Halo is a video game that is often being played in my home and today I overheard Christian getting schooled by three 8-10 year olds. After the whipping, he said this to the smack talking kids:
You have to much testosterone...
What's testosterone?
It's stuff in your grapes that makes you want to be the best.
Oh the "nuggets" of wisdom you glean in the house full of boys...
It is a new Tolkien book! Begun shortly after he returned home from the trenches of World War One and tinkered with for decades afterward, The Children of Hurin, like The Silmarillion, was never completed in his lifetime. But Tolkien's son and literary heir, Christopher, has painstakingly culled, edited, and reconstructed all the scattered variants of the story, much as he did decades ago with The Silmarillion. The laborious task took thirty years. But now, the much-anticipated book will be in stores by the middle of this next month. (info lifted from www.kingsmeadow.com)
I'm all over this....
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
This is version two of this song in the Lord of the Rings.
There are three versions that change through the story.
It is a song about the journey of life and what one learns at each stage along the way.
I think I am walking down this part of the path...
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
"It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats--the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill--The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it--and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the lefthand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. -The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. -Jeremiah 29:5
What a ministry for today. In light of all the broken homes, the abandonment, the abuse...the call for home makers is echoing through the land. There is an ever widening crevasse that is being carved into children's hearts through absent, career driven, self centered hedonistic parents.
Wealth can't create a home. It isn't about the stuff in the house but the spirit in the home. Home making is an art. Weaving a homelife that nourishes, empowers, nurtures, feeds, expands, calms and soothes is a gift that requires a sensitivity to all that is truly life giving.
His (Elrond) house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley. I wish I had time to tell you even a few of the tales or one or two of the songs that they heard in that house. All of them, the ponies as well, grew refreshed and strong in a few days there. Their clothes were mended as well as their bruises, their tempers and their hopes. their bags were filled with provisions light to carry but strong to bring them over the mountain passes. Their plans were improved with best advice. -The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
I am currently speaking on the subject of time at our church. Last week I dealt with cultivating the art of silence, being alone and developing a life that includes solitude. This week I am looking at spending time with a small group of people. In my studies I have been nourished on some thoughts about creating a home...not just building a house but a home. The art of "settling down" as the Lord puts it, through Jeremiah.
"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." -Jeremiah 29:5-7
What kind of homes are we building in our communities?
If someone were to say to me, Mike, why are you a Christian? Well, it’s not because of the Bible. I’m sorry. I mean, I like the Bible, I believe in the Bible. And what I like about the Bible is it tells the truth. You know, what happened when I went to church was they edited out all the stuff in the Bible...They didn’t mention that when Noah got off the boat he got drunk and got naked... No, they never told that. Thank God they didn’t put that on a flannelgraph, but I’m here to tell you that I never heard that story." -Mike Yaconelli
Man, I miss this guy, it was a tragic day when Mike was killed in a car accident, we lost a gifted writer, speaker and prophet. If you have not read his "messy spirituality" book, go out and get it, you wont regret it.
I agree with Mike on the bible issue. What is "so very sad" today is that most Christians would ban the bible if they really read the bible for all its worth. It is a barn burner of crazy human depravity written about in vivid R rated language and even more raw and saucy if you can read between the lines. The bible is an adult book. I get so much flac for daring to look at culture, peoples lives and flat reality, yet we hold to a book as central to our faith that is far more straightforward about our lives than any movie, article or sermon ever is. What gives?
It reminds me of this quote:
"I would rather be exposed to an a R-rated truth than a G-rated lie."
Ken Gire Reflections on the Movies: Hearing God in the Unlikeliest Places March 13th, 2007
Unfortunately many folks just dont want to live that way. I painfully understand the prophet side of truth...facing reality is brutal. We dont want to really see ourselves, our families, our culture and sometimes our churches for what they really are. We hold to fantasies about our lives, our friends and many other things. We want to be told stuff that we wont live, wont really believe and certainly dont act on but it makes us feel better to be told those things.
Truth that isn't lived.
If you cant live it, is it truth? If you cant walk it, is it true? Would God call you to a reality that He wouldn't empower you to actually live? Will he judge you for something you could not do?
Too many people are walking around the sanctuary naked and yet, we are expected to act like everyone is dressed. It's a joke.
And people get ticked off, if you point that out.
Yes...sad...so sad, indeed.
Whatever Trent Reznor is getting at: political speech or viral marketing...I still find this completely brilliant.
Why cant we christians be as interesting as pagans?
Read about it here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/02/22/year-zero-project-way-cooler-than-lost/
I've been on my work out program with some major changes this time.
I'm over a month into it, 5-6 days a week and this time I've included weight training.
Last year I lost 30 pounds but looked like a skinny teen...real bummer to not really enjoy yourself at 250 and then work your tail off and not enjoy the look at 220.
So this time I am not just taking away but adding to my body. It's slower but more healthy and realistic.
I was burning 1000 calories a day last year in the gym...looking back now, I was a madman, no wonder I ended up pissing blood in the gym.
That's one of the dangers of goals. You can get so focused on reaching that goal that you end up getting tunnel vision.
Goals have an end but real life is about finding rhythms that are sustainable, healthy and fruitful and last.
I have had to really force myself to submit to developing a reasonable plan and discipline myself to move at a pace that wont undermine my plan.
A great song for pumping iron:
Jawbreaker by Judas Priest
Deadly as the viper peering from its coil
The poison there is coming to the boil
Ticking like to time bomb
The fuse is running short
On the verge of snapping if it's caught
And all the pressure that's been building up
For all the years it bore the load
The cracks appear, the frame starts to distort
Ready to explode
Jawbreaker
Crouching in the corner
Wound up as a spring
Piercing eyes that flash are shimmering
Muscles all contorted
Claws dug in the dirt
Every ounce of fiber on alert
Aung San Suu Kyi represents Burma's best hope that one day there will be an end to the country's military repression. She has spent nine of the past 15 years in some form of detention and house arrest under Burma's military regime. Aung San Suu Kyi has often said that detention has made her even more determined to dedicate the rest of her life for her people.
"The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." -Aung San Suu Kyi
Look at a beautiful set of pictures taken in Burma at: http://www.stevemccurry.com/main.php
Pray for our new Karen family that arrived here from Minnesota. The fathers name is Nyot Eh, his wife's name is Dah Mer, and 3 year old son "Tiger heart". We have gotten them signed up with the state for medical and food, Dah Mer was also tested and confirmed she is 4 months pregnant. We found Nyot a job, yesterday was his first day landscaping. Now we need to find them a home in our neighborhood. Please pray because Nyot says his mother and father and 6 kids are coming to Spokane from Burma in about a month or so...we need workers to help resettle, money and homes to clothe, feed and launch these families into new lives.
I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. - Jesus (Matthew 25:35)
My son Christian and daughter Destiny heading out to a youth event.
I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us what matters is an individual. To get to love the person we must come in close contact with him. If we must wait till we get the numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers. And we will never be able to show that love and respect for the person; every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is only one person in the world for me at that moment. -Mother Teresa
Respect for the person...it is something that you see so powerfully in the life of Jesus. Whores, outcasts, blue collar sinners, money hungry rich guys...were all treated with a loving respect that often ticked off the religious folks. The way he dealt with people that usually got the cold shoulder or the scorn of the pious...had a way of transforming the hearts of those whom Jesus extended dignity towards. In our rush to make converts, grow churches, win the culture war and protect our children from the world...we often end up losing the gentle grace of kindness.
I felt this the other day while at breakfast with my wife. A blind young man came in the restaurant. The door faced everyone in the room. As he came in with his cane, the waitress said hello and made a comment about the special and then hurried off to the kitchen, leaving him standing there unaware that she had quickly left. He started to talk to her as if she was still there; immediately I felt a tinge of awkwardness for him and stepped in to finish the conversation with him. Hoping to soften the embarrassment he might have felt.
Dignity is a cry of the human heart and as followers of Jesus, we are called to care for people, to love them and cover their sins...not expose them, trumpet them and seek to humiliate them in front of others. Like the good son of Noah...we need to back into their lives with a garment of grace and cover their nakedness with gentleness and kindness. Too often the church has been seen as the ridiculing sons of Noah that stand, mock and point their fingers at the sins and humiliations of our brothers and sisters.
I hope that changes in my generation.
Behold, My Servant...He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street..-Isaiah 42:1-2
As Christians we are called to follow the way, the truth and the life of Jesus. Holding in tension the call to live out the way of Jesus, just as He lived out the Life of His Father. In doing that we need to also go in the truth of who Jesus is as well. He chose to live a certain way as a man, even though who He was was as God was so much more. He chose to empty himself and come as a servant even though He was Lord of all. That act was an example of biblical meekness.
One of the major problems the jewish leaders had with Jesus was the fact that He didn't fulfill their preconceived ideas (many which were biblical) about what the Messiah would do and how he would do it. They couldn't see Jesus riding on a donkey...they wanted a messiah to come first on the warhorse of the apocalypse. They wanted to skip the first verses of Isaiah 42 and get to the end of the chapter where it says:
"The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies. -Isaiah 42:13
The church militant is a reality, she is conquering through love, humility, service and grace in footsteps of the one who rode a colt first.
Then through dying to self she shall be reborn in another age riding on a white horse. Her perceived lowliness shall be transformed into the reality that she is...a conquering white horse of victory. Not a wild untamed stallion but a trained & reined, yet free horse of strength, meekness and glorious beauty.
The gospel must be preached and we must use words if necessary. (St. Francis of Assisi...or sissy, depending on your perspective)
"More arguments are lost by arrogance than are ever lost by poor reasoning...What does that mean in practice? It means not just arguing the truth of the Christian faith, but living that truth every day. It means that instead of lashing out in response to attacks and insults, we bear them patiently and respond with Christ-like grace and love. Instead of going for the jugular in a conversation or debate with a nonbeliever, we listen and answer with respect. Instead of thinking we have all the answers, we are ready to be corrected and to learn. When have we ever needed such an attitude more than we do right now? In the times in which we live, anger and spite are more and more taking the place of rational discussions. If we hope to convince the world that Christ has truth and hope to offer, this is the way we must do it—as Sire says, with "a reliance not on the cleverness . . . of argument but on the power of God to will and to do his good pleasure." -lifted from a Chuck Colson break point article that quoted James Sire's "A little Primer on humble apologetic"
"All men by nature, and even believers, in so far as they are unrenewed, desire to be under the covenant of works, and to obtain happiness by their own righteousness, or the condition of it. 1. It is natural to men, and hence men of every form or religion, station, office, education, or manner of life, agree in it (Romans 9:31,32; 10:3; Jonah 1:16; Matthew 19:16; John 6:28; Acts 2:37; Luke 15:19). 2. Our own working or suffering, in order to obtain happiness from God, is exceedingly suited to the pride of our corrupt nature, and makes us to look on God as our debtor (Romans 10:3; 7:9,13; John 5:45; Isaiah 58:3). It is like pangs of death to quit our hold of the law (Romans 7:4,9; Galatians 2:19). 3. Men's ignorance of the extensive and high demands of the broken law, and of their own utter inability to keep it, — or their care to abridge their apprehensions of them, and to enlarge their conceit of their own ability, mightily promote their desire to be under it (Romans 7:9-13; 10:3; Galatians 4:21). 4. Men have naturally a peculiar enmity against God and his gracious method of redemption, — against Jesus Christ and his whole mediation, particularly his sacrificing work; and hence love to oppose the honor of it be cleaving to legal methods of obtaining happiness (Romans 8:7; John 15:24; Romans 10:3; 9:32; 5:21; Galatians 2:21; 5:2,4)." -The systematic Theology of John Brown of Haddington
LeeElla got to play babysitter today for Jackson our foster daughter's son. It's kind of amazing to see how life turns out...we think life is heading in one direction and end up getting a major u-turn and end up somewhere we never thought we would be. We end up finding grace in unlikely places or in the next generation. Strange to think that God might have a work for you in a child yet to be born. All the thistles and briars you are wrestling through or have torn your way through might be for a whole other reason or person. In the end that's what is awesome about following Jesus...you just trust and follow and He weaves it together. I am grateful that He is sovereign.
Ok...I admit it, I am a rock hugger with a fairly green underbelly. I was raised that way. I attended Seventh Day Adventist schools as a kid, had a vegetarian mother and a nature lover for a father. We spent most of our outings as kids in nature, we camped a lot and lived in a number of outdoor type places. In fact some of my most vivid childhood forming memories are of my mother showing us kids Green peace movies about clubbing seal for fur...that will shape a mind and heart towards environmentalism!
One of my most painful memories centered around earthiness (other than that vile pasty stuff called Tahinni) is when my dog got hit by a UPS truck and died and we got the news over the phone from the vet. I was balling and all that but what made it worse was my mom was playing this Whale song cd that had all these wailing whales crying in the background....talk about a creepy moment.
Can you love stone?
Can you pass on that love? I think you can. I spent a lot of time with rock in my childhood, especially in Bend, Oregon. I can still remember the awe of visiting the Valhalla of stone...Smith Rocks, Oregon. The immensity of it, the challenge that it seemed to boom down at you from it's gigantic rock faces. I can still remember the thrill of getting to the top of one of its canyon peaks and gazing over the miles of area you could see from its top. There is something eternal in it.
As a kid I loved discovering rock, building with it, firing machine guns from behind it, crawling and hiding in it. I like the feel of rock...the stability of it. The coolness and roughness, the shapes, the toughness. I love the way they just sit where they sit. The strength of rock reminds me of bone, structure, foundation. Boys always want to climb them, conquer them and stand on them.
Have you noticed that?
In American, alas, beauty has become something you drive to...-–Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods (1998), p. 200
This new year I am seeking to put into practice, new and neglected rhythms that will help restore balance to these three areas of my life that I think are essential to true health:
time alone: to hear from God, to read Scripture, to read others.
time with one: spouse (if applicable), mentor, peers.
time with groups: doing fun, doing ministry, sharing life.
Part of that goal is getting outside more. Walking, hiking, sitting. Part of that means I got to drive too. Thankfully I live in a city that is surrounded with beauty and places to reflect and pray and think. But the real goal is to nurture this solitude and silence and reflective ability within my own soul. You can't always leave, get away or walk in the woods but you can pray without ceasing. That is a internal reality that isn't based on being in a beautiful place but before His face. I want to walk in that reality more.
A poor urban neighborhood is the perfect place to learn to do this. The work of God involves cultivating beauty internally and outwardly among a community of people.
This involves saying yes to somethings and no to others. It requires discipline...which isn't a bad word. It can set you free.
"A spiritual discipline . . is the concentrated effort to create some inner and outer space in our lives, where . . obedience can be practiced. Through a spiritual discipline we prevent the world from filling our lives to such an extent that there is no place left to listen. A spiritual discipline sets us free . . ." - Henri J. M. Nouwen; author
I heard pastor Rob Bell comment that the Sabbath was a day that God taught His people that they were valuable for who they were and not for what they produced. Egypt said they must produce bricks or die...their value was determined by how much they could produce. God said to set aside a day when you do nothing, produce nothing...don't work. That is a profound act of rebellion against our culture. I think it is a worthy revolt.
"Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give me an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give me an upright heart which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow on me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know You, diligence to seek You, wisdom to find You, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace You through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Thomas Aquinas
