Archive for the ‘blurbs’ Category
Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer…
When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and I get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty, I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am and what God’s grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, “A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.”
[Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel, 25]
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
[Ephesians 2.4 - 10, New Living Translation SE]
Who are you? Who am I?
What defines you?
Time to get honest with ourselves.
Speaking of time, I’m out of it. Late. Fun.
I pray that we all experience God’s unconditional love and mercy, showered with grace today.
Grace and peace my fellow paradoxes.
…how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us…
11 For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
12-13 We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don’t be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
14-15 The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together.
16-17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
When We Practice Real Love
18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
21-24 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
[1 John 3.11-24, the Message]
Love One Another
11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion-how can God’s love be in that person?
18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
[1 John 3.11-24, New Living Translation SE]
Love One Another
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
[1 John 3.11-24, English Standard Version]
why do we call it radical when, to Jesus, it is simply the way it is?
okay…so i cannot wait for this book to come out…i know i already have a million books that i’m trying to read and i’m reading EXTREMELY slow…but this one grabbed me and i’m really looking forward to it’s release in late April…anyway…here’s what it’s about…
Book Description
“Sometimes I feel like when I make decisions that are remotely biblical, people who call themselves Christians are the first to criticize and say I’m crazy, that I’m taking the Bible too literally, or that I’m not thinking about my family’s well-being. . . When people gladly sacrifice their time or comfort or home, it is obvious that they trust in the promises of God. Why is it that the story of someone who has actually done what Jesus commands resonates deeply with us, but we then assume we could never do anything so radical or intense? Or why do we call it radical when, to Jesus, it is simply the way it is? The way it should be?”
About the Author
Francis Chan is pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. He is also the president of Eternity Bible College and sits on the Board of Directors of Children’s Hunger Fund and World Impact. Francis spends much of his time speaking to students around the country, committed to teaching directly from the Bible. His passion is to see the Church display a much deeper love for Jesus. Francis, his wife, Lisa, and their four children live in California.
…forgive us we have made You small…
great God greater than us all / forgive us we have made You small / God open our eyes to see / great God greater than us all / let Your people stand in awe / God we will rise up and say great God!
[Daniel Doss Band, Great God]
i’ve caught myself way too many times lately making more of me…and less of God…i lean harder on MY knowledge, on MY skills, on MY desires…striving for what I want…and in the process i find that i’m ignoring what God is doing in and around me and i end up putting Him back in the cool little box i’ve made for Him…no wonder i’ve been so “blah” lately…no wonder i haven’t been able to look up and see the glory of it all and just be struck by awe…
it really frustrates me that i keep telling myself things like, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” [john 3.30, nlt], and reading books like Louie Giglio’s i am not but i know I AM, and C.J. Mahaney’s Humility, and i still miss the point…everyday i miss it. ugh! ha…it’s just so frustrating…i want my life to matter…to mean something…to be bigger than me!
my friend Patrick just got back from Passion where Louie Giglio and many others just straight up brought the truth…you can read in Patrick’s blog where he talks about Louie, saying:
“the 1st night (Friday) Louie talked about each of us leveraging our lives for “the most important thing of everything” = the Name & Fame of Jesus (Revelation 5). We each get a little match that burns (life) for a bunch of years & then it dwindles down & goes out. But, I wanna throw my little match in with the eternal, glorious flame of Jesus & make that flame as bright & famous as I can. Because once my match (life) has burned out, that’s the end. Just a simple talk, but a great reminder that living my life for Jesus’ fame is all that matters.”
what would Christianity look like if we considered ourselves less and less and Christ greater and greater in our lives? what would it look like if we would mean it when we say, “i know i am not, but i know I AM”? what would it look like if we all took our little matches and threw them into Christ’s glorious flame?
God, forgive us for making you so small…for glorifying ourselves when all glory and honor and majesty should be yours…all yours and only yours…let us live our lives in continual awe of you…let us rise up and say great God!
Handwritten Gospels: Day 1
it’s been said that writing something down is the best way to memorize it, so tonight i drove out to Target and bought myself a leather bound journal and some nice pens. once i got home i sat down and wrote out the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
i’m in desperate need to memorize some scripture. i’m not expecting to be able to memorize all 4 gospels in their entirety but i am hoping to walk away with at least some of the stories and parables in them memorized. i’m not sure how long this will take, and it’s gonna be a journey, but this is a start. and that’s what i need, a start.
i guess that’s all for now, just wanted to post something about this in hopes that it will keep me accountable and dedicated. i’ll try to post a few times throughout this experience to see how it’s shaping me…
grace and peace…later
…because we can trust God to do what is right.
God doesn’t erase the consequences of our bad decisions, whether they involve a damaged reputation, a ruined friendship, a marital separation (divorce), an addiction, a physical ailment, legal action, bankruptcy or just a whole lot of self-loathing. But He doesn’t abandon us either.
No matter what mistakes you’ve made in your life, God still wants to be in relationship with you. He still wants to use you in His kingdom work. In fact, if you let Him, He’ll use you in powerful ways you never thought possible.
if you could undo three decisions in your life, what would they be? why?
what consequences have you experienced as a result of bad decisions?
do you still experience guilt about past mistakes? read 1 john 1.9. and, when you pray, offer yourself again to be used by God today.
But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
[1 john 1.9, ncv]
…abiding is about living in the presence of…
“The Christian life is about living life with Jesus. Living life with Jesus is about abiding in Him. To abide means to live within. And so abiding is about living in the presence of: it’s about depending on, it’s about trusting in, it’s about communicating with. To live life with Jesus, I must go into the tent of meeting and get my face in front of His face.”
[Vince Antonucci, I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt]
…it cost us our lives…
“On the other side of abandonment, all of life becomes an expression of gratitude. The journey through loss was long and filled with pain. It cost us our lives. At the bottom of the abandoment, the only thing that was left was the love of God. But to be alone with the love of God is the only way to find life again.” [M. Craig Barnes, When God Interupts]
addiction…
ad·dic·tion
[uh-dik-shuhn]
function: nounthe state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
[from dictionary.com]
i have an addiction. i like fonts. lots and lots of fonts. i have 999 on this desktop [thanks to dafont.com!]… and i wouldn’t mind having twice that. now if only i had adobe illustrator or some other suite [sweet] graphic design kit i could go to town and have some fun with them all… oh well… just thought i’d confess and get this off my chest. i am addicted to fonts.
i’m out… have a goodnight all!
ct
“I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I’ve ever known.”
[Walt Disney]
… poor Walt…
awesome state law…
i think i might want to move to Massachusetts… not really, but it would be awesome to adopt this state law and put it into effect in NC!
PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES
TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
CHAPTER 272. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY, MORALITY, DECENCY AND GOOD ORDER
Chapter 272: Section 36. Blasphemy
Section 36. Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.
isn’t that awesome?! i just got a kick out of it… don’t ask how i found it, it was completely by accident almost… anyway, i’m out…
ct
