To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.
- C.S. Lewis
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
You Are a Tourist
And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born
Then it's time to go
And define your destination
There's so many different places to call home
Because when you find yourself the villain in the story you have written
It's plain to see
That sometimes the best intentions are in need of redemptions
Would you agree?
If so please show me
This fire grows higher
When there's a burning in your heart
_Chris Walla, DCFC
Then it's time to go
And define your destination
There's so many different places to call home
Because when you find yourself the villain in the story you have written
It's plain to see
That sometimes the best intentions are in need of redemptions
Would you agree?
If so please show me
This fire grows higher
When there's a burning in your heart
_Chris Walla, DCFC
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The Heart
"Life is a journey of the heart that requires the mind—not the other way around. The church sometimes gets this backward and makes knowing the right things the center of life. It's not;
the heart is the center of life. Desire is always where the action is.
The key is to bring the TRUTH into our hearts to guard and guide our desire."
_Eldredge, The Journey of Desire
I was reminded and amazed when I reread what God says in Ezekiel 36:
25"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God..."
God is giving them a new heart and moving them
to follow his decrees by
a softened heart AND implanted truth. WOW.
God is seeking worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth.
"The informed mind through the revealed Word of God and the Spirit's presence in our lives
inflames the heart,
and the heart creates the energy for the growing mind."
_Matt Chandler, Gospel Centered Worship, Village Identity Part 4
(current favorite sermon)
God is seeking worshipers with informed minds and inflamed hearts.
What is your heart set on? Your mind may be set on doing God's will but your heart may be desiring and longing for completely different things. I was convicted of this recently.
The heart is kind of a big deal. It truly guides ones life more than one realizes.
For example, one can believe that jealousy is wrong intellectually and tell oneself not to be jealous, but the moment ones coworker is granted a promotion, which leads?--ones mind (that believes jealousy is wrong and tells itself not to be jealous) or ones heart?
Your heart for sure. All things harbored in the heart are revealed .
It is a man's heart that reflects the man, not his mind.
Have the right thing in your mind intellectually,
and in your heart affectionately. _Chambers
Let us
"Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind." _Matthew 22:37
the heart is the center of life. Desire is always where the action is.
The key is to bring the TRUTH into our hearts to guard and guide our desire."
_Eldredge, The Journey of Desire
I was reminded and amazed when I reread what God says in Ezekiel 36:
25"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God..."
God is giving them a new heart and moving them
to follow his decrees by
a softened heart AND implanted truth. WOW.
God is seeking worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth.
"The informed mind through the revealed Word of God and the Spirit's presence in our lives
inflames the heart,
and the heart creates the energy for the growing mind."
_Matt Chandler, Gospel Centered Worship, Village Identity Part 4
(current favorite sermon)
God is seeking worshipers with informed minds and inflamed hearts.
What is your heart set on? Your mind may be set on doing God's will but your heart may be desiring and longing for completely different things. I was convicted of this recently.
The heart is kind of a big deal. It truly guides ones life more than one realizes.
For example, one can believe that jealousy is wrong intellectually and tell oneself not to be jealous, but the moment ones coworker is granted a promotion, which leads?--ones mind (that believes jealousy is wrong and tells itself not to be jealous) or ones heart?
Your heart for sure. All things harbored in the heart are revealed .
It is a man's heart that reflects the man, not his mind.
Have the right thing in your mind intellectually,
and in your heart affectionately. _Chambers
Let us
"Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind." _Matthew 22:37
Monday, September 05, 2011
There Will Come a Time
And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.
Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.
And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
Mumford & Sons, After the Storm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3RP1VbUaaA
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.
Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.
And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
Mumford & Sons, After the Storm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3RP1VbUaaA
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Only Hope
There's a song that's inside of my soul.
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.
So, I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.
So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope.
I give you my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.
So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
_Mandy Moore, Only Hope
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.
So, I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.
So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope.
I give you my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.
So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
_Mandy Moore, Only Hope
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Rest
An short article that I recently wrote on "rest"
There has been a lot of talk about “rest” lately. We can all testify that we do not get enough of it. Life has a way of getting overwhelmingly busy. Rest does not come easy as it did when we were kids. “I’ll get rest when this project is completed.” “I’ll get rest when this midterm is over.” “I’ll get rest when my kids grow up and move out of the house!” We think this way more often than not, but when we look in God’s Word, we see that rest is not an option. Rest is commanded and even celebrated. The topic of rest brings us back to Genesis 1 of when God created the world.
Two things stand out to me as I read the creation account. First, the bible accounts that after God created each and every creation (light, land, sea, trees, etc), he would stop and see that it was good. “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). The bible specifically records God’s contemplation and meditation. It specifically records what he is taking in and dwelling upon—His own goodness.
The second thing that stands out to me as I read the creation account is that God ceased from creating on the seventh day and rested from all his accomplished work. “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:3). The first Sabbath was established. God actually created and intentionally honored a day of celebrated rest. So how was God resting? Was God tired?
When we hear the English verb “rest,” most of us immediately think of being tired or needing to recuperate drained energy, but the Hebrew translated “rest” in Genesis 2:2 of God resting from creating the world did not carry that idea. The definition given for the Hebrew word translated “rest” (shābat or shābath) in Genesis 2:2 is to “cease, desist.” God did not get tired, nor did He need a day to convalesce or build up His strength. He simply stopped creating the Universe.
When we look around our church and community, if we are honest, we sometimes think that people who are “busier” for God love God more. We tend to think that the person who is doing more must be pleasing God more. You know, it’s that man or woman who is always at church serving, volunteering and giving back, that man who is always going downtown and volunteering at the homeless shelter, the woman who is constantly opening up her home to needful strangers in hospitality. It’s THAT man who walks door to door to evangelize 7 days a week for 8 hours…for pete’s sake, he definitely loves Jesus the most!
While all these things are biblical and good in themselves, God strikes a balance. “Doing more” is not always pleasing to God. We see this principle in Luke 10: 38-42 as Mary sits at the feet of Jesus while Martha is distracted, stressed and busy with work and preparations needing to be made. Martha definitely thought Jesus would scold Mary for not helping her with the things needing to be done. Jesus responds differently than she expects.
Nowhere in the bible does God command us to live a life strained, burdened, restless, over-worked, sleepless...etc. Ministry may call us to be restless or tired for a season, but an essential lifestyle of restlessness is not pleasing to God AND is not biblical. In contrast, God commands us to rest. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Exodus 20:8-10). We are no longer under the law, but God was establishing a principle here.
It is when we take the time to rest, and rest in the Lord, that our hearts are set again on Christ. It is when we take the time to cease from our doing that we are able to remind ourselves of who we are doing for and why we are doing. Isn’t it Christ himself? Yes. Isn’t it ironic that busyness, even busyness for God’s kingdom can cause us to forget God? In the busyness of our lives, we forget that one of God’s Ten Commandments was to rest.
May we follow God’s example as recorded in the creation account and see his goodness in all things. May we reflect on God’s creation all around us—family, friends, jobs, blessings, the air, the trees, the warm weather, life itself and stop to say, “Wow God, this is good! You are good!” May we take time to sit at the feet of Jesus in moments of cessation and follow God in example and commandment as we “bless and make holy” days of repose.
There has been a lot of talk about “rest” lately. We can all testify that we do not get enough of it. Life has a way of getting overwhelmingly busy. Rest does not come easy as it did when we were kids. “I’ll get rest when this project is completed.” “I’ll get rest when this midterm is over.” “I’ll get rest when my kids grow up and move out of the house!” We think this way more often than not, but when we look in God’s Word, we see that rest is not an option. Rest is commanded and even celebrated. The topic of rest brings us back to Genesis 1 of when God created the world.
Two things stand out to me as I read the creation account. First, the bible accounts that after God created each and every creation (light, land, sea, trees, etc), he would stop and see that it was good. “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). The bible specifically records God’s contemplation and meditation. It specifically records what he is taking in and dwelling upon—His own goodness.
The second thing that stands out to me as I read the creation account is that God ceased from creating on the seventh day and rested from all his accomplished work. “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:3). The first Sabbath was established. God actually created and intentionally honored a day of celebrated rest. So how was God resting? Was God tired?
When we hear the English verb “rest,” most of us immediately think of being tired or needing to recuperate drained energy, but the Hebrew translated “rest” in Genesis 2:2 of God resting from creating the world did not carry that idea. The definition given for the Hebrew word translated “rest” (shābat or shābath) in Genesis 2:2 is to “cease, desist.” God did not get tired, nor did He need a day to convalesce or build up His strength. He simply stopped creating the Universe.
When we look around our church and community, if we are honest, we sometimes think that people who are “busier” for God love God more. We tend to think that the person who is doing more must be pleasing God more. You know, it’s that man or woman who is always at church serving, volunteering and giving back, that man who is always going downtown and volunteering at the homeless shelter, the woman who is constantly opening up her home to needful strangers in hospitality. It’s THAT man who walks door to door to evangelize 7 days a week for 8 hours…for pete’s sake, he definitely loves Jesus the most!
While all these things are biblical and good in themselves, God strikes a balance. “Doing more” is not always pleasing to God. We see this principle in Luke 10: 38-42 as Mary sits at the feet of Jesus while Martha is distracted, stressed and busy with work and preparations needing to be made. Martha definitely thought Jesus would scold Mary for not helping her with the things needing to be done. Jesus responds differently than she expects.
Nowhere in the bible does God command us to live a life strained, burdened, restless, over-worked, sleepless...etc. Ministry may call us to be restless or tired for a season, but an essential lifestyle of restlessness is not pleasing to God AND is not biblical. In contrast, God commands us to rest. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Exodus 20:8-10). We are no longer under the law, but God was establishing a principle here.
It is when we take the time to rest, and rest in the Lord, that our hearts are set again on Christ. It is when we take the time to cease from our doing that we are able to remind ourselves of who we are doing for and why we are doing. Isn’t it Christ himself? Yes. Isn’t it ironic that busyness, even busyness for God’s kingdom can cause us to forget God? In the busyness of our lives, we forget that one of God’s Ten Commandments was to rest.
May we follow God’s example as recorded in the creation account and see his goodness in all things. May we reflect on God’s creation all around us—family, friends, jobs, blessings, the air, the trees, the warm weather, life itself and stop to say, “Wow God, this is good! You are good!” May we take time to sit at the feet of Jesus in moments of cessation and follow God in example and commandment as we “bless and make holy” days of repose.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Fear?
"The great lives are lived in the places we most fear. If we fear being rejected, the great story has us standing at the door with flowers in our hands, if we fear losing love, the great stories have us letting that person go rather than clinging to them. If we fear taking a chance on a dream, the great stories have us quitting our jobs."
-Donald Miller
Agreed.
-Donald Miller
Agreed.
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