if you have come to my blog hoping to see some divine truth or profound thoughts, i have good news and bad news. the bad news is there will be no more of that on this site (boo hoo!). stop crying, though, because there will be plenty of dt and pt on the new blog i have started with some fellow bloggernauts (hey, i just made that up!) called 'theological synergy.' this is a revolution in web logging, as some of the brightest theological minds in the blogosphere have decided to join forces, mesh, become one, not unlike 'American Duos,' and blog together on the same site. despite what i have been saying this whole time, this blogomorphization (made that up too!) is an attempt to glorify God in a way that is more effective and beneficial than if we just blogged on our own, so i hope you all enjoy (and don't take me too seriously).

enter, you won't be risking anything:

theologicalsynergy.wordpress.com

luminosity 0.3: love overflowing

there are no two ways about it; Jesus is LOVE. that was His message from the start, and the central aspect of our walk with Him. i really don't think i could put this any better than any of us have heard it a hundred times. but, if we look close enough, we can see that we don't always love the way Jesus told us to. how many of us show the Love of Christ to everyone? how often, when we are wronged, feel nothing but that same Love for them? it ain't easy; and its not supposed to be. to love "your neighbor" as yourself, takes not only our submission, but the influence of the Spirit. most of the time, though, we're just doing exactly as Jesus said in Luke: loving those who love us, what the 'taxpayers' and 'sinners' did. also as Jesus said, that is no credit to us. sometimes, its even more covert than simply loving those to love us. if we're expecting something in return for our 'love', then it's the same situation. simply put, any love that expects anything in return is no Love at all. that is exactly what the world's view of love is, and it leads to a very half-hearted give-and-take attitude when it comes to love. because we know and have seen Love as Christ intends, we should be showing that Love to everyone we meet.

twitter will kill you

... and here's the proof

'Anonymous' said...

Is this your last post?

I was looking for some of your deep insightful truth and this is what I got?

do not be fooled: this is as true as it gets

luminosity 0.2: grace like rain

out of all the gifts we have received from Christ, one of the most important has to be grace. it is grace that has saved us; grace that has reconnected us with god; grace that has truly shown us God's Love. God's grace is truly amazing; simply in the sense that it is true Grace. such it is because it is a perfect gift, given freely, that we don't come close to deserving. our Salvation, relationship with God and just our newfound identity in Christ are each perfect, complete gifts which we should in fact be denied. life isn't fair; if it was we'd all be going to Hell. still, though, grace is something that we rarely understand, mostly due to the word's ambiguity. most of the use of 'grace' usually involves some degree of maneuverability, skill or poise. part of living out truth is being clear and free from ambiguity in our words and thoughts (just ask Jason). back to the point-- are we living out grace? do our lives reflect the grace we have been given through the grace we give to others? it's strange/scary how sometimes even the smallest things that people do irritate us the most. it especially convicted me when i actually thought about how i have to point it out whenever someone uses some grammar misusage that i consider a "pet peeve" (i don't even know if i spelled that correctly). any mention of "that that" or "farther/further" or "these ones" just sets off a switch or something or other, when i really shouldn't say a thing(i'm rambling on because i'm just now thinking of this). here's my challenge: let's not immediately point out when someone says something that bugs us, let's give that annoying person we go to school or work with the time of day, let's try to understand what makes a difficult person that way for once, lets not constantly judge in our head that person who's angry all the time, let's do whatever it takes to show somebody that we are not just like anybody else they have met. even the simplest things that others may not deserve from us might be the most important things we need to give away sometimes. when we give others grace, that is when it is the most evident it has been given to ourselves.

luminosity 0.1: His mercy, mercy's on me like a jersey

Jesus is full of mercy. when the sick and poor cried out to Him, "Lord, have mercy on us!" He granted it to them. the 'expert' of the law described the Good Samaritan as the one who had mercy (Luke 10:37). Jesus describes mercy as one of the most important aspects of the law; above judgement and tithing (Matt. 23:23). Jesus showed mercy; the kind that does not merely stay one's hand, but spurs one to action. in our modern age, the definition of mercy has been severely distorted. when we cry 'mercy,' we're basically saying, "please don't hurt me because i know you can!" in Jesus' definition however, we're saying, "please help me because i can't." that is the mercy Jesus showed and that is the mercy we need to show others. He promises hope to the helpless, peace for the restless, and healing for the broken, and we promise the same when we live with the goal of spreading His Name. when we meet people where they are and do for them what they cannot, that is when we are showing mercy. Francis Chan says when we help people, that is when we look the most like Jesus. when we show mercy, that is when we are truly made in His Image.

luminosity 0.0

trivia question: what is the difference between a luminous and a luminant object? give up? know the answer? a combination of the two? tired of me asking questions to which i know i will never hear the answer? here it is: a luminous object emits light of its own volition, while a luminant object merely reflects the light shone on it from a luminous object. most of us remember from high school physics that the surface of an object is actually every color but the one that we actually see. when the full spectrum hits an object, most of the light is absorbed by the surface, while some colors are reflected back towards the eye. in some cases, though, the light reflected is nearly identical to the light that hits a surface, while very little of the light is actually absorbed.

why am i saying these things? (see, there i go again!) its because this tends to be how we respond to the Light of Christ. if His Light is shining on us, then our following action should be to reflect this Light on others. this doesn't just happen in the ministry sense, but in the sense that our lives should be reflective of His Life; including our actions, feelings, and attitudes. if our goal is to be Christ- like, then the presence of His Spirit in our lives should be an imitation of Him. the Gospel is not just this cool story that we tell people, it is the format for how we live and share God's Love.

the plan destroyer

there's a saying in war that no plan survives the battlefield. the same could be said in ministry that no plan of ours stands against God's. sometimes, even when we have the best of intentions, our ideas often fall short of God's Providence and Wisdom. we occaisonally have this concept of how "cool" or effective our ideas are, and how much "good" we can do, but no amount of planning, thinking, or development can ever compare to what God has in store for us. i had to find this out for myself last week when i had so many of my own ideas for what i wanted to do with my campers at Hume. as far as what to talk about, verses to go over, i thought i knew what was up. it was funny the way that God was able to hijack the conversations into what He wanted them to be; what was best for the guys and myself. as long as we let Him, God will destroy whatever plans we have for ourselves and put His in its place.