if i believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then surely my life should exhibit that same kind of absurdity to the rest of humanity.

i take for granted what i believe, for better or worse.  i've never really contemplated the fact that my beliefs are based on the fact that i think an infinite God sent His actual, living, breathing, Son to die for me...that's pure insanity as far as my mind can comprehend.  so if i actually believe that, there's nothing in my everyday life that shouldn't exemplify that same type of insanity.

insanity calculated into beauty.

The Case for Christ

"...Jesus didn't come to help me discover who I really am; He came to tell me who He knew I really was and to do something about it, and that's much better news."
-N.T. Wright


A-freaking-men.

can't stop laughing...

from my architect...
"my first day in India, I was chased by an insane monkey and contracted dysentery."

are you kidding me...

having children will be one of the coolest things i'll ever do.

life is beautiful.

my @rchitect

"Long Will You Run", Neil Young

ecclesia

i think this is the most beautiful, most accurate description of very simple truths i've ever come across.  It comes from the "What We Believe" section from a church out here in LA called Ecclesia (who'da thought, go figure).

On Jesus:
"[Jesus] lived a sinless life and voluntarily paid for the sins of men and women by dying on the cross as their substitute—satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone [...] He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and humankind, continually makes intercession for His own."

On the Holy Spirit:
"[...] Human nature is corrupted, and all people are thus unable to merit the favor of God; therefore, every person needs regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit."

On Salvation:
"...God credits His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight. It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This security is not based upon any kind of human merit."

pleasure-filled

why does being a Man and being like Jesus seem like two different things?

where does Capitalism fit in with Christianity?

how is it that Hollywood is so close to Heaven?




i fully believe that humility should be re-defined in our society as confidence.  to be humble is to know who you are and who you are not; it has nothing to do with coy appreciation towards a compliment paid.  likewise, confidence accurately seals the utmost knowledge of one's self.




trust.  give grace, give thanks.  be confident.

is this all that it boils down to?

advice

"think in the morning, act in the noon, read in the evening, and sleep at night."
-william blake

statement

okay, i think it's time to come forward and say something that i've been wrestling with for awhile, and now it's time to make a decision for the time being.  and, as of now, here it stands...

Clueless is my favorite movie of all time.


enjoy your eve, aft, and morn.

tunes

Awhile ago, I listed my favorite records of the past year.  However, I made the mistake of not putting Robert Ellis at the top of that list.  He's easily my favorite of the past year.

Robert Ellis, Photographs
-"Friends Like Those" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvC9w73iXRU

a case of the mondays

Don't be obsessed with anything unless it's love.

Corral your selfish tendencies in self-control and let the thing that escapes those gates be love.

Be focused and confident in everything you do.

Fear nothing but God.

Practice these things 100 times a day.

go.

oregon

i want more physicality in my day to day life.

i want more connection with the world and with people, the actual bodies.

i want to have to write a letter to say hello.

i want to have to be at home to receive a phone call.

i want to have to get out a map to figure out where to go.

i want to go back to 1880s oregon.



i'm trying to stop technology but that's impossible.  it is.  it's a technological determinant society.  if i really wanted to live a time with no technology, i'd have no movies, no music driving down the road, no voice memos filled with ideas on my phone.  so it's a balance, i know.  what i can do, however, is stop its invasion upon my life.  it's all about control, i suppose.

we're not all doomed and i think it's okay to be nostalgic of a yesteryear i've never been to.


all in all, i'm capable of simplifying my life, and i've been doing that.  it's been rewarding.

question

do you spend more of your time wanting to be happy or wanting to be satisfied?

("satisfied", here, is defined as an accomplishment more so than a soul craving).


i've spent too much of my time wanting to simply sit and be happy instead of living a day to be proud of.  and living a life towards satisfaction is simply a day of checking off to do's, doing what you need to do to get where you want to be, and being able to wake up the next day feeling right on track.

i think it's a powerful mindset to have and one that God can use even beyond what we can imagine.


the more i contemplate things, the more i realize that happiness--at least for me--has served me an empty plate.  sure, i'd rather not do Task A and watch a baseball game instead.  but, if Task A will serve me for where i want to go, it seems foolish and unwise to choose leisure time above it.


i deeply, deeply admire people who are doing what they want to do.  it produces an intense satisfaction and appreciation for life as opposed to just being happy.


disclaimer:  it took me a long, long time to get to this place.

The Nature of Regeneration

This is today's My Utmost...  I'm very thankful it came when it did, because it corresponds perfectly to themes in my life right now.  We have to understand this valuable principle that our morals will only take us so far--they're a blue ribbon at best; God wants to give us a crown.  The work of the Holy Spirit is the life force in my life.  The Holy Spirit is the One who gives shape this mess of belief.  I am in need, I am always in need.


When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . . —Galatians 1:15-16

If Jesus Christ is going to regenerate me, what is the problem He faces? It is simply this— I have a heredity in which I had no say or decision; I am not holy, nor am I likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is tell me that I must be holy, His teaching only causes me to despair. But if Jesus Christ is truly a regenerator, someone who can put His own heredity of holiness into me, then I can begin to see what He means when He says that I have to be holy. Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into anyone the hereditary nature that was in Himself, and all the standards He gives us are based on that nature— His teaching is meant to be applied to the life which He puts within us. The proper action on my part is simply to agree with God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ.

The New Testament teaching about regeneration is that when a person is hit by his own sense of need, God will put the Holy Spirit into his spirit, and his personal spirit will be energized by the Spirit of the Son of God— “. . . until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). The moral miracle of redemption is that God can put a new nature into me through which I can live a totally new life. When I finally reach the edge of my need and know my own limitations, then Jesus says, “Blessed are you . . .” (Matthew 5:11). But I must get to that point. God cannot put into me, the responsible moral person that I am, the nature that was in Jesus Christ unless I am aware of my need for it.

Just as the nature of sin entered into the human race through one man, the Holy Spirit entered into the human race through another Man (see Romans 5:12-19). And redemption means that I can be delivered from the heredity of sin, and that through Jesus Christ I can receive a pure and spotless heredity, namely, the Holy Spirit.

my depravity is evermore apparent.

i am depraved.  i need God.

i need to be loved.  i need to be loved.

if i am okay, i am only blinded.

if i lack wonder, i am looking the other way.

i am bound to my sin, i am bound to my God.

i am found in freedom, i am found to my God.



i am always confused, i am never confused.

i will always be in need, God will always be my need.


thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and always thank you.