me to say anything on this subject?"
3. I have iPhone envy. People keep showing me theirs and I get to see all of the great things you can do with it. I wish Apple had them for free, but evidently that strategy would hurt their profitability. At least that's what the guy in the Apple Store said.

A reposting that is funny

The Dog's Diary
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

The Cat's Diary
Day 983 of My Captivity
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Jerks!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

I am Peter.

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. --- Luke 22:61

Peter and the Lord Jesus were friends. Good friends I think. They had spent a lot of time together over the past couple of years. Jesus liked Peter so much that the Lord gave him a nickname. Instead of Simon, Jesus called him "the Rock". (Did you ever think about the fact that 2 of the epistles are entitled with someone's nickname? I personally like 1 Peter better than 1 Simon.) Peter was in the inner circle of the disciples and got to see things, like the transfiguration, that only two other guys were invited to view. Peter was one of Jesus' buddies.

The verse above come on the tail of one of the most cowardly acts in all of Scripture. (This is not a judgement of Peter because I think that the spectre of suffering turns a lot of people into cowards.) Jesus is at the beginning of His journey to the cross to be tortured and to die. He is in a courtyard awaiting a mockery of a trial before a Jewish council of elders. Peter is there watching and warming himself by a fire, when people in the courtyard recognize him in the firelight.

And Peter simply denied knowing God when the pressure was on. When things started falling apart and Jesus opted to die instead of resisting, Peter's bold allegiance disappeared. People pointed out that Peter was with Jesus and Peter lied. He lied over the course of at least an hour. Peter's circumstance is made worse by the fact that he was defiant when Jesus predicted this verbal betrayal (Luke 22:33).

And following these lies about the Son of God, Jesus looks at Peter. At that moment, Jesus knew exactly what was going on in Peter's heart. I wonder what that moment was like? What did Jesus' expression say? Was it sad? Was it stern? Was it a look that said "I told you so, Peter"?

Or was it love?

Jesus was about to bear the sin that Peter had just committed in the most painful and dark fashion. He would do this so that Peter would not have to pay the just penalty for those lies. Peter's denial did not surprise Jesus at all. Instead, they were the very reason He was in that Courtyard in the first place.

And I am grateful for Peter's story. Because I am Peter.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. --- Romans 8:38-39

UPDATE: Best t-shirt caption ever

ORIGINAL POST:
I saw this caption on a t-shirt in a store:"I am the Wretch the song refers to."

Almost bought it.

But this wretch doesn't have $15 for a t-shirt.

UPDATE:
T-shirt went on discount after Holidays.

This wretch scraped together $3.75.

Now I can advertise my wretchedness (and God's Amazing Grace) to the world*.

*What would John Newton think?

Floored

I couldn't believe it when I read this:

"It is somewhat surreal to be standing on grassy hillsides with Israeli civilians sitting in chairs, watching the ongoing Israeli military offensive," Dion Nissenbaum, a McClatchy Newspapers Middle East correspondent, said in an e-mail to CNN.

"They don't seem to be bothered by the occasional Qassam rockets and mortar rounds that explode in the surrounding fields," Nissenbaum wrote in his blog, Checkpoint Jerusalem. "They have come to watch the war."

This is the world we live in. One in which war is a spectator sport.

Come soon, Lord Jesus.

Three things

I haven't posted in a while and I feel semi-guilty about that. My only solace is that I do post more frequently than Aaron. When I think about that, I feel a lot better. So I am going to try and post something here, but don't be surprised if it the blogging equivalent of a brain sneeze. Not a lot of good will come from it.

1. I seem to waver between living a quiet life and doing the simple routines of life to the glory of God and alternatively wondering if I am not doing enough to impact the world around me. Early January tends to bring these types of questions to mind.
2. I talk to a lot of people that to do not have jobs right now and they sound so hopeless. Without the promise that God is your Provider and that He can do anything He chooses, hope would have to be hard to come by. Where does your security lie?
3. We have had the TV off for about two weeks now. The main effect has been the re-emergence of books. For every member of the family. I am reading two books right now, a biograhy of Vince Lombardi and The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. I have also worked a few crossword puzzles and finished them. The change has been pretty dramatic, frankly.

All things are possible...

You only need to watch the first couple of minutes....