This little diddy is something Kendra and I worked on today in preparation for the super heroes overnighter we're having next weekend. I hope you like the end :).

"Because it's all about me"

Recently, Kendra and I have had a lot of joking moments where we turn the conversation (whatever it may be) back to ourselves. We always feel foolish for how often we talk about ourselves. Thus, in effort to turn this around, I would like to give a big fat congratulations to my bro-bro:
In April, he will be a father. They are hoping for a boy, as am I. Gotta groom a future pro baseball player, after all ;). But in all seriousness, I am looking forward to this next major step in his life!

My parents got to go to the U2 concert tonight. How fun is that? How fun is getting to live overseas, as they will be doing by the end of this month?

Also, more proof that Heroes is a wonderful show, Milo Ventimiglia had a short film that he directed played during the commercial break. It was about a guy who does a lot of good things for people, although he doesn't get noticed. The underlying theme is that it's our responsibility to keep helping others, even if there's nothing in it for us. Here's to thinking more about the other person, and not ourselves. That's all I got for tonight.

Lost in thought

I don't know how many times I've wanted to exclaim on here how amazing the mountains look each day. I keep telling myself that I'll take a collection of pictures to put up on here, but I always miss it. Then today as I drove by Standley Lake, I was overwhelmed by the beauty therein. The lake had fog all over it's surface, and yet the green of the water behind it was literally shining through! Spectacular. Good work, God. Too bad there are still no pictures, but I thought writing it down might be beneficial in some way.

I was at Barnes and Noble today looking at some language books. I came close to getting the newest edition of the 501 German verbs, but instead just perused the grammar sections inside. I'll stick to my free cd's for now (thanks, library). Plus, I have my two most important phrases so far, "Wo das Toillette ist?" and "Das tut mir leid." :)

Currently, I'm obsessed with the Fray's cover of "Heartless." I know I mentioned it in an earlier post, but ever since the official music video has come out, I am mesmerized.

On the topic of music, there was a rerun of the 2009 VMAs that I watched at the Thomas' house (where I've been for the week). I didn't see the whole thing, but I watched it as pop culture (particularly for teens) homework. Last year I had made comments about the show: about how annoyed I was by the host; about how easily we are drawn in to the lifestyles of the rich and famous (to steal the line from Good Charlotte); about how much rap music steals from other songs (hmm.. touche?).

Interestingly, a lot of this year's show was reminiscent of last year's. Two of the songs up for awards were performed for the first time at last year's show. Pink performed again, though in quite a new way that I give her props for--still, I wouldn't have minded if she wore more clothes..

Eminem won an award, and I thought about how much I would like to meet that guy. Then I watched half of his video that won, and decided nevermind. I'm intrigued simply by what I have heard about his life, and how he still has two daughters that he apparently makes sure to keep away from his music. Maybe the person I really want to meet is Lady Gaga. She wore an outfit in which you couldn't see her face! It was quite strange. Or maybe I want to hear from Kanye. Nah, he talks plenty on his own.

I guess I'm just lost in the idea that these people started out so much like us, didn't they? They had a family, went to school, and then became famous. I know they worked a lot at that last part, and that a lot of the stupid things they do now is all part of the scheme of staying in the limelight. But sometimes it's just so hard to remember this.

I'm thinking too, of a gal I went to high school with who is currently on the rise to Broadway fame. It's weird to think that I knew her and had some really good conversations with her about life and God. I also remember watching her play one of the leading roles in the play "Ragtime" and thinking, "Man, she's gonna be famous some day."

But then I think of the tension of being famous and changing the world. And there I get lost again..

A group of us watched a movie last night after the soccer game (oh, and after some delicious dessert!!). The premise is a couple trying to find where they should settle for the first few years of life with their impending child. While vastly inappropriate (unexpectedly so, I might add), there was a lot of truth. I hope I never cease to see truth amidst a secular world, and to know that it all comes from our loving Father who is continually poking us to see if we'll notice.

Preach it

This was posted on Derwin Gray's (you know, the evangelical linebacker) facebook page. I absolutely love it. Steve Harvey, not known for his belief in Christ, does a pretty good job amidst a secular audience. And their response is sweet too.

Can I also say that this is a taste of the coming High Impact series, Jesus is Legend. I have the privilege of starting us off this Sunday by talking about Jesus being Messiah. I am stoked!

That's how you know

Yesterday in the adult Sunday School class (called GROW), we talked about God's presence. We first noted truths pointed in Scripture about God's transcendence as well as His immanence.

tran·scen·dent : being beyond comprehension; : transcending the universe or material existence
im·ma·nent : being within the limits of possible experience or knowledge

It's like the argument that Jesus was 100% God as well as 100% man, or the "already but not yet" concept in sanctification. The verses are sweet, so I'll go ahead and list them for your viewing pleasure:

Transcendence verses: John 8:23; Psalm 113:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-6; 55:8-9
Immanence verses: Job 12:10; Acts 17:25, 28; Hebrews 1:3; Ephesians 4:6

Now it comes down to trying to be more aware of His presence while balancing these two qualities. You see, we continued in the class to discuss the paradox of awareness:

"The ancient spiritual writers noticed in themselves and many of their committed disciples the experience in which at an earlier time when less mature, that God seemed very close [consolation] and a later on when one was more mature, that God seemed less close [desolation] in experience...this set of experiences puzzled them."*

con·so·la·tion : for the "beginner," is often the filling of the Spirit ahead of one's character with purpose to encourage faith and reinforce the doing of spiritual disciplines
des·o·la·tion : may be a sign of God withdrawing "infant consolation" and is according to a person's actual character. This experience acts as a mirror to show the reality of one's heart, one's true motivations. This is not a withdrawing of the presence of the Spirit, but rather the Spirit drawing near in truth apart from a feeling, to show the person the true state of some vice elements in the character, of how the person is not truly filled with the Spirit in those places of the heart, and how they need more deeply to depend on God.

Further discussion led to using the metaphor of the parent-child relationship. A child without its parent is helpless, and we are sure to feed and coddle him/her until they are ready to do some things on their own. Not that the parent is then absent from that relationship, but plays a different, more mature role. And as married couples fill the GROW class, they discussed how it is like the beginning of a relationship. There is romance, a woo-ing involved, much like when Christ first fascinates us to follow Him. Over time though, His role with us is different. We are not always to rely on feelings (similar to romance), but on the knowledge of Him.

As I internalized this, I recognized some things in the marriage relationship. Obviously, I don't really know what I'm talking about because most of this is observation, but I hope you'll hear me out.

It's a great thing when married couples fight. It's a great thing when they have times that are hard. As one person pointed out, "You will probably end up in the desert."

What do I mean? A relationship becomes more real in those moments. Coming from someone who hasn't been in too many arguments with her friends, I worry a little. However, I have had some pretty anger-filled conversations with God, and have cried a lot. It is in these moments, although usually in retrospect, that I recognize the most growth. And after doing some self-refection time in a former GROW class, I realized that it was the times when I felt most alone in which I felt the closest to God. What came out of those harder moments was a testing as to why I was really in a relationship with Him in the first place.

In the afternoon time, I ended up watching most of Enchanted on tv. Here comes the connection of the title and picture, are you ready for it? Me neither :P. So they sing that song "How Does She Know," and it's all about the things that a guy does for a girl as proof that he loves her. They are little things--leaving a note to tell her she is on his mind, sending flowers, taking her out dancing--but they are things that require sacrifice. It's not typical for a guy to think of this stuff for someone else, mainly because they are, well, girly. It is also hard to keep up these efforts for the long haul. The things we do as an effort not necessarily to prove our love for God, but out of (hopefully) a desire to love and know Him better, aren't exactly things we normally seek out either. I.E. serving other people and not ourselves, spending long hours of silence, reading an ancient book, spending time confessing with one another our deepest and darkest sins.. the list is exhaustive. And what usually happens is that we set about to do these things, and more painful truths about our hearts and our needing to change are made visible. These disciplines reveal to us how much further we have to go. ("So close.. and still so far.."*** if you will)

After all, if we made marriage the end goal, we'd end up like these two who say, "Okay.. now what?":
It's why Christ tells us to go make disciples, not converts. Yes, that "first love's fire" is pretty cool, and feels all warm and fuzzy on the inside, but it's not all there is to our relationship with Christ. It's hard to accept this. It's also hard to put this into practice. But if there's anything to comfort you, may it be the great cloud of witnesses who surround you and say that it's worth it. May it be Christ, who promises to be the perfecter of our faith, particularly in times of desolation.

May you remember how big God truly is, and yet how personal He desires to be with you. May you become more and more aware of His constant presence in your life. May you also continue to seek Him out daily, pursuing the uncomfortable in order to know Him well.

*Coe, John. "Spiritual Theology: A Theological-Experiential Methodology for bridging the Sanctification Gap."**
**I didn't read this folks, this was in the notes from the class. I wish I was that smart!
*** lyrics from Jon McLaughlin's "So Close" that is sung near the end of Enchanted.

Oink, oink

Not reminiscent of "Old MacDonald" or anything, but I do believe that I am now the recipient of the dreaded Swine Flu.

The symptoms are there: sore throat, coughing (thankfully not too much, yet), and the shivers (a lot of those, even when wearing a tshirt, sweater and sweatshirt over that!). I guess that's what you get when you hang out with the sickies at fall retreat. :P

Prayers are welcome! Love and peace to you.

A good combo

Let's establish that He's Israel's King
So in Matthew 1 and 1 and on to verse 17,
We see His lineage and trace way back into time
That legally He was fine in the Davidic line
And genealogically He's still King of the Jews
Cause the Book of Luke exposes genetical clues
See a true King though He didn't do it in the physical,
He brought a new covenant to free 'em in the spiritual.

And after sometime, Wise men from the east came looking
For the new born king in the streets
I know some of you dudes may cruise a 4Runner
But Christ had the dude He used as a forerunner
And no promoter gunna cut it like the John the Baptist.
You need publicity stunts so you datin' an actress
A real King has somebody bringin' the news
That his kingdom's ahead and they ain't fit to lace up his shoes
So tell me who's the one anointing all these so called kings?
They all self proclaimed and man, that's a dangerous thing.

from Lecrae's After the Music Stops album. (Wish I could say I wrote those words.)

PLUS:

It started from a conversation with Ev when we were leaving for Glendo in June. I still don't know how to balance politics and God, but as you can see, it's on my mind a lot lately. As Rachel and I mapped out a couple weeks ago, we've got it all wrong trying to be like other nations by going and establishing a king for ourselves (We went through the kings and highlighted the few of the 40 who were actually doing right in the eyes of the Lord). Then Christ comes and talks about the kingdom of God and it just throws everything out of whack. His way is different, and as written in the first part of this book, "God would save the world through fascination, by setting up an alternative society on the margins of empire for the world to come and see what a society of love looks like."

Any way, the point was bringing these two things (the lyrics and the book) together and saying that my mind is overloaded and it is awesome!