contrary to popular belief, I want to confront the gossip and declare openly today:
I am not blogging with a corked keyboard.
yes, I do have one in my possession, but I only use it for exhibitions for the fans. I have willingly submitted all my keyboards to the league office for examination, which has verified that my keyboards are legitimate and up to normal specifications.
I hope this declaration accomplishes my aim to clear my image and encourage the public's beliefs in my abilities.
thank you.
6/06/2003
maybe its just me
but I think its very cool that I've been added to the presurfer's blog roll. Click on him on my list to the right. He's got daily doses of yummy internet fun. He's also listed on blogshares, and will be one of the few in which I invest, simply because I like his content, as compared to having good P/E ratios (Avoiding Evil & I am Always Right are the others I have purchased in the past because of content).
I was just wondering
should I be considered anal retentive (which is about the most offensive term I can imagine, as I reluctantly type it out), just because I go back into my blog editor to change an incorrect your to a correct you're?
cleared for take-off
Today, at the end of the work day, I will return home to my family in Colorado, via Delta Air Lines.
On my last flight, I was unexplainedly (is that a word?) seated in First Class. This was my maiden voyage with the upper crust.
It's amazing how pleasant the flight is when you're not bothered by the riff-raff.
They took exquisite care of me. They provided a lovely petite steak for me to satiate my hunger.
Kelli and I reclined luxuriously and laughed at not having to be seated amongst the have-nots.
Actually, prior to the flight, we had a bit of an exciting time going through airport security.
First, I -- a moron -- thought I had left my laptop at home, and was merely transporting the case.
Why? Because I unzipped the wrong zipper and didn't see it and panicked.
Yes. The computer was in the case.
It did go through the scanner, unnanounced.
Yes. They treated it like it was dangerous.
Oddly, though, I had little trouble explaining it all by my apparent stupidity.
Meanwhile, while this was all going along, my softside briefcase went through the scanner, and they asked if they could examine its contents. Of course, I said, "sure, if you disregard the small cache of plastic explosives stored in the front panel."
Anyway, Kelli accompanied the guard to the end of the row so he could rifle through my belongings. There, he extracted my small 1-inch pocket knife that I had placed in the case earlier in the week, with the intent of transferring it to my suitcase. I had purchased the knife from Wal-Mart for $1. The officer questioned Kelli extensively, and she was only able to answer her interogater with her "I'm with Stupid" T-shirt, which, of course, pointed back to me.
I don't think Kelli knows how dangerously close she was to a full body cavity search. It probably didn't help when I said, "I don't know who this lady is, she just asked me if I'd carry this strange package for her, to avenge her ancestors against the Zionist Pigs of America. I don't know what that means, but I thought it was a good way to meet someone new."
Well, it's time to head off for work. I'm looking forward to my return flight across the country. And this time, I'm scheduled to sit in....
seat 39B.
Bummer.
Back with the riff-raff.
I take back everything I said earlier.
And this time, I've stowed my machete in my luggage to be checked.
On my last flight, I was unexplainedly (is that a word?) seated in First Class. This was my maiden voyage with the upper crust.
It's amazing how pleasant the flight is when you're not bothered by the riff-raff.
They took exquisite care of me. They provided a lovely petite steak for me to satiate my hunger.
Kelli and I reclined luxuriously and laughed at not having to be seated amongst the have-nots.
Actually, prior to the flight, we had a bit of an exciting time going through airport security.
First, I -- a moron -- thought I had left my laptop at home, and was merely transporting the case.
Why? Because I unzipped the wrong zipper and didn't see it and panicked.
Yes. The computer was in the case.
It did go through the scanner, unnanounced.
Yes. They treated it like it was dangerous.
Oddly, though, I had little trouble explaining it all by my apparent stupidity.
Meanwhile, while this was all going along, my softside briefcase went through the scanner, and they asked if they could examine its contents. Of course, I said, "sure, if you disregard the small cache of plastic explosives stored in the front panel."
Anyway, Kelli accompanied the guard to the end of the row so he could rifle through my belongings. There, he extracted my small 1-inch pocket knife that I had placed in the case earlier in the week, with the intent of transferring it to my suitcase. I had purchased the knife from Wal-Mart for $1. The officer questioned Kelli extensively, and she was only able to answer her interogater with her "I'm with Stupid" T-shirt, which, of course, pointed back to me.
I don't think Kelli knows how dangerously close she was to a full body cavity search. It probably didn't help when I said, "I don't know who this lady is, she just asked me if I'd carry this strange package for her, to avenge her ancestors against the Zionist Pigs of America. I don't know what that means, but I thought it was a good way to meet someone new."
Well, it's time to head off for work. I'm looking forward to my return flight across the country. And this time, I'm scheduled to sit in....
seat 39B.
Bummer.
Back with the riff-raff.
I take back everything I said earlier.
And this time, I've stowed my machete in my luggage to be checked.
all caught up
this week, I've seen X Men 2, The Matrix Reloaded, and Bruce Almighty.
They were all worth watching. The first two, especially if you're a dork like me.
The Matrix will require multiple viewings (most likely when it comes on DVD), so I can pause, restart, and still ask myself "huh?"
Now, on to Bruce.
I will say this simply....
this movie is one of the most intentionally spiritually-focused movies I have ever seen.
It is not necessarily a "Christian" movie.
But there is much in it to laud.
Some want to gripe that Bruce uses all his "God-ability" to do naughty things like...well, go catch the movie. But the point is, he did what any of us would do if we had God's abilities. We'd (mis)use them on ourselves. That's what makes God God, and us, not God.
But the "submission scene" is one of the finest I've seen from Hollywood in recent memory, and much of this movie is c&p fodder for sermon powerpoint illustrations for years and years to come.
anyway....I still need to see Chicago and Down with Love, but those are movies I'll likely catch on DVD with my lovely bride. My next "big screen" must see is The Hulk, because, once again, I am a dork.
They were all worth watching. The first two, especially if you're a dork like me.
The Matrix will require multiple viewings (most likely when it comes on DVD), so I can pause, restart, and still ask myself "huh?"
Now, on to Bruce.
I will say this simply....
this movie is one of the most intentionally spiritually-focused movies I have ever seen.
It is not necessarily a "Christian" movie.
But there is much in it to laud.
Some want to gripe that Bruce uses all his "God-ability" to do naughty things like...well, go catch the movie. But the point is, he did what any of us would do if we had God's abilities. We'd (mis)use them on ourselves. That's what makes God God, and us, not God.
But the "submission scene" is one of the finest I've seen from Hollywood in recent memory, and much of this movie is c&p fodder for sermon powerpoint illustrations for years and years to come.
anyway....I still need to see Chicago and Down with Love, but those are movies I'll likely catch on DVD with my lovely bride. My next "big screen" must see is The Hulk, because, once again, I am a dork.
driving on a provisional
I once preached on this issue, so you may have seen something similar to what I'm about to share, so if this looks familiar, that's why. But there's something about putting one of those 4-inch tires on a car and hoping it drives just like one of the regular tires that gets a person thinking about going to meet God, and other theological matters.
It seems like most car manufacturers nowadays include as the spare for their products what is commonly known as "a provisional tire." It is about half the width of a normal tire, and is only meant to get you to the tire repair shop. Top speed is 45 miles per hour. Anything above that, and you are likely risking your own life, as well as the lives of anyone silly enough to get on the road with you.
But today, there I was, driving on that provisional tire, down highway 400, down I-85. I was doing about 65 mph average. Once, while in the left lane, I got "sucked into" the left shoulder and it was just a bit frightening.
But here's the real deal -- I wasn't the only one out there on a provisional. There were others out there driving on spare tires, racing by me (still going 65) like I was in neutral or even going backward, doing things dangerously on equipment that was never designed for the stresses under which it was being subjected.
Living a life apart from God is like driving through life on a provisional tire. When we were created, we were created to live our lives in close fellowship with God. We were designed with the equipment to hear from God, to respond to His leading. When we go out on life's proverbial interstates without God, we find ourselves careening wildly from lane to lane, out of control, unable to master that which we originally thought was under our control. The results of living a provisional life has a bunch of different names -- addictions, compulsions, obsessions, bad habits, weaknesses, tendencies, indulgences, indiscretions. Whatever you want to call it, the provisional life wears bare over time. It leads to a life of inbalance. It damages the rest of you -- that which makes you whole. And before long, this little "tire" that you thought would take you from one point in life to the next while the normal tires provided to you by God are being repaired (which I'll address in a moment), has traveled more miles than you ever thought possible, and you're worse off than when you first started driving on the provisional.
So, what are the "tires" that God has supplied you? Can I be so bold as to suggest that God has equipped every person with a complete set? Of course I can, this is my scenic tour through a theological landscape. The tires supplied to us are known simply by the five-letter word "faith."
Faith is the set of tires given by God for each of us to reach life's final destination.
My premise is that we are designed -- hard-wired, if you will -- to live the faith life. Everybody believes in something. Even if they claim that they believe in nothing. They're very belief in the absoluteness of nothing requires faith. God's Word has recorded this -- that without faith it is impossible to please God.
So what is it? Well, we have cute little acronyms that remind us, "Forsaking All, I Trust Him." Okay, but what does THAT mean? Of course, we've got the great Hebrews definition that says "faith the substance of what we hope for, the evidence of what we cannot see." Hmmmm.....that just makes my head hurt, unless I try to break it down.
SOOOOO...let's take it in parts. Faith is the substance of what I hope for. Let me reword that. Faith is the substantiating (changing the noun to a verb) of what I hope for. Faith is the "making real" of what I hope for, or expect. Okay, I can deal with this now, especially when I had the second part -- "evidence of what I cannot see." So here's what faith is to me. It is the reality of my life built around the expectation that all of God's promises will be fulfilled. The dangerous potential of this definition occurs when I mistakenly believe that I am the author of faith. The Bible says that God is actually the author and also completer of my faith. The fact that I can expect any (much less all) of God's promises to be fulfilled is because God has ordained it to be so. So God is the originator of my faith. When do I experience the birth of faith?
I dare to say that faith is born, in the human experience, at salvation. True faith. Saving faith (see James). Any faith prior to salvation is merely a precursor to faith. It is more a hope, a want, a desire than it is an expectation. It is only when a person comes to the end of their selves and places their faith -- their expectation of salvation -- in the hands of God through Jesus Christ, than one can truly experience that which is known as faith.
And it is this salvation that serves as the bedrock for all other faith-building moments in life. How can I have faith that God will hear my prayer? Well, I recalled that He heard and answered my prayer for salvation. He was trustworthy and reliable for my salvation, and that establishes the ability to "make real" the faith that He will hear my subsequent prayers. My faith in what God has already done in my life is the evidence in my expectation of what He will still do in my future.
So this is one of the tires given to me by God to navigate the journey of my life. I was designed to trust God. I was designed to rely on Him. For everything. I was not designed to go out on my own. I was not designed to exchange my tire of faith with a provisional tire of "self." I was not designed to exchange God's wisdom for my own, God's omniscience for my own limited understanding, God's perfect plan for my own flawed life strategy.
How does one live the faith life? How do you, as the Bible says, "walk by faith and not by sight?"
It's not as hard as we make it, yet it is at the same time, life's most tumultuous struggle. But here are the simple truths that may assist in keeping us between the white lines, so to speak.
1. Plant a stake -- remember that moment that you first believed in the saving grace of God. Plant a stake, build a spiritual altar there to which you can return. It was common practice in the Old Testament that believers would build a monument where God interceded in the lives of men. It was a place of worship, and it was a commemoration that God is real, and He is worthy of trust, honor, and glory. We need to do that. Our lives must be a series of living monuments built to honor Him. They stand as signifiers to the world that God is real, and that He is worthy of trust, honor, and glory. But planting a stake also serves the essential purpose of giving us a reference point of God's reliability. When my faith wavers, I always go back to the last time I called upon Him and He answered and provided. It builds my faith and restores my confidence in Him.
2. Keep the lines clear -- actively seek God's forgiveness and restoration. Now, I certainly believe in eternal security. I believe that once you are truly saved, you are eternally saved. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. However, unconfessed sin obstructs the fellowship God desires with you. Another way to look at it is to understand that sin -- any sin -- is an act of faithlessness. The faith life cannot co-exist with the faithless life. Repentance is the acknowledgment of what God already knows. It is the agreement that faithlessness is wrong. It is the heart's cry to return to the faith life. God will restore faith to those who turn from it, even though their salvation be secure and undeniable.
3. Pursue grace. Faith is a grace gift. You didn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. If God has given you the blessing of faith, demonstrate your proof of it, as well as your gratitude for it by being graceful to others. For you to exist gracelessly is to exist faithlessly, which takes you back to point #2.
4. Be prepared to live outrageously. Confessionally, this is the most frightening one for me. But God has proven Himself that He likes to put His children "out on a limb" looking dangerously stupid, silly, or out of control. He does this so there's no confusing who is responsible for the miraculous provision. He put Abraham in a strange country, he put Israel between a rock and hard place before parting the red sea. He used a whore to bring victory to Moses' armies. He used a shepherd boy to slay a pagan giant. And He let the Savior of the world's people die pathetically, shamefully on a cross.
That kinda makes your step of faith a little less frightening, doesn't it? It does mine. I tell you the truth. I've been sweatin the details lately about our home and car. Yesterday, I bought a home with no way to get to and from that home to work. I have no explanation on how this problem is going to be solved. I wish I could tell you I've handled it like a champion.
But that would be a lie.
I bit Kelli's head off about something trivial. Our real estate agent shared lunch with us and told of how her son was killed in an accident. Rather than sharing encouragement, I was off in "Bryan land" having another "what about Bob?" moment.
But the long and the short of it is that we absolutely believe that God has called me to this position at NAMB.
we absolutely believe that this is the home that God has ordained for us. It is His provision.
So, despite my flawed proof up to this point, I'm claiming by faith that God will provide everything necessary to bring Himself glory through this.
I think I need a car. It doesn't have to be a Buick LeSabre, but that would be okay, too.
But God may determine that I need something else.
I pray I'm able to recognize His provision, in whatever form it comes, and be filled with gratitude for it. I pray I'm able to glorify Him through it.
I pray I'll be just as praise-filled if His provisions don't match my expectations.
In the Bible, my faith is described as a shield, used to thwart the fiery darts of the enemy.
The trick to using this weapon of defense (that doubles as a tire), is that I've got to pick it up.
There's the catch. I've got to use the faith God has given me.
God has designed for me to return to my faith repeatedly through life, constantly relying upon God's past faithfulness for my present needs.
This is how faith grows.
It's the only way.
God has never let me down.
So...
.....by faith....
I'm going to "lean not on my own understanding," and I will trust Him to accomplish far above and beyond that which I expect, for the glory of His names sake.
It seems like most car manufacturers nowadays include as the spare for their products what is commonly known as "a provisional tire." It is about half the width of a normal tire, and is only meant to get you to the tire repair shop. Top speed is 45 miles per hour. Anything above that, and you are likely risking your own life, as well as the lives of anyone silly enough to get on the road with you.
But today, there I was, driving on that provisional tire, down highway 400, down I-85. I was doing about 65 mph average. Once, while in the left lane, I got "sucked into" the left shoulder and it was just a bit frightening.
But here's the real deal -- I wasn't the only one out there on a provisional. There were others out there driving on spare tires, racing by me (still going 65) like I was in neutral or even going backward, doing things dangerously on equipment that was never designed for the stresses under which it was being subjected.
Living a life apart from God is like driving through life on a provisional tire. When we were created, we were created to live our lives in close fellowship with God. We were designed with the equipment to hear from God, to respond to His leading. When we go out on life's proverbial interstates without God, we find ourselves careening wildly from lane to lane, out of control, unable to master that which we originally thought was under our control. The results of living a provisional life has a bunch of different names -- addictions, compulsions, obsessions, bad habits, weaknesses, tendencies, indulgences, indiscretions. Whatever you want to call it, the provisional life wears bare over time. It leads to a life of inbalance. It damages the rest of you -- that which makes you whole. And before long, this little "tire" that you thought would take you from one point in life to the next while the normal tires provided to you by God are being repaired (which I'll address in a moment), has traveled more miles than you ever thought possible, and you're worse off than when you first started driving on the provisional.
So, what are the "tires" that God has supplied you? Can I be so bold as to suggest that God has equipped every person with a complete set? Of course I can, this is my scenic tour through a theological landscape. The tires supplied to us are known simply by the five-letter word "faith."
Faith is the set of tires given by God for each of us to reach life's final destination.
My premise is that we are designed -- hard-wired, if you will -- to live the faith life. Everybody believes in something. Even if they claim that they believe in nothing. They're very belief in the absoluteness of nothing requires faith. God's Word has recorded this -- that without faith it is impossible to please God.
So what is it? Well, we have cute little acronyms that remind us, "Forsaking All, I Trust Him." Okay, but what does THAT mean? Of course, we've got the great Hebrews definition that says "faith the substance of what we hope for, the evidence of what we cannot see." Hmmmm.....that just makes my head hurt, unless I try to break it down.
SOOOOO...let's take it in parts. Faith is the substance of what I hope for. Let me reword that. Faith is the substantiating (changing the noun to a verb) of what I hope for. Faith is the "making real" of what I hope for, or expect. Okay, I can deal with this now, especially when I had the second part -- "evidence of what I cannot see." So here's what faith is to me. It is the reality of my life built around the expectation that all of God's promises will be fulfilled. The dangerous potential of this definition occurs when I mistakenly believe that I am the author of faith. The Bible says that God is actually the author and also completer of my faith. The fact that I can expect any (much less all) of God's promises to be fulfilled is because God has ordained it to be so. So God is the originator of my faith. When do I experience the birth of faith?
I dare to say that faith is born, in the human experience, at salvation. True faith. Saving faith (see James). Any faith prior to salvation is merely a precursor to faith. It is more a hope, a want, a desire than it is an expectation. It is only when a person comes to the end of their selves and places their faith -- their expectation of salvation -- in the hands of God through Jesus Christ, than one can truly experience that which is known as faith.
And it is this salvation that serves as the bedrock for all other faith-building moments in life. How can I have faith that God will hear my prayer? Well, I recalled that He heard and answered my prayer for salvation. He was trustworthy and reliable for my salvation, and that establishes the ability to "make real" the faith that He will hear my subsequent prayers. My faith in what God has already done in my life is the evidence in my expectation of what He will still do in my future.
So this is one of the tires given to me by God to navigate the journey of my life. I was designed to trust God. I was designed to rely on Him. For everything. I was not designed to go out on my own. I was not designed to exchange my tire of faith with a provisional tire of "self." I was not designed to exchange God's wisdom for my own, God's omniscience for my own limited understanding, God's perfect plan for my own flawed life strategy.
How does one live the faith life? How do you, as the Bible says, "walk by faith and not by sight?"
It's not as hard as we make it, yet it is at the same time, life's most tumultuous struggle. But here are the simple truths that may assist in keeping us between the white lines, so to speak.
1. Plant a stake -- remember that moment that you first believed in the saving grace of God. Plant a stake, build a spiritual altar there to which you can return. It was common practice in the Old Testament that believers would build a monument where God interceded in the lives of men. It was a place of worship, and it was a commemoration that God is real, and He is worthy of trust, honor, and glory. We need to do that. Our lives must be a series of living monuments built to honor Him. They stand as signifiers to the world that God is real, and that He is worthy of trust, honor, and glory. But planting a stake also serves the essential purpose of giving us a reference point of God's reliability. When my faith wavers, I always go back to the last time I called upon Him and He answered and provided. It builds my faith and restores my confidence in Him.
2. Keep the lines clear -- actively seek God's forgiveness and restoration. Now, I certainly believe in eternal security. I believe that once you are truly saved, you are eternally saved. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. However, unconfessed sin obstructs the fellowship God desires with you. Another way to look at it is to understand that sin -- any sin -- is an act of faithlessness. The faith life cannot co-exist with the faithless life. Repentance is the acknowledgment of what God already knows. It is the agreement that faithlessness is wrong. It is the heart's cry to return to the faith life. God will restore faith to those who turn from it, even though their salvation be secure and undeniable.
3. Pursue grace. Faith is a grace gift. You didn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. If God has given you the blessing of faith, demonstrate your proof of it, as well as your gratitude for it by being graceful to others. For you to exist gracelessly is to exist faithlessly, which takes you back to point #2.
4. Be prepared to live outrageously. Confessionally, this is the most frightening one for me. But God has proven Himself that He likes to put His children "out on a limb" looking dangerously stupid, silly, or out of control. He does this so there's no confusing who is responsible for the miraculous provision. He put Abraham in a strange country, he put Israel between a rock and hard place before parting the red sea. He used a whore to bring victory to Moses' armies. He used a shepherd boy to slay a pagan giant. And He let the Savior of the world's people die pathetically, shamefully on a cross.
That kinda makes your step of faith a little less frightening, doesn't it? It does mine. I tell you the truth. I've been sweatin the details lately about our home and car. Yesterday, I bought a home with no way to get to and from that home to work. I have no explanation on how this problem is going to be solved. I wish I could tell you I've handled it like a champion.
But that would be a lie.
I bit Kelli's head off about something trivial. Our real estate agent shared lunch with us and told of how her son was killed in an accident. Rather than sharing encouragement, I was off in "Bryan land" having another "what about Bob?" moment.
I need I need I need. gimme gimme gimme.
But the long and the short of it is that we absolutely believe that God has called me to this position at NAMB.
we absolutely believe that this is the home that God has ordained for us. It is His provision.
So, despite my flawed proof up to this point, I'm claiming by faith that God will provide everything necessary to bring Himself glory through this.
I think I need a car. It doesn't have to be a Buick LeSabre, but that would be okay, too.
But God may determine that I need something else.
I pray I'm able to recognize His provision, in whatever form it comes, and be filled with gratitude for it. I pray I'm able to glorify Him through it.
I pray I'll be just as praise-filled if His provisions don't match my expectations.
In the Bible, my faith is described as a shield, used to thwart the fiery darts of the enemy.
The trick to using this weapon of defense (that doubles as a tire), is that I've got to pick it up.
There's the catch. I've got to use the faith God has given me.
God has designed for me to return to my faith repeatedly through life, constantly relying upon God's past faithfulness for my present needs.
This is how faith grows.
It's the only way.
God has never let me down.
So...
.....by faith....
I'm going to "lean not on my own understanding," and I will trust Him to accomplish far above and beyond that which I expect, for the glory of His names sake.
6/05/2003
sung to the tune of cruisin' up and down that road
last night when we got out of the movies, we found that a tire on our lovely rented Alero had gone flat. I changed the tire to one of those splendid provisionals that looks like it belongs on a Schwinn rather than on an auto.
Today, when I dropped Kelli off at the airport, I exchanged the Alero for a Buick LeSabre. This car is cool.
Its coolest features are the radio buttons on the steering wheel. I was able to seek additional stations and adjust the volume without leaving 10 & 2.
I'm much less dangerous in this automobile.
Today, when I dropped Kelli off at the airport, I exchanged the Alero for a Buick LeSabre. This car is cool.
Its coolest features are the radio buttons on the steering wheel. I was able to seek additional stations and adjust the volume without leaving 10 & 2.
I'm much less dangerous in this automobile.
stat o' the day
heard from Dr. Bob Reccord, NAMB president, at today's chapel in preparation for the upcoming SBC annual convention, this year in Phoenix:
every hour in the United States, 219 people die apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
there's no place like....
that's right.
we've found a home.
All of a sudden, we've become country folk. we're the proud new mortgage holders on a lovely 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home in north Cumming, Georgia. The home has a partially-finished basement, which will serve as an adequate corral for our small children.
You can, for a short time, find the home here.
we've found a home.
All of a sudden, we've become country folk. we're the proud new mortgage holders on a lovely 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home in north Cumming, Georgia. The home has a partially-finished basement, which will serve as an adequate corral for our small children.
You can, for a short time, find the home here.
6/03/2003
prayer needs
please pray for Pam K., who has been diagnosed with cancer and does not have a faith relationship with God through Jesus.
and please continue to pray for me for an automobile.
thanks.
and please continue to pray for me for an automobile.
thanks.
I'm rich
I'm now a millionaire.
my blogshares portfolio has surpassed 1.1 million fake dollars.
I'm going to eventually divest myself of my fake fortune by buying a fake house, a fake car, and a multitude of other fake toys.
what does all this really mean?
simple...I'm a doofus.
my blogshares portfolio has surpassed 1.1 million fake dollars.
I'm going to eventually divest myself of my fake fortune by buying a fake house, a fake car, and a multitude of other fake toys.
what does all this really mean?
simple...I'm a doofus.
just a quick check in
we're in Atlanta.
looking for houses.
there's lots of them.
but only one that God has chosen for us.
we're looking forward to discovering it.
looking for houses.
there's lots of them.
but only one that God has chosen for us.
we're looking forward to discovering it.
6/01/2003
hmm. didn't see this one coming
You are Agent Smith, from "The Matrix."
No one would ever want to run into you in a
dark alley. Cold as steel, tough as a rock,
things are your way or the highway.
What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
of course, I wanted to be Neo.
who wouldn't?
Thanks WIT
It's difficult for me...
...to be "one of the least of these."
I find tremendous fulfillment in being able to be a person who can bring a cup of water or a bit of food or some much-needed clothing to someone in need. I enjoy the peace-bringing satisfaction of bringing hope to someone in despair. I cherish the biblical principal that when I do something for those in need, it is as though I do it unto the Lord Himself.
Yet, here I am finding myself in need, and I can't hardly stand it. I feel like a user, a taker. I feel helpless and I don't like it. I have to rely on others for my needs, and my needs are causing others to re-orient their lives around my schedule.
This struggle can be reduced to a single word. Probably the biggest five-letter four-letter word in my life.
pride.
The paradox of my life is that I want to be the person who "has it all" so I can declare, "The Lord has given everything and to Him I give my praise." It's as though I fail to recognize when I have very little that this which I do have I only possess because of God, as well. But I do recognize it. I just don't seem to appreciate it as much.
I hate this about me.
In the theological, ideological, theorhetical, philosophical sense, I appreciate God's gifts amidst these circumstances even more, because I am so much in need. My very livelihood, my very future is dependent upon the sacrifice and generosity of others right now. But in the practical sense, I think my tepid joy is the result of not wanting to sully the name of Christ by being in need.
Isn't that just silly?
I think of Job. This man lost everything. No home. No family. No Possessions. No prosperity. Nothing. He didn't even have a network of supportive friends to give him wise counsel. And he was able to praise God and be content with nothing because he had God.
More appropriately, God had him.
And to Job, that was sufficient.
I desperately want that to be sufficient in my own life. But all my fleshly insecurities get in the way.
And its only through the process of writing out this self-disclosure that I realize that I've missed the only opinion that really matters...
God ordains circumstances in my life for one reason.
That I will bring glory to Him.
Anything else, everything else is subordinate.
I must cease compromising God's greatest purpose for my life for lesser ones.
I do have so much more than what Job had. So why do I focus on that which I do not have?
Because I need things?
In one sense, I do.
But to even say so, am I saying that I need something other, apart from God?
My prayer is to know what God knows I need. To be satisfied with what God says should satisfy me. To have the wisdom to discern what I need from what I only think I need. And to praise God in all times in all ways for the glory of His name's sake.
I find tremendous fulfillment in being able to be a person who can bring a cup of water or a bit of food or some much-needed clothing to someone in need. I enjoy the peace-bringing satisfaction of bringing hope to someone in despair. I cherish the biblical principal that when I do something for those in need, it is as though I do it unto the Lord Himself.
Yet, here I am finding myself in need, and I can't hardly stand it. I feel like a user, a taker. I feel helpless and I don't like it. I have to rely on others for my needs, and my needs are causing others to re-orient their lives around my schedule.
This struggle can be reduced to a single word. Probably the biggest five-letter four-letter word in my life.
pride.
The paradox of my life is that I want to be the person who "has it all" so I can declare, "The Lord has given everything and to Him I give my praise." It's as though I fail to recognize when I have very little that this which I do have I only possess because of God, as well. But I do recognize it. I just don't seem to appreciate it as much.
I hate this about me.
In the theological, ideological, theorhetical, philosophical sense, I appreciate God's gifts amidst these circumstances even more, because I am so much in need. My very livelihood, my very future is dependent upon the sacrifice and generosity of others right now. But in the practical sense, I think my tepid joy is the result of not wanting to sully the name of Christ by being in need.
Isn't that just silly?
I think of Job. This man lost everything. No home. No family. No Possessions. No prosperity. Nothing. He didn't even have a network of supportive friends to give him wise counsel. And he was able to praise God and be content with nothing because he had God.
More appropriately, God had him.
And to Job, that was sufficient.
I desperately want that to be sufficient in my own life. But all my fleshly insecurities get in the way.
what will my wife think?
what will my children think?
what will our parents think?
what will nonbelievers think?
what will believers think?
And its only through the process of writing out this self-disclosure that I realize that I've missed the only opinion that really matters...
what does God think?
God ordains circumstances in my life for one reason.
That I will bring glory to Him.
Anything else, everything else is subordinate.
I must cease compromising God's greatest purpose for my life for lesser ones.
I do have so much more than what Job had. So why do I focus on that which I do not have?
Because I need things?
In one sense, I do.
But to even say so, am I saying that I need something other, apart from God?
My prayer is to know what God knows I need. To be satisfied with what God says should satisfy me. To have the wisdom to discern what I need from what I only think I need. And to praise God in all times in all ways for the glory of His name's sake.
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