Tuesday, January 31, 2006

A little testifying about TESTIFY

I have the new P.O.D. cd called: TESTIFY playing on my ipod. I don't like it as much as SATELLITE but it still has some great songs to hear. I can't get enough of the guest Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu (http://www.matisyahu.org). Strength of my Life is an awesome song, strange to hear a Jew and a Christian singing praise together but I dig it.

Here is my pure adrenaline ipod music for working out in the gym:
-Andy Hunter (kicks butt)
-POD
-Rebecca St. James (her song reborn)
-Sting (his techno remix of Send your love)
-Judas Priest
-Megadeth
-Metallica (Kill them all and Ride the lightning albums)
-Metal Church
-Mortal

Do you want to be inspired or perspire?

Aim for perfection...-2 Corinthians 13:11

Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the lift to come. -1 Timothy 4:7-8

Pastoring is a lot like being a physical trainer, people can look at your example and listen to your advise but in the end they have to do the real work.

Some trainers are easy on you, some are more hard and some really kick your butt! A few are simply telling you what you want to hear to get a paycheck or their ego stroked by having the most clients. But there are some who really care about your health and their motivation is to see you excel and reach your fullest potential.

Fact: To change you have to train.

Many people say they want to be healthy but are not willing to do the hard work. They can talk the talk but are not driven to walk the walk. Some love to wear the gym clothes, stroll around the machines, carry a water bottle and chat at a leisurely pace on the walker but don't expect them to push it too hard.

They want to be inspired but they don't want to perspire.

What are we really aiming at any way? Are we striving for the highest goals or do we do just enough to look active but not enough to accomplish much? We expend enough energy to feel good about doing something but have no clear idea about what we really want.

We may be committed to the idea but not the results.

God's word says there is a promise to be seized in this life and the next but you have to face this reality...you will have to train yourself to be godly.

No blame game, no excuses, no pity party, no whining, no lame half-assed attempts at trying.
God calls us to aim at perfection.

What are you aiming at?



Monday, January 30, 2006

Feels good, to not feel bad...

This whole working out thing has presented me with a host of new problems...especially concerning clothes! All my clothes are too big now, I look like a gangster hobbling around with too baggy pants and oversized shirts. So today I was able to afford to pick up a new pair of pants and a shirt. I know it's not much of a prayer request but it's still a pain but a good pain to have.

I also went skiing Saturday with the youth church and I really noticed the change in me there. My legs usually feel like they are on fire and I am shot by the end of the day. But not so this time, my legs were fine and normally I am so sore the next day but on Sunday my calves were a bit tender but other than that...nothing. Amazing!

It feels good, to not feel bad.

I find that working out is one sphere that I have almost complete control over. What I put into it, is what I get out of it. I sow, I reap and it is visible. With so many other spheres that simply isn't always the case. It's rewarding to have one thing that you know you can see results within. The harder you work the better you get. In so many other things that may be true in eternity or in the long haul but often you have to walk in faith, seeing the unseen. But in the gym you can walk by sight with perseverance and sweat.

I think as a man and as a human being we need to have both. Something to wrap our hands around and be able to push against is essential to increasing motivation in the other less rewarding duties. At least I have found renewed energy in caring for the temple of the Holy Spirit.


That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.
- Robert Louis Stevenson (From Scott's blog)

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

so true...

One of the few articles of clothing that a man won't try to remove from
a woman is an apron.
-Marilyn Von Savant

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Got to love them smokes...

So LeeElla and I stop at Rocket bakery downtown in Spokane for some coffee. Of course we have no change for the parking meter, I look around, it's a fairly industrial part of town, I am sure no meter maid is going to be in this neck of the woods, so we wing it. We have coffee and just as we are about to finish I look out at the car and there is the meter man about to write a ticket. LeeElla jets out to try her female persuasion powers but I know they wont work on such diehard city employee, so I head out a bit behind her.

As I approach I hear them talking but he is still writing, so with a flash of insight I marry wit with wisdom and notice he is smoking. Now Washington just passed a no smoking law within 25 feet of public buildings. So with lighting fast sarcasm I shout out as I am running up to my car:

Hey! Your not smoking in a public place are you?

He looks stunned, shocked really...but puzzled nonetheless. He mumbles a few words about making time for parking blah blah blah but then says he will not write the ticket. We say thanks and jump in the car and split...LeeElla was sure he was going to write a ticket for double do to my jab.
I simply laughed with delight.

I'm a jack Junkie....

I must confess I am addicted to the show 24.
I can't get enough of Jack, he's the man!
One hour simply isn't enough for this jack junkie.

I also love:
The Office.
Myth Busters.
Dirty Jobs.
My name is Earl.
And if truth be known, I occasionally watch Dr. Phil and her majesty Oprah, while doing laundry, something I am sure Jack would never do...I'm such a poser.

Monday, January 23, 2006

My health so far...

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health,
just as your soul prospers.
-3 John 1:2

If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.
-Exodus 15:26

Since November 2005, I have been radically bringing my physical life into Divine order. I have changed my diet dramatically, eliminating and replacing poor food choices with healthy choices. I have been running for an hour 5 days a week and now 6 days a week since November. I have lost 22 pounds so far.  I have aimed at cutting 3,500 calories from my weekly diet through diet and exercise. To lose one pound a week you have to burn/cut 3,500 calories.
Simple math, simple plan, hard work but it does work.

I was raised in a very health conscious home and my mother has been a natural foods store owner and promoter for ever. We were raised eating, learning and experimenting with all kinds of natural remedies and products. We also attended Seventh Day Adventist churches and schools as kids, which had a strong health aspect to their faith expression. I have had years of knowledge from both study and experience but for too many years I have sat on the knowledge and made poor choices concerning my health. It's sin really and I have repented and began to engage my knowledge and turn it into wisdom through practice. The results have been amazing.

Yet again I find the bible to be the greatest source of wisdom how to live life...even concerning health. I have been studying health related issues, organic vs. modern food production and consumption and what the bible has to say about these subjects.
It's been enlightening and frightening.

This is a whole field that is inundated with kooky eastern mumbo jumbo and new age blah blah. It is ripe for the truth of God's word to shed light into a very spiritually confused and deceptive arena. You can't read to far on the subject without running into massive amounts of new age gobbly gook.   I enjoy the challenge of sifting wheat from tares though. Plus I resonate with new agers because of my mothers influence and being a charismatic I can appreciate their mysticism and airy fairy spirituality. I don't share it but I can identify with it. I blend closer with the granola bunch than the suits and ties. I flow in dreams, visions, prophecy, healing, tongues and other Spirit energized phenomena so though I don't wear crystals or read palms, stare at the stars or eat only tofu, I can speak to some of the issues with a close proximity since truth and error often live right next door to each other. Plus they are generally more healthy than us Christians, to our shame.

So you might see some posts related to all of this in the days ahead. I will be posting my before and after pictures at the end of February. I set that date for a little Biggest Looser contest with my lovely wife. Stay tuned.

Typical American Diet & Lifestyle VS.

Biblical Jewish Diet & Lifestyle

A: Excessive amounts of refined flour.
J: Organic wholemeal flour (often freshly milled); whole grains; legumes, & lentils.

A: Excessive amounts of refined sugar as sweeteners.
B: Raw honey, dried fruits & juices in moderation as sweeteners.

A: Refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils.
J: Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and other cold-pressed seed oils.

A: Refined table salt.
J: Unrefined sea salt.

A: Filtered & heated vinegar.
J: Raw, organic, unfiltered vinegar

A: High frequency of deep-fried foods.
J: Foods are usually boiled, steamed, baked, broiled or roasted.

A: Margarine, vegetable shortening.
J: Butter, curds, yogurt, raw cream

A: Pasteurized, homogenized milk.
J: Mainly raw milk but occasionally boiled goat’s milk.

A: Pork, shrimp, shellfish, etc.
J: Only clean animal flesh and fish with scales & fins, cover fat removed and blood drained out.

A: Over-consumption of meat from commercially raised cows, sheep & poultry.
J: Meat from grass-fed cows, sheep, goats, clean game animals and grain-fed poultry.  All raised without hormones, antibiotics and chemical contaminants.

A: Commercially-grown fruits & vegetables laden with pesticides, fungicides & herbicides
J: Organically-grown fruits & vegetables free from chemical contaminants.

A: Refined salt &sugar, commercial salad dressings, chilli & tomato sauce for flavoring.
J: Raw honey, sea salt, raw vinegar, wine, fresh & dried herbs & spices for flavoring.

A: Excessive consumption of caffeinated sodas & beverages.
J: Mostly water, occasionally flavored with fruit juices, vinegar and wine.

A: No fasting regime
J: Fasts regularly

A: Keeps late nights watching TV, surfing Internet, etc.
J: Sleeps early and rises early.

A: Sedentary home-bound lifestyle.
J: Physically active, outdoor lifestyle.


Lifted from good read on nutrition and the bible at:
http://chetday.com/biblicalnutritionarticles.htm

Thursday, January 19, 2006

just a thought

I heard again today about how the mayor of New Orleans said New Orleans was going to be a "Chocolate City." I had to wonder what kind of outcry there would be if a white mayor of a American city said his city was going to be a "white" city. Sure seems to be racist to me.

Mouth full of splinters

Five years ago when my heart was broken, in the agony of my heart I disappeared into the woods of Oregon for 21 days with God, and he Showed me a church in Spokane that would be as pure as Jesus Christ. When it will come, I don't know, but it will never come from a lot of slop and evangelistic mess, but when we live our lives on God's alter.
-John G. Lake (1929)

Thanks for sending that to me Gaz, my good english mate, you always have a way of stirring up the spiritual anticipation.

I have planted my self in this city with this kind of spiritual conviction and hope. There have been so many reasons to quit, to move on, to give up or give in. So many seasons that have whittled my faith down to almost nothing. Challenges that have squeezed every ounce of wisdom out of my head and left me dizzy from the lack of understanding. Deep trenches have been plowed into my once tender heart and have become fertile ground for seeds of life but only after heart wrenching disappointment.

Dark rains have fallen that seemed to last forever and promised to submerge the inner flame of prophetic purpose. Tears have left snake trails on my once idealistic face. But in all the whirlwind that has been my turbulent dance with destiny, I find myself still standing after it all.

The stronger the wind, the stronger the tree.

I have found that to be true by God's grace. My roots have had to sink really deep into Christ and thank God, He has entangled Himself in such away in me that vine and branches are one. Which means I have been sustained by His strength in the drought, winds and fire.

Beaten paths are for beaten men...

I have found a road less traveled, but only through brokeness.
There is always going to be blood on the altar of God.
His work always invovles a cross....so you might as well kiss it.

I've got a mouth full of splinters.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

music video from Iceland

This mesmerized me.
http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/media/dldvideo.php
glósóli music video

Friday, January 13, 2006

Chronic of Narnia

This is too funny...high speed internet required.
http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=zLElfJ9YCh0 

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

The Island...

I watched "The Island" a couple of nights ago with LeeElla and Alicia and thought it was awesome!
I really enjoyed it, two thumbs way up.

I took LeeElla to King Kong last night and she fell asleep during the first hour.
Women...

That battle between Kong and the three V-Rex dinos is simply the best monster battle ever caught on film. What a ride! I think I enjoyed it more the second time.

pain turned to praise...

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could. -Louise Erdich, The Painted Drum, January 10th, 2006

There is enough wisdom in that quote to make a 10 year old grow a foo man choo!

Tasted as many as you could...wow, so profound.

I've been blessed to taste some really sweet fruit over the years. There has been some fruit that I have reached for with everything within me and yet never grasped it...yet. Some have looked good to the eyes but have soured in the gut. Some have dropped with a gut wrenching thud and left me dizzy with sadness at the loss. I have been gorged and I have suffered deep hunger, its all been a wild ride.

Sometimes I simply find myself overcome with emotion at the intensity in which I have lived life. Tears are given to remind us that we are still alive and I know that I have a lot being kept in a bottle on the other side of eternity.

Some my ask where those tears go when they fall but I know...they are the sea of glass before the throne.
Suffering turned into beauty.
Pain turned to praise.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Call of Duty

I am playing Call of Duty on the Xbox and really lovin it! What a sweet game. It's a WW2 fist person shooter. You play different people from different battles, Russians, British, American, etc. Really intense game, I dig it.

Friday, January 06, 2006

like blood in a sponge

The only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living, human being. When it is absorbed there, like blood in a sponge or a spear thrown into one's heart, it loses its power and goes no further. -Gabe D. Webbe

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Serpent that devours thy heart...

Ich Grolle Nicht
Henrich Heine
 
I'll not complain {bear a grudge}, though my heart break,
O love ever lost! I'll not complain.
Though thou dost gleam in jeweled splendor,
There falls no ray upon thy heart's night.
 
I've known it long. For I saw thee in a dream,
and say the night within thy heart's domain,
And saw the serpent that devours thy heart, 
I saw, my love, how miserable thou art.
 
-Chris, thanks for this delightful morsel...
 

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

deep wisdom indeed...

The trees that are slow to grow, bear the best fruit.
- Moliére

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

language in films...

Todd:
I appreciate your questions and that you visit often. It is a touchy subject for many people and I am not going to speak for anyone else than myself. Many good people have different views and standards about the issue.

I personally don't feel that the presence of sin in culture prevents me from interacting, engaging or communicating with culture. I am in the world but not of it.
 
For some people that means avoiding things like germs...I don't live out my faith like that.
 
That reminds me of the old testament view of being defiled. There were countless laws aimed at protecting purity and contamination. I see a different law in the gospels, one that is more powerful and ends up purifying others instead of contaminating me.
Priests were defiled by lepers...Jesus touched them and cleansed them.
Priests couldn't even touch a dead person...Jesus raised the dead.
Sinners contaminated holy people...Jesus sanctified sinners.
 
I have more faith in the power of the gospel to permeate than the power of sin to contaminate. That doesn't mean I embrace sin but in my interactions with the world that I am in and trying to understand and communicate with are governed by a higher law.
 
The movie had parts that were not appropriate for certain ages or even some peoples faith but I feel it also showed restraint in areas that other films wouldn't have. I applaud that and want to see more restraint in films concerning sexuality, violence and language.
 
Here is a great post on another blog about language that might add more fuel to the fire.
 

Monday, January 02, 2006

plunge into absolute insecurity...

Faith can no longer mean sitting still and waiting--they must rise and follow him. The call frees them from all earthly ties, and binds them to Jesus Christ alone. They must burn their boats and plunge into absolute insecurity in order to learn the demand and the gift of Christ. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Chasing daylight...

I'm chasing daylight,

The place with no night,

Where the moons out of my sight,

chasing daylight.

 

Looking for the place lit only with His face,

Where rivers chase and tears are erased.

Still chasing daylight.

 

Stars are falling,

Whispers are calling,

Footsteps are haunting,

Bottles are filling,

And the prayers are spilling.

 

Enduring the darkness,

Waiting for the dawn,

Clinging to you,

For who knows how long.

 

I'm still chasing daylight.

-Eric Blauer 12.31.05

 

Before I go...and shall not return...to the land of darkness and deep shadow.

The land of utter gloom as darkness itself, of deep shadow without order,

and which shines as the darkness. -Job 10:21

 

Job you're so cryptic and dramatic. Your words capture the atmospheres of depression so vividly. You know darkness like only a poet can. The shinning of darkness, the orderless reality of shadow. Gloom as a place to inhabit. Going to a place that you cannot return from because you will never be the same after being there.

 

This poem was spun in tears and supplication in my morning worship.

My guitar and voice spilling out as a plea of faith for the New Year.

To live in the land of light again.

To find my way back to the place where the sun is not needed because His face illuminates the city of my inner dwelling.

To leave the moon's light and see it dawn again.

To once again dance not in faith but in possession.

To laugh and know it comes from a merry heart.

To love again in the face of fear.