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Would You Be Surprised?

October 10, 2011 in Bible, Jesus with 7 Comments

I saw this recent video of Troy Palamalu pretending to be a wax figure (or a statue of some sort). You see the different reactions that each person has when they realize that he is actually in their midst.

Polamalu pranks visitors

It seems that much of Christianity is viewed this way as well. We try and dissect to study Jesus in the Bible but often fail to realize that He is alive and well and in our midst today. While it is funny to watch Troy surprise people, it is tragic for the Church to be shocked that Jesus is walking among us.

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What Is the GOSPEL?

May 3, 2011 in Jesus with 9 Comments

This is some great spoken word. My favorite part is the reference to the lion.

Divine Conspiracy – Ch.9

December 20, 2010 in Jesus, Reading, Spirituality with 5 Comments

The Divine Conspiracy - Dallas WillardChapter 9 of Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy is titled, “A Curriculum for Christlikeness,” and as you might imagine it is a meaty one. This is the chapter that many of the people in our TOAG program from Central are asked to read. This is part of my ongoing series of posts about the book. Here are a few of the big ideas that stood out to me.

“So as Jesus’ current assistants in his ongoing program, one important way of characterizing our work of ‘training disciples to do everything I told you’ is ‘bringing them to actually believe all the things they have already heard.’”

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How’s Your Fire Doing?

December 12, 2010 in Jesus, Spirituality with 13 Comments

FireplaceI’m sitting outside as I write this enjoying a fire in my backyard fireplace. I’m a bit of a pyro and for fun I thought I’d try and build a fire on top of a phone-book (seriously, they are still giving those things out?). In attempting this, I learned that starting a fire on top of a phone-book is not nearly as easy or exciting as you might think.

I had to give this fire much more TLC than normal and in the process I realized there are essentially three elements to building a good fire:

  1. firestarter (newspaper in my case)
  2. kindling (smalls shreds of wood that I ripped off of other pieces)
  3. heavy logs

Building a raging fire needs these three ingredients (assuming you aren’t using “cheater” methods like gasoline). All three play radically different parts. The firestarter cannot sustain itself for long but is quick to light. The kindling lights farely quick and will burn for a bit. The heavier logs take awhile to light but can sustain the flame for the longest amount of time. The quickest way to a healthy, natural fire is to strategically incorporate all three.

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Divine Conspiracy – Ch.6

November 17, 2010 in Jesus, Reading with 1 Comment

Here are my favorite ideas from chapter 6 of Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy. He discussed fasting in this chapter and I really liked his perspective on it. It will be helpful for our church wide fast next Wednesday!

“There is nothing inherently wrong with being known. Just as in the case of ‘adultery of the heart,’ the issue here is one of intents and purposes. Not did we look at someone and sexually desire them, as we have seen, but did we look at someone in order to sexually desire them. And now: not are we seen doing a good deed, but are we doing a good deed in order to be seen. In any case where we use, on ourselves or others, promised recognition as a motive for doing what should be done for its own sake, we are preempting God’s role in our life.”

“But Jesus himself knew that when we have learned how to fast ‘in secret,’ our bodies and our souls will be directly sustained by the invisible kingdom. We will not be miserable. But we certainly will be different. And our abundant strength and our joy will come in ways a purely physical human existence in ‘the flesh’ does not know. It will come from those sources that ‘are in secret.’”

“The decisive motivation for acting as well as not acting must be our regard of the kingdom of God in which we live as Jesus’ people.”

“The practice of fasting goes together with this teaching about nourishing ourselves on the person of Jesus. It emphasizes the direct availability of God to nourish, sustain, and renew the soul. It is a testimony to the reality of another world from which Jesus and his Father perpetually intermingle their lives with ours (John 14:23). And the effects of our turning strongly to this true ‘food’ will be obvious.”

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