Living broken in a shattered world

http://www.bluelikejazz.com/home.htm
I think that there is somthing really wrong with me. I am guessing maybe it is wrong with everyone, but it feels especially wrong with me.

When I was reading Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller, it occured to me that he was right... He says, "... now that God was gone [after the fall], now that he wasn’t around to help us feel that we were loved and important and good, we were looking for it in each other, in a jury of peers." (SFGKW pg 94)

"I know without a doubt that I am a person who is wired so that something outside of myself tells me who I am… It is as though the voice God used to have has been taken up by less credible voices." (Pg 95)

So yeah... I hear voices... Lots of them... Maybe one of them is yours.

The New Office!

So I have been hopeless living in boxes, or at least my books have, ever since I quit my old job and had to give up my office. My New Job is so awesome, but instead of an office, I have a little corner cubical. I have room for like 10 books there... But now... now my books no longer have to live in boxes... they are free... the can now live on shelves and breathe in fresh air, and collect fresh dust! It is none to soon either, as I have been really having a hard time studying for Trinity without a place to really work and lay out my stuff. Now all I need is a nice new Powerbook to decorate my desk!

Additionally I also mananged to finish up my downstairs living room. It is a roomy 300 square feet of entertaining perfections. Designed with the party in mind, this room comes nicely equiped with a huge sound system, a decent TV, dvd's Galore, and a Xbox with all the latest Halo upgrades. The room is also equipped with built in bookshelves and game cabinets for all you Tolstoy and Parcheesy lovers out there. It is so awesome. I no longer have everything I own cramed into our spare bedroom. Lots of room for Francis to run, which she does a lot.

Here's to vision, perserverance, and sweat equity. They often get you where your money cannot.

Loving God & Emily Enough...

So, I was thinking about how incredible my wife is today. In preparing to speak to an awesome group of high school students about how God is their lover I thought of Emily and our wedding vows. We fashioned them around the "shemah". (Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength, and with all of your mind, (Mark 12:29 - 30 version). I am convicted of how I fall short of loving God and Emily enough.
Brandon,
~I promise to be your loving wife, giving all that I am to honor you, seeking to help and fulfill you always
~With all my heart to love and cherish you, reaching out to you in good times and in bad, seeking joy with you in all circumstances
~With all of my mind to admire you and seek to understand you, searching out all of your gifts and passions, always looking to draw the best out of you
~With all of my strength to fight for you, holding you up in prayer and laboring to see your dreams come true
~With all of my soul to thirst for you, forsaking all others, sharing only in your love.

Emily,
~I promise to be your faithful husband, giving all that I am to love you as Christ loves the Church
~With all my heart to love and cherish you, reaching out to you in good times and in bad, seeking joy with you in all circumstances
~With all of my mind to admire you and seek to understand you, searching out all of your gifts and passions, always looking to draw the best out of you
~With all of my strength to fight for you, holding you up in prayer and laboring to see your dreams come true
~With all of my soul to thirst for you, forsaking all others, sharing only in your love.

grace

thanks pojo

The "Christian Right" is Neither.

A few weeks ago I read this bumper sticker that said, "The "Christian Right" is Neither." Immediately, I felt this primal urge to get out of my car (sitting at a stoplight by Woodfield mall in traffic) run up to this person's window to ask them about what it meant to them. I wondered momentarily if the truck was being driven by someone named Isaiah, Hosea, or maybe even John. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world, if it were my servants would fight for it." Do you ever feel like we, who spiritually have everything, spend way to much time fighting with the rest of the World over how they use what is theirs? I just don't see Jesus running a grass roots campaign to make sure that a more conservative Caesar get nominated to the Roman senate...

Is this the Purpose of the Church?

As the squirrel was reading his map, he stumbled across a scrap of paper tucked in the folds. Scratched on the weathered parchment was the following statement:
“The Church exists for the pleasure of God, and strives in ‘marriage’ with Christ to fulfill its ‘vow’ to be His incarnate ‘Body’ in His world. This “fleshing out” includes making Christ known through sacrificial lives of service, compassion, beauty and dignity; through redeemed relationships with other believers; and through passionate, respectful, engagement with the other people and institutions of the world”
B. Squirrel wasn't sure what to make of that. He wished that he had a group wise people to discuss it with, but alas, he was alone today... no one walking with him as he traveled the footpath before him.

From the mouth of swine

Squirrel's best friends Pig and Rat send him daily pictures of their thoughts and lives. It is hard to believe how amazing they are at nailing current events and trends that are true in Squirrels life as well. Is anyone else listening?

http://www.comics.com/comics/pearls/index.html