This is awesome...

http://www.topix.net/content/ap/2007/06/new-zealand-4real-not-a-childs-name

Surprised By Joy

Ever read "Surprised By Joy" by CS Lewis? Great book. If you haven't read it, I recommend that you pick it up. Here's the thing...Paul says, "I have learned to be content no matter what the circumstances." Now, I can't echo those words-- I struggle with a lack of contentment every day. ("I need a Range Rover", "I want a six pack (Abs, not beer)", "That guy is a better worship leader than me"). In other words, I am still learning complete contentment. But, I would say that my life for about the past 2 years has been marked by joy. Now, circumstances have been good for the most part, but there have been struggles as well. But, when all is said and done, I would say that I experience joy-- deep, lasting joy-- daily. Joy marks who I am. I don't know how I arrived there (not that I've completed anything-- I hope you know what I mean), I just feel like joy is a staple in my life. I struggle with discontentment, sure, but I experience all kinds of joy.

So, question of the day: How does one experience joy? What does one do (or not do) in order to experience joy?

A new day

Here's the deal, I'm going to try to post more often. No one really reads this, but I'm going to post more often anyway. So, here's what I'm thinking about today...

what is repentance? does it imply that one's life/behavior has changed, or does it simply mean grief or sorrow over sin? what comes first, repentance or faith? are they the same? are they different? is repentance a requirement for salvation or does salvation generate repentance? when Jesus says, "repent and believe", what, exactly, does he expect his hearers to do/feel/think? change their mind about sin or act differently or say, "i'm sorry" or feel differently? and, if repentance is simply a change of mind, does that change of mind necessarily imply a change of behavior? for example, could i "change my mind" about the importance of saving money but stilll not save? and, if it does imply a change of behavior, what happens when someone says, "i repent" but then there is no behavior change? (i.e. what about the person who says, "once i thought saving money was lame, now i think it's of utmost importance, but i still don't do it."? does that demonstrate a lack of repentance initially or a turn from repentance eventually? help me out here...

One whole year...

My wife and I celebrated our one year anniversiary yesterday. Wow. I am blessed beyond words. It is amazing how God can use people (like my wife) and situations (like our marriage-- I realize that "situation" is a bad word to use for marriage-- "sacred covenant" is a little more accurate, but you get my drift) to conform us to the likeness of His Son and bring glory to Himself. I've been listening to Piper's sermons on marriage lately (subscribe to His podcast by the way) and his sermons on marriage are basically filled with the same thing he says everywhere else (which, in all honesty, is the only thing worth saying)-- that Christ is to be exalted, that we are to glory in Him, that we are to exalt Him and in Him, that we are to surrender every ounce of our being to His purpose and pleasure. Piper made a simple comment in a sermon that has resonated in my heart the past few weeks: marriage was created to symbolize and glorify Christ and the church. Now, I think I've heard that somewhere before (see Ephesians 5), but it just hit me in a new way these last few weeks. Now, if my marriage is supposed to symbolize Christ and the church, which one does that make me? Hear my heart on this, I'm not positing myself as a Christ-figure of course, but that it a pretty serious role, don't you think? That means I should be the pursuer, the lover, the defender, the protector-- and, most importantly, my wife should see Jesus in the way I treat her. A year in the books...and many more ahead (deo volente) with a high calling to respond to.

American Idol

God bless Sunjaya.

Go Melinda.

Props to Jordin because she's the hometowner.

That being said...

My wife and I had friends over last night who have little or no interest in American Idol so we ended up spending the evening on the patio enjoying a great meal and even better conversation-- a pretty lame evening compared to our normal Tuesday night: tuning in to see who sucked, who rocked, who dressed like a moron, who butchered a perfectly decent song, and how Sunjaya's hair looked...but that's beside the point.

A friend of mine made a comment yesterday that I thought was interesing. He said he thought American Idol was popular because it gives Americans the all-to-seldom opporunity to have a shared experience. It's "reality TV" (by the way, "reality TV" is neither actual reality nor actual TV-- put that in your book), so people don't feel like their watching characters develop (Gil Grissom, Ross and Rachel, Corporal Klinger, etc.), but we're watching REAL people develop-- with real feelilngs, and families, and fears. And, we're doing it together-- every warm-blooded American tunes in every Tuesday to see drunk Paula and Randy "The Dogg" Jackson and the drama that has become Ryan and Simon's relationship.

So, is that why it's so popular? Because it's a shared experience? Because we know that some 15 year old kid in Nashville and a retired couple in Daytona Beach and a drug slinger in LA are all watching and waiting to see who's booted and who stays?

And what's the big deal about a shared experience anyway? What does that matter?

And what was Sunjaya thinking with that weird mohawk thing?

Luke

I honestly don't get it...

Are you kidding me? In case you can't see it, in the forefront the image bears the likeness of what seem to be two members of the clergy (see sweet clergy garb that they don). They sure seem to love that Bible. But that's not just any Bible, it's the NIV translation of the Bible (I didn't say I was Sherlock Holmes) that they are presenting with pride. But wait, oh no...what's that behind them? Could it be...Satan (say this with Dana Carvey's church lady voice and lots and lots of reverb)? It IS Satan! And he's got his menacing claws wrapped around MY pastor...that is, of course, if my pastor uses the NIV. Satan's toothless mouth is agape with glee and it even seems like his tiny little horns are celebrating that there is not ONE "Thou art" or "Thine" anywhere in the book they hold. Is that Pastor Legion there on the right and Wormwood on the left? Have they partnered with Beelzebub himself to create a more readable version Scripture so that it has more opportunity to change me? Listen, I own a New International Version of the Bible. I also own a KJV and a NKJV and a NASB and a ESV and The Message and a New Living Bible and an Amplified Bible and a NRSV and a One Year Bible and 4 study Bibles and concordances and dictionaries and commentaries galore-- and that's just what's in my office. But this makes me wonder if I ought to slim my collection down and the NIV would be the first to go. I thank you, average artist who hates the NIV for no good reason, for freeing up some room on my shelf for a New World Translation. Peace and I'm out.

Render Caesar what's Caesar's...

Tax time baby. And the fact that I'm thinking about it means I'm way ahead-- and proud of it. I think it was Phoebe Buffet (from Friends, of course) that said: "Who is this FICA person and why are they taking all my money?" Let's be honest, none of us are really huge fans of somebody else (even if that someone is the federal government) taking what we've earned. But here's the thing, Jesus said to render Caesar what's Caesar's. Peter wrote, "Submit yourselves, for the Lord's sake, to every authority instituted among men." I might add, "even the federal government." Now I know that it's easy to excuse ourselves and say, "It's not really a person, it's an institution. Plus, they take too much anyway. Plus, they can't manage it, look at the deficit. Plus, blah, blah, blah..." Regardless, it's time that way allow God's word to permeate every part of our life, not just the easy stuff. We'll talk about downloading music and illegally burning DVD's next week.

Last Night's Message

Personally, I thought Steve did a great job last night-- one of the best messages I've ever heard him preach. But that's not the point of this blog, so let's move on...

The point is I wanna talk about the series. There's a grip of folks that have decided to memorize James (that's right, the whole darn thing) but what good is head knowledge if we don't understand it in our heart, right? So I want to discuss the series as we move through it. So, this week's question (that I would LOVE responses to) is this:

Last night, Steve gave us some great practical suggestions on how to prevent ourselves from boasting in or relying on (to any extent) earthly wealth and success. He suggested, among other things, that we live below our means, remind ourselves that everything we have comes from God, and not insist on getting our way all the time. What about you? What are the things that keep you from leaning on or trusting in earthly wealth and success? Looking for very practical suggestions here...