*blows dust off blog*
Phew! What a busy summer. It's been so incredibly awesome, though! Watching my family grow, watching my garden grow, having some great times with close friends. My heart feels so full. It's been a summer of transitions. New house, new baby, and I'm also transitioning out of media ministry. It's been a great 5 1/2 years, and I'm really excited as to where it's heading next. It's in the hands of some great, passionate people. I'm also excited about having some down time with my family, and investing more in our community, now that we have put roots down here. New season, new adventures, little scary but here we go!
Speaking of investing in the community, today made me smile. Every Tuesday, I pick up a gallon of fresh raw milk from Hidden Acres Farm at the Marquette Baking Company. The same lady is always working there, and to show my appreciation of their participation in the program, I usually buy a few cookies. And because they are really, really good (especially the chocolate/cayenne ones). Today she gave me a free coconut macaroon, and as I walked back to the car, fresh milk in one hand, fresh cookies in the other (coconut one in my mouth), I thought to myself "This is the beauty of eating locally." My food comes with a face. I know the people that produce it. We get our beef from Seeds N Spores, not just because it's good, but because we're building a relationship with them. Leanne Hatfield gives Zemi strawberries at the Farmer's Market, and we chat and give her a big hug at the fair. We tell William Aho at Hidden Acres about how one of the jars broke and spilled a half gallon of milk in our car (no crying allowed), and he laughs and says "don't worry about it."
That's why we eat local and organic. I smile at the shocked faces when I tell them I pay $7.25 a gallon for milk, but it's worth it. I'm not just paying for the end product. We view our money as seeds, as an investment, and we're choosing to sow into local, sustainable, high-quality agriculture. Not just the fruits of it, but into the lives that produce the fruits of it.
As fall wanes into winter, I'll have (hopefully) more time to blog and expand on these thoughts some. I also am planning on diving into some nutrition stuff, too. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
A Month? Really?
Wow, a month since the last post! I'm still blown away by how fast time goes. I've been told by those older than I that it doesn't slow down at all, either. Melinda and I were just talking about that the other day, about how you just want to hold onto each day but they just seem to rush past so fast (kind of like flipping through music in album view in iTunes). When I was a kid, time seemed so much slower. Summers seemed endless. So did school days. It seems backwards that now, when I have so much that I care about, it is just zipping by. So, in thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that I can't be slow-minded when thinking about life. The picture that comes to mind are those crazy rock climbers who basically throw themselves from handhold to handhold. There's no time to sit and weigh the options, it's just going for it. It takes knowing exactly where you're going, and having a set of core principles that determine your actions. As much as I want to hold on to every moment with my family, I can't. So rather than lament my lack of time-travel abilities, what can I do? It really takes dreaming with God and seeing what He has 20-30 years down the road, and then locking in on that. Letting these core values and future dreams and goals be the constellations that continually orient this ship screaming along at a breakneck pace.
Anyway, enough of the philosophical, slightly abstract stuff. I read a quote today "nostalgia ain't what it used to be."
So here's the last month:
Kiah is doing great. Such a strong child. He almost rolled over tonight! In a half hour he'll be a month old. Zemi is transitioning into big sisterhood really well. This Sunday she will turn two (not going to drift back into paragraph one). We've been pursuing (for the most part) healthy, sustainable food. This week we sent in a check to purchase a cow share, which means we will soon be drinking organic, grass-fed raw milk! Pretty excited about it. Our goal is for our diet to be well-rounded, organic, whole foods. As unprocessed as practical. I'd love to get to the place where most of it is produced locally, too. Another star in the constellation.
Most of our life has been a blur. We've had friends and family come and visit and stay with us. We've had a lot of laughs and great times these past few weeks. Brewing beer, pouring concrete, watching thunderstorms, mowing the lawn, having my heart filled at "papa lola's" as Zemi puts it, laughing, and getting a little bit of precious sleep when I can. Bringing back a phrase from an earlier post: man I didn't know it could be this good.
I'm still doing my best to study the end-times teachings, too. I just finished doing word studies on "Last Day," "Last Days," "Latter Days," "Day of the Lord," and "Day of Judgement." I wrote notes on each of the verses I found, but I'm mainly going to use them as reference points, and then take it book by book. I'll post my notes from the book studies, probably starting with Daniel. I've been learning about, or rather learning that I need to learn about, the apocalyptic phraseology that the prophets used. Also things like how ancient Hebrew poetry is structured, etc. Totally different perspectives for me, but I have to remember, I'm a 21st Century Westerner, and this was written in the ancient Middle East. They didn't write like we do. I've been listening to people like David Pawson and Dr. Kelly Birks, too. Opposite ends of the spectrum, but I want to make sure I have a well-rounded diet in this, too, because it is really, really easy to read my biases into the text, and not let the text determine my biases. Kind of like walking a tightrope at times, but it's good!
So there's the past month. Scattered, fun, incredible. Now I'm off to try to catch the elusive wonder we call "sleep."
PB
Anyway, enough of the philosophical, slightly abstract stuff. I read a quote today "nostalgia ain't what it used to be."
So here's the last month:
Kiah is doing great. Such a strong child. He almost rolled over tonight! In a half hour he'll be a month old. Zemi is transitioning into big sisterhood really well. This Sunday she will turn two (not going to drift back into paragraph one). We've been pursuing (for the most part) healthy, sustainable food. This week we sent in a check to purchase a cow share, which means we will soon be drinking organic, grass-fed raw milk! Pretty excited about it. Our goal is for our diet to be well-rounded, organic, whole foods. As unprocessed as practical. I'd love to get to the place where most of it is produced locally, too. Another star in the constellation.
Most of our life has been a blur. We've had friends and family come and visit and stay with us. We've had a lot of laughs and great times these past few weeks. Brewing beer, pouring concrete, watching thunderstorms, mowing the lawn, having my heart filled at "papa lola's" as Zemi puts it, laughing, and getting a little bit of precious sleep when I can. Bringing back a phrase from an earlier post: man I didn't know it could be this good.
I'm still doing my best to study the end-times teachings, too. I just finished doing word studies on "Last Day," "Last Days," "Latter Days," "Day of the Lord," and "Day of Judgement." I wrote notes on each of the verses I found, but I'm mainly going to use them as reference points, and then take it book by book. I'll post my notes from the book studies, probably starting with Daniel. I've been learning about, or rather learning that I need to learn about, the apocalyptic phraseology that the prophets used. Also things like how ancient Hebrew poetry is structured, etc. Totally different perspectives for me, but I have to remember, I'm a 21st Century Westerner, and this was written in the ancient Middle East. They didn't write like we do. I've been listening to people like David Pawson and Dr. Kelly Birks, too. Opposite ends of the spectrum, but I want to make sure I have a well-rounded diet in this, too, because it is really, really easy to read my biases into the text, and not let the text determine my biases. Kind of like walking a tightrope at times, but it's good!
So there's the past month. Scattered, fun, incredible. Now I'm off to try to catch the elusive wonder we call "sleep."
PB
Thursday, June 30, 2011
No Looking Back
I love it when I have to live up to my own words. OK not always. A couple posts ago I was pondering on how life isn't about being comfortable in seasons, but about learning how to navigate through them and transition between them well. I thought it was a pretty good statement, it even got a mention on a good friend's facebook page.
Now I get to live it.
Yesterday morning (12:57am) our son, Hezekiah Reign, was born. He had an incredible birth. He was born at home, in our bedroom, about as natural as you can get. My wife will be blogging the birth story on her blog at sometime in the near future, so keep checking. I just want to say how absolutely awesome home birth is. It was us, our wonderful midwife Sandy (who thankfully made it in time!), and our dear friend Liz. It was intimate, peaceful, joyful, loving, and dare i say fun. There was intensity, for sure, but a good kind of intensity. There was nothing scary about it. There was nothing invasive about it. The atmosphere was full of honor and respect and praise. When Melinda was holding back on pushing while the last half a centimeter opened up Sandy matched the intensity of the moment with her prayer. She prayed over the baby as soon as it was out. Words can't describe how amazing it was. After an herbal bath I got to cuddle up with Melinda and the baby in our own bed, in our own house. Despite the kid pumping out meconium like there's no tomorrow, it was super peaceful and cozy. Barring any complications, all of our kids will be born at home. There really is nothing like it.
Now the season change. Like most, even if you know it's coming you really can't see it coming. To put it bluntly, being a father of two is hard. I grew up an only child. I was thirteen when my sister was born, so I was already pretty independent and it wasn't a huge transition for me. Zemirah, on the other hand, is just under two. While she loves Kiah and is great with him, I can tell that even at that young there's a transition she's going through. So far she's doing great, but my father radar is going off saying "sensitive time, sensitive time!" While not necessarily a make-or-break situation, I'm acutely aware that I could easily hurt her heart by prioritizing the baby over her. Which is tough because Kiah's in a sensitive spot, too, and I really want to bond with him in his first few days of life. So far it's been good. I feel I've been balancing well, and I've tried to not separate it so much into "Zemi time" and "Kiah time," but more spend time with them together. But, as Jason Upton puts it, "it ain't easy, learning to love like You."
So I've found myself encouraging myself with my own words. I keep singing the line from Hallelujah by Jake Hamilton that goes "to live Your dream is quite the cost, just don't look back, and don't get lost." I spend some time in Philippians 3, one of my anchor-verses. Pressing on, forgetting what's behind and straining toward what's ahead. Striving to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me. Because if, when I'm rocking Zemi to sleep at night, I stay in the place of trying to hold onto the time when she was my only child, I'll stay rooted in the past. I'll become the 40 year-old high school football star. And because, as a father, I determine the culture of our household, we'll all stay rooted in the past, viewing those days as the golden days. I can't do that. Though the transition feels, at times, like I'm just hanging on for dear life, I know we can shift from being a family of three to a family of four in a way where everyone is honored, no one loses out or gets pushed aside, and our love for each other grows and deepens. The future just keeps getting brighter.
So that's where I'm at tonight. Working on giving my son the best start to life possible, walking with my daughter through her first major season change, and encouraging my wife as her body shifts seasons, too. Though it's hard, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Good night,
PB
Now I get to live it.
Yesterday morning (12:57am) our son, Hezekiah Reign, was born. He had an incredible birth. He was born at home, in our bedroom, about as natural as you can get. My wife will be blogging the birth story on her blog at sometime in the near future, so keep checking. I just want to say how absolutely awesome home birth is. It was us, our wonderful midwife Sandy (who thankfully made it in time!), and our dear friend Liz. It was intimate, peaceful, joyful, loving, and dare i say fun. There was intensity, for sure, but a good kind of intensity. There was nothing scary about it. There was nothing invasive about it. The atmosphere was full of honor and respect and praise. When Melinda was holding back on pushing while the last half a centimeter opened up Sandy matched the intensity of the moment with her prayer. She prayed over the baby as soon as it was out. Words can't describe how amazing it was. After an herbal bath I got to cuddle up with Melinda and the baby in our own bed, in our own house. Despite the kid pumping out meconium like there's no tomorrow, it was super peaceful and cozy. Barring any complications, all of our kids will be born at home. There really is nothing like it.
Now the season change. Like most, even if you know it's coming you really can't see it coming. To put it bluntly, being a father of two is hard. I grew up an only child. I was thirteen when my sister was born, so I was already pretty independent and it wasn't a huge transition for me. Zemirah, on the other hand, is just under two. While she loves Kiah and is great with him, I can tell that even at that young there's a transition she's going through. So far she's doing great, but my father radar is going off saying "sensitive time, sensitive time!" While not necessarily a make-or-break situation, I'm acutely aware that I could easily hurt her heart by prioritizing the baby over her. Which is tough because Kiah's in a sensitive spot, too, and I really want to bond with him in his first few days of life. So far it's been good. I feel I've been balancing well, and I've tried to not separate it so much into "Zemi time" and "Kiah time," but more spend time with them together. But, as Jason Upton puts it, "it ain't easy, learning to love like You."
So I've found myself encouraging myself with my own words. I keep singing the line from Hallelujah by Jake Hamilton that goes "to live Your dream is quite the cost, just don't look back, and don't get lost." I spend some time in Philippians 3, one of my anchor-verses. Pressing on, forgetting what's behind and straining toward what's ahead. Striving to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me. Because if, when I'm rocking Zemi to sleep at night, I stay in the place of trying to hold onto the time when she was my only child, I'll stay rooted in the past. I'll become the 40 year-old high school football star. And because, as a father, I determine the culture of our household, we'll all stay rooted in the past, viewing those days as the golden days. I can't do that. Though the transition feels, at times, like I'm just hanging on for dear life, I know we can shift from being a family of three to a family of four in a way where everyone is honored, no one loses out or gets pushed aside, and our love for each other grows and deepens. The future just keeps getting brighter.
So that's where I'm at tonight. Working on giving my son the best start to life possible, walking with my daughter through her first major season change, and encouraging my wife as her body shifts seasons, too. Though it's hard, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Good night,
PB
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
And So it Begins
Like your personal journal, it's good to go back and read previous entries. Keeps things in perspective and context, and let's you see big changes that you normally wouldn't see day to day. My last post was on our last night in our apartment. The next day, a sea of humanity showed up and moved us into our house in under two hours. It was awesome! We've been loving living in our house. The garden is set up and planted, and it's been fun walking around dreaming about different landscaping ideas. We have more than enough land to do all the food growing we could want, with the garden, planting fruit trees, and other miscellaneous food plots. I'll be posting more on organic gardening as experience comes. I've also been reading Harmony by Prince Charles, and this will be a good place to process some of those thoughts, too. Also, in less than a month, you'll be seeing posts (probably at like 3am) about being a father of a 2 year-old and a newborn.
Now, (dun dun dun) the end times stuff.
This is my plan: I'm going to go through all the passages I can find that refer to the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). I'm not in a hurry, so I'll take them verse by verse, phrase by phrase if need be, and see just what in the world it says, in context. I'm a broadcast major, so of course I'll quote my sources and strive for objectivity. I'll be going through Daniel's 70th week, Matthew 24, Revelation, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and others. Feel free to suggest resources and voice your opinion; it should open up some great conversation. This should be fun! Who knows, maybe I'll turn it into a book!
Finally, just a thought I have: generally speaking, the church doesn't disagree well. Not just talking about end-times stuff here, talking about all kinds of issues, and it goes back to the thing of rallying around doctrine rather than fathers. When we gather in camps around specific doctrines, we divide when we disagree, because that's what our relationship is based on. Maybe that's why the divorce rate is so high in the church? I don't know, just a thought. I'm not in relationship with my wife or my friends and leaders because we always agree on every detail. I'm in relationship with them because I love them and I've committed my life to them. Don't get me wrong, agreement is important in many areas, but it doesn't always have to be our highest core value.
Til next time!
PB
Now, (dun dun dun) the end times stuff.
This is my plan: I'm going to go through all the passages I can find that refer to the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). I'm not in a hurry, so I'll take them verse by verse, phrase by phrase if need be, and see just what in the world it says, in context. I'm a broadcast major, so of course I'll quote my sources and strive for objectivity. I'll be going through Daniel's 70th week, Matthew 24, Revelation, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and others. Feel free to suggest resources and voice your opinion; it should open up some great conversation. This should be fun! Who knows, maybe I'll turn it into a book!
Finally, just a thought I have: generally speaking, the church doesn't disagree well. Not just talking about end-times stuff here, talking about all kinds of issues, and it goes back to the thing of rallying around doctrine rather than fathers. When we gather in camps around specific doctrines, we divide when we disagree, because that's what our relationship is based on. Maybe that's why the divorce rate is so high in the church? I don't know, just a thought. I'm not in relationship with my wife or my friends and leaders because we always agree on every detail. I'm in relationship with them because I love them and I've committed my life to them. Don't get me wrong, agreement is important in many areas, but it doesn't always have to be our highest core value.
Til next time!
PB
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Honorary Shotgun Approach
A lot of random stuff tonight: Middle East Policy, Season Changes, and the End-Times. So I'm taking a shotgun approach. Also, my bud Jason Parks wrote a blog post at my suggesting (coercing?), so I'm giving him the honorary mention in this one. Good job, Jason! Now sit and reflect on how coffee has changed your life.
First, Middle East Policy (per Jason's post). I also think it's pretty silly to try to fix a problem with policy. Nations are made up of people, and policy (should) always reflect the will of the people. That's Democracy, right? Even if you said "OK, here's the line. You on the left, you're Israelis. You on the right, you're Palestinians. Done." people would still fight each other because they aren't angry about policy. There's no problem with a nation sitting in and being the referee, helping people along, but that's a lot different than meddling. It's more like "Hey, remember our civil war a century and a half ago? Learn from our mistakes." than "We are big and powerful, you should listen to us or we'll kill you."
The responsibility for this lies as much our shoulders as the President's. Especially the church, remember, we're supposed to change the world? You see, if your worldview requires the world to turn on Israel at Armaggedon, you believe that Middle East peace is a pipe dream and you just watch the news to see who else steps up to "hate the Jews." However if your worldview doesn't require that, then you're more apt to say, "what can I do to help, and to bring what God wants here?" Because the President can't do it. Legislation and policy can't do it. It's doing what Jesus did, getting down to the level of these people and being a peace maker (not a peace keeper). I have a cousin who is (or was) working with Israeli and Palestinian kids in schools, teaching them why they shouldn't hate each other. That's what changes things!
Second topic. This is our last night in our apartment. Funny how transitions always make you nostalgic. I was rocking Zemi to sleep just thinking about all the memories here. This is the only home she's known. I've had so, so many good nights rocking her to sleep. Nights where I've wrestled with God on different topics, had wonderful worship, all kinds of stuff. Tomorrow night we'll continue at our first house, but it'll be in a different season. New things. But I've learned that the goal of life is never to become comfortable in a season. It's to learn how to navigate through them, and the transition from them without leaving your life a train wreck. Good times, even better to come!
Finally, a bit more on the end-times. I still haven't had time to begin digging into a lot of it, but I thought I'd share a few things it's not:
1.) It's not an escapist theology, where I "spiritualize" verses I think are a little too harsh because I don't want to deal with them.
2.) It's not downplaying the holiness and justice of God, replacing it with a tolerant, backbone-less God. I do believe in a final judgement day. My definition of justice is "wrongs being made right." Jesus was the ultimate work of justice. Now justice is being worked on the earth as the kingdoms of this earth moving toward becoming the kingdoms of our God. God does not tolerate sin, but Jesus was most furious at the ones who did everything right but missed the point. He loves real people, not people pretending to be someone else, justified in their own eyes.
3.) It's not new. The end times view with the antichrist and the tribulation period, etc. has only been prominent for the last 70 years or so. It started during WWI in Europe, and in America during WWII. Church Fathers from Origen to John Wesley leaned more on the Victorious view than the common 7-year Tribulation view that's popular now.
4.) It's not regurgitated. At least it won't be. That's why I haven't written a ton about it, because it can't be someone else's. It has to be something that is truth deep in my heart, that's been formed after tons of study and prayer. I could talk about how Daniel's 70th week took place immediately after the 69th, and how the only future portion of Matthew 24 is verse 30 and on, but right now that's me just reciting information I've learned. It was also the same when I was reiterating information I had learned from Marv Rosenthal or Mike Bickle or Tim LaHaye.
5.) I'm really not interested in debating theology. My long term worldview determines where I'm going to invest long term, and I need to figure that out. I love good discussions, because it makes you seriously question your viewpoint to see if it's secure and biblically founded or just a regurgitated tidbit, but I'm not going to get caught up in a "who's right/wrong" discussion. Even though I disagree on some points with Marv, Mike, Left Behind, David Wilkerson, pretty much everyone, I do agree on way more and I love these guys tremendously. They are all incredibly valuable to the body, just like Paul, Peter, and Apollos were. I'm not going to get caught up rallying around doctrine, because "the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim 1:5). Rather, I'm going to rally around family, and try to figure just what in the world God is up to...
...because He wants me to be a part of it.
Anyways, that's my thoughts for tonight! Please let me know what you think, some great convos have come from it! Love you all!
PB
First, Middle East Policy (per Jason's post). I also think it's pretty silly to try to fix a problem with policy. Nations are made up of people, and policy (should) always reflect the will of the people. That's Democracy, right? Even if you said "OK, here's the line. You on the left, you're Israelis. You on the right, you're Palestinians. Done." people would still fight each other because they aren't angry about policy. There's no problem with a nation sitting in and being the referee, helping people along, but that's a lot different than meddling. It's more like "Hey, remember our civil war a century and a half ago? Learn from our mistakes." than "We are big and powerful, you should listen to us or we'll kill you."
The responsibility for this lies as much our shoulders as the President's. Especially the church, remember, we're supposed to change the world? You see, if your worldview requires the world to turn on Israel at Armaggedon, you believe that Middle East peace is a pipe dream and you just watch the news to see who else steps up to "hate the Jews." However if your worldview doesn't require that, then you're more apt to say, "what can I do to help, and to bring what God wants here?" Because the President can't do it. Legislation and policy can't do it. It's doing what Jesus did, getting down to the level of these people and being a peace maker (not a peace keeper). I have a cousin who is (or was) working with Israeli and Palestinian kids in schools, teaching them why they shouldn't hate each other. That's what changes things!
Second topic. This is our last night in our apartment. Funny how transitions always make you nostalgic. I was rocking Zemi to sleep just thinking about all the memories here. This is the only home she's known. I've had so, so many good nights rocking her to sleep. Nights where I've wrestled with God on different topics, had wonderful worship, all kinds of stuff. Tomorrow night we'll continue at our first house, but it'll be in a different season. New things. But I've learned that the goal of life is never to become comfortable in a season. It's to learn how to navigate through them, and the transition from them without leaving your life a train wreck. Good times, even better to come!
Finally, a bit more on the end-times. I still haven't had time to begin digging into a lot of it, but I thought I'd share a few things it's not:
1.) It's not an escapist theology, where I "spiritualize" verses I think are a little too harsh because I don't want to deal with them.
2.) It's not downplaying the holiness and justice of God, replacing it with a tolerant, backbone-less God. I do believe in a final judgement day. My definition of justice is "wrongs being made right." Jesus was the ultimate work of justice. Now justice is being worked on the earth as the kingdoms of this earth moving toward becoming the kingdoms of our God. God does not tolerate sin, but Jesus was most furious at the ones who did everything right but missed the point. He loves real people, not people pretending to be someone else, justified in their own eyes.
3.) It's not new. The end times view with the antichrist and the tribulation period, etc. has only been prominent for the last 70 years or so. It started during WWI in Europe, and in America during WWII. Church Fathers from Origen to John Wesley leaned more on the Victorious view than the common 7-year Tribulation view that's popular now.
4.) It's not regurgitated. At least it won't be. That's why I haven't written a ton about it, because it can't be someone else's. It has to be something that is truth deep in my heart, that's been formed after tons of study and prayer. I could talk about how Daniel's 70th week took place immediately after the 69th, and how the only future portion of Matthew 24 is verse 30 and on, but right now that's me just reciting information I've learned. It was also the same when I was reiterating information I had learned from Marv Rosenthal or Mike Bickle or Tim LaHaye.
5.) I'm really not interested in debating theology. My long term worldview determines where I'm going to invest long term, and I need to figure that out. I love good discussions, because it makes you seriously question your viewpoint to see if it's secure and biblically founded or just a regurgitated tidbit, but I'm not going to get caught up in a "who's right/wrong" discussion. Even though I disagree on some points with Marv, Mike, Left Behind, David Wilkerson, pretty much everyone, I do agree on way more and I love these guys tremendously. They are all incredibly valuable to the body, just like Paul, Peter, and Apollos were. I'm not going to get caught up rallying around doctrine, because "the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim 1:5). Rather, I'm going to rally around family, and try to figure just what in the world God is up to...
...because He wants me to be a part of it.
Anyways, that's my thoughts for tonight! Please let me know what you think, some great convos have come from it! Love you all!
PB
Sunday, May 15, 2011
This Time Next Week...and other ramblings
This is a picture taken on our anniversary last year:
We were downstate, grandma was watching the peanut, and we were thoroughly enjoying a nice dinner at Olive Garden. We talked about being parents, things we were excited about (funny how it seems like months can fly by without a good "talk" with your spouse. Kids keep you busy!), and we also talked about buying a house. We'd been looking on and off for a while, but we were really itching to finally own our living situation. Our dinner (and Tiramisu) was finished, and the waiter brought us our bill and these after dinner mints. I grabbed them, and on a fidgety, slightly wine-influenced whim, I built a little house and made a prophetic declaration that this was going to be the year we bought a house. Now "prophetic declaration" sounds pretty cool, but all it means is, basically, this is going to happen. God spoke everything into being, and He made us in His likeness, so we can speak things into being, too. The prophetic part is just speaking what God says. Pretty deep subject, but it's just another facet of our being in relationship with the creator of the universe, and how He wants us to be a part of things. Maybe I'll blog on that more, later, but back to the story. I wish I could say that the heavens parted and I felt this rush of...whatever it is that the super christians get...but it was, as I said above, a fidgety, slightly wine-influenced whim. Kind of like "alright, I'm just sayin' here." But it was honest, and heart-felt. Of course, like any important moment, I promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward to today. This time next week, my family and I will be spending the first night in our first house. Get this: it will be exactly one year since that night at Olive Garden. Even more, I built the little house out of four dinner mints. We were only a family of three at the time, but we will be moving in as a family of four (one still in utero). Crazy, eh? Needless to say, we're really excited, blown away, and very thankful. The takeaway for you: God is faithful. Even a fidgety, slightly wine-influenced (they have really good chianti at Olive Garden) whim, when it is mixed with a grain of faith and lines up with His heart, can move mountains.
And now for the aforementioned ramblings. I haven't posted much on Victorious Eschatology, mostly just because I'm still where I was at the time of the last one. I'm in Matthew right now, but as soon as that's done I want to get some serious study on, because this is something that's burning in my heart that I need to get to the bottom of. More to come!
Also, my good friend Jason wrote on the role of excellence in worship music. Really good stuff! I've heard people say they didn't want the music to get "emotional" in the sense of trying to get an emotional response from the congregation. That's good in the sense of playing for their emotions, but, as musicians we are supposed to lead them with our emotions. The worship set is supposed to take people somewhere. It's supposed to move people. It's not about how good you play in and of itself, but it's about giving your all, doing your best, playing your heart out. If that means you keep tempo, great. If that means it totally, absolutely, incredibly rocked, that's great, too! Psalm 33 says to play "skillfully, and shout for joy." Doesn't sound ho-hum to me. There's a great balance and tension to being totally awesome but not in the spotlight, not caring if anybody notices. Jason does this really well, and by the way, he is the only drummer I've ever heard use a cowbell and make it sound amazing.
That's all for now!
PB
We were downstate, grandma was watching the peanut, and we were thoroughly enjoying a nice dinner at Olive Garden. We talked about being parents, things we were excited about (funny how it seems like months can fly by without a good "talk" with your spouse. Kids keep you busy!), and we also talked about buying a house. We'd been looking on and off for a while, but we were really itching to finally own our living situation. Our dinner (and Tiramisu) was finished, and the waiter brought us our bill and these after dinner mints. I grabbed them, and on a fidgety, slightly wine-influenced whim, I built a little house and made a prophetic declaration that this was going to be the year we bought a house. Now "prophetic declaration" sounds pretty cool, but all it means is, basically, this is going to happen. God spoke everything into being, and He made us in His likeness, so we can speak things into being, too. The prophetic part is just speaking what God says. Pretty deep subject, but it's just another facet of our being in relationship with the creator of the universe, and how He wants us to be a part of things. Maybe I'll blog on that more, later, but back to the story. I wish I could say that the heavens parted and I felt this rush of...whatever it is that the super christians get...but it was, as I said above, a fidgety, slightly wine-influenced whim. Kind of like "alright, I'm just sayin' here." But it was honest, and heart-felt. Of course, like any important moment, I promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward to today. This time next week, my family and I will be spending the first night in our first house. Get this: it will be exactly one year since that night at Olive Garden. Even more, I built the little house out of four dinner mints. We were only a family of three at the time, but we will be moving in as a family of four (one still in utero). Crazy, eh? Needless to say, we're really excited, blown away, and very thankful. The takeaway for you: God is faithful. Even a fidgety, slightly wine-influenced (they have really good chianti at Olive Garden) whim, when it is mixed with a grain of faith and lines up with His heart, can move mountains.
And now for the aforementioned ramblings. I haven't posted much on Victorious Eschatology, mostly just because I'm still where I was at the time of the last one. I'm in Matthew right now, but as soon as that's done I want to get some serious study on, because this is something that's burning in my heart that I need to get to the bottom of. More to come!
Also, my good friend Jason wrote on the role of excellence in worship music. Really good stuff! I've heard people say they didn't want the music to get "emotional" in the sense of trying to get an emotional response from the congregation. That's good in the sense of playing for their emotions, but, as musicians we are supposed to lead them with our emotions. The worship set is supposed to take people somewhere. It's supposed to move people. It's not about how good you play in and of itself, but it's about giving your all, doing your best, playing your heart out. If that means you keep tempo, great. If that means it totally, absolutely, incredibly rocked, that's great, too! Psalm 33 says to play "skillfully, and shout for joy." Doesn't sound ho-hum to me. There's a great balance and tension to being totally awesome but not in the spotlight, not caring if anybody notices. Jason does this really well, and by the way, he is the only drummer I've ever heard use a cowbell and make it sound amazing.
That's all for now!
PB
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Why I Eat (mostly) Organic
My wife and I are members at the Marquette Food Co-op, and we love going to the farmer's market. We really try to eat as organic and unprocessed as possible. We're not nutcases about it (at least not our definition of nutcase), because sometimes you just need a Butterburger from Culver's or something good from Frosty Treats. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. So, in the spirit of working out my thoughts in my blog, I'm going to list the reasons why I choose to feed my family this way, and counter some of the reasons against it. Despite my media background, I'm not going to cite my sources and I'm going to make some generalizations, but the information that backs this stuff is readily available in a quick Google search. OK, here we go!
1. It was one of our first commands. We were commanded to care for and rule the world with respect for the one who created it. He made things to work optimally a certain way, which I believe is not the way modern commercial agriculture goes about raising crops and livestock.
2. Modern commercial farming is driven primarily by money. This will inevitably lead to every decision being evaluated by reducing costs and increasing profits. Local, organic farming is driven by maintaining the natural ecosystems that work together to produce a good harvest.
3. You are what you eat. The old adage "garbage in, garbage out" is true with what we eat, too. It goes a little deeper than that, too, because the food we eat is what it eats, too. Modern commercial farming depletes the soil of it's natural resources, and it's replenished with artificial fertilizers that aren't as nutritious to the plants as their natural setting is, which in turn produces a less nutritious product. Organic farming keeps the soil rich by crop rotation and using natural fertilizers optimal to each plant's diet.
This also goes for pesticides, too. I read an excerpt from a speech Prince Charles gave that stated the average person on a Western (Europe, US, Canada) diet consumes around a gallon of diesel a day in pesticides. Not literally, but it's referring to the amount of petroleum-based pesticides needed to produce the fruits and vegetables in that diet. And we do consume some of those residual pesticides left on the fruits and veggies. Remember, they are oil-based, they don't just rinse off. Organic farming only uses natural pesticides, if at all. They also use natural pest repellents, like strategically planting certain plants near others to drive certain pests away.
Let's talk livestock, hormones, and genetically modified stuff. Organically, livestock is fed a healthy diet free of growth hormones, antibiotics, and that is full of nutrition specific to that animal. Plants are not genetically modified in any way, but are grown and cared for like they were originally intended, because again, organic farming is not driven primarily by money. Sure, the apples from a commercial farm might be gigantic, but they are less nutrient-dense then their organic counterparts, and contain traces of all kinds of junk I don't want to feed my family.
Summing up a long #3, organic farming doesn't try to "improve" on God's original design. There is a lot of research starting to emerge linking artificial fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modifications to cancer and other diseases and conditions. Search for it, you'll find it.
4. "But it costs so much!" You're right. It is more expensive. There is a cost, for sure. But to me, it's totally worth it. It's worth knowing that I'm feeding my family the best quality, healthiest stuff I can get. The benefits are that we, in turn, are more healthy, can fight off diseases better, and overall just "feel" better. Not to mention the fact that it tastes better, too!
Also, it is really important to me to sow into the local community. I know the amount of extra work required to farm and raise livestock this way, and I'm all for supporting it. Money is just a tool to advance the kingdom, and I totally see it as a worthwhile investment to sow into the lives of local farmers, and not into a greed machine (whoa Phil, little bit of strong language there).
5. "But it can't feed the world's growing population!" Baloney! Why else is it called "sustainable" agriculture. Another excerpt from the Prince's speech (I think it was to a university in Georgia recently) stated that the local, organic farm is the most productive food-producing engine in the world.
Alright, I think that's enough for now. I'm going to keep writing about it, as it's something I'm passionate about and want to educate others about. It's not just the farming itself, but I'm starting to see the wonder of the harmony God built into these natural ecosystems that is capable of sustaining incredible amounts of food for us, without our needing to modify any part of it. It's designed in a way that works best, why not cooperate with that?
Right?
PB
1. It was one of our first commands. We were commanded to care for and rule the world with respect for the one who created it. He made things to work optimally a certain way, which I believe is not the way modern commercial agriculture goes about raising crops and livestock.
2. Modern commercial farming is driven primarily by money. This will inevitably lead to every decision being evaluated by reducing costs and increasing profits. Local, organic farming is driven by maintaining the natural ecosystems that work together to produce a good harvest.
3. You are what you eat. The old adage "garbage in, garbage out" is true with what we eat, too. It goes a little deeper than that, too, because the food we eat is what it eats, too. Modern commercial farming depletes the soil of it's natural resources, and it's replenished with artificial fertilizers that aren't as nutritious to the plants as their natural setting is, which in turn produces a less nutritious product. Organic farming keeps the soil rich by crop rotation and using natural fertilizers optimal to each plant's diet.
This also goes for pesticides, too. I read an excerpt from a speech Prince Charles gave that stated the average person on a Western (Europe, US, Canada) diet consumes around a gallon of diesel a day in pesticides. Not literally, but it's referring to the amount of petroleum-based pesticides needed to produce the fruits and vegetables in that diet. And we do consume some of those residual pesticides left on the fruits and veggies. Remember, they are oil-based, they don't just rinse off. Organic farming only uses natural pesticides, if at all. They also use natural pest repellents, like strategically planting certain plants near others to drive certain pests away.
Let's talk livestock, hormones, and genetically modified stuff. Organically, livestock is fed a healthy diet free of growth hormones, antibiotics, and that is full of nutrition specific to that animal. Plants are not genetically modified in any way, but are grown and cared for like they were originally intended, because again, organic farming is not driven primarily by money. Sure, the apples from a commercial farm might be gigantic, but they are less nutrient-dense then their organic counterparts, and contain traces of all kinds of junk I don't want to feed my family.
Summing up a long #3, organic farming doesn't try to "improve" on God's original design. There is a lot of research starting to emerge linking artificial fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modifications to cancer and other diseases and conditions. Search for it, you'll find it.
4. "But it costs so much!" You're right. It is more expensive. There is a cost, for sure. But to me, it's totally worth it. It's worth knowing that I'm feeding my family the best quality, healthiest stuff I can get. The benefits are that we, in turn, are more healthy, can fight off diseases better, and overall just "feel" better. Not to mention the fact that it tastes better, too!
Also, it is really important to me to sow into the local community. I know the amount of extra work required to farm and raise livestock this way, and I'm all for supporting it. Money is just a tool to advance the kingdom, and I totally see it as a worthwhile investment to sow into the lives of local farmers, and not into a greed machine (whoa Phil, little bit of strong language there).
5. "But it can't feed the world's growing population!" Baloney! Why else is it called "sustainable" agriculture. Another excerpt from the Prince's speech (I think it was to a university in Georgia recently) stated that the local, organic farm is the most productive food-producing engine in the world.
Alright, I think that's enough for now. I'm going to keep writing about it, as it's something I'm passionate about and want to educate others about. It's not just the farming itself, but I'm starting to see the wonder of the harmony God built into these natural ecosystems that is capable of sustaining incredible amounts of food for us, without our needing to modify any part of it. It's designed in a way that works best, why not cooperate with that?
Right?
PB
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Victory and Harmony
So I just finished reading Victorious Eschatology. I was lying in bed with my heart racing and my head swimming, so what better opportunity to grab some raw thoughts and feelings and write them down!
First, a little back story. I actually had my first encounter with God through the Left Behind book series. In a nutshell it's a series of fiction books based on the futurist understanding of the "end times." Basically that all the christians on earth will be taken to heaven at the beginning of a seven year period of tribulation leading up to the final judgement day, when everyone gives an account of their life before God. Since then, I've read David Sliker's book on revelation, read/listened to some of Mike Bickle's stuff, read all of Marv Rosenthal's teachings on it in the Zion's Fire magazines and his letters, and picked up bits and pieces here and there from Joel Rosenberg and many others. I felt like I had a pretty good futurist understanding of the book of Revelation and the "end times." Things were going to continually get worse, there were going to be earthquakes, wars, famines, and a great falling away from christianity before that seven year period began. Satan through the antichrist was going to take over the world and for seven years it was going to be hell on earth. Obviously, there's a lot more intricacy to that worldview, but that's the nuts and bolts.
But now, after reading books like Heavy Rain and Victorious Eschatology, my worldview has completely shifted. It's hard to hold to the world going to hell in a handbasket when you actually look at the cold, hard facts that the state of the world is actually improving. Remember, most of our information about the world around us is fed to us by large newsmedia conglomerates interested primarily in profit. Drama and sensationalism drive ratings, and slight exaggerations or highly opinionated personalities add flavor to drama and sensationalism. It's a result of our fascination with entertainment, and it's further perpetuated by the masses growing access to influence the content of the mass media, thanks to social networking. Good or bad, it doesn't matter, it's just how it is.
But now take that into consideration. Bad news sells way better than good news, so that's what gets broadcasted, which perpetuates our view of a world in chaos. But if you take a good look at world-wide social statistics, things are getting better. There's more access to food, water, shelter. More access to education and opportunity. More shelter and protection from oppressive people/groups. Just look at the middle east in turmoil. The violence is terrible, no mistake, but these people want to be out from under oppressive regimes, and they are succeeding. The middle east will be a completely different place in 10 years. Now, I'm not naive. We still have a long ways to go, but I'm not seeing a downward spiral.
Back to the book. Here's my disclaimer: I'm still chewing on a lot of this. It hasn't completely settled into solid conviction in my heart yet, but it is quickly getting there. Victorious Eschatology presents the partial preterist view, which is basically that Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father after He rose from the dead, and has been ruling from heaven while the Father makes all His enemies a footstool for His feet. Most of the "end times" discussions in the new testament related to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Jesus will return to earth on the last judgement day, but there's no seven year tribulation period, and evil is continuously being subdued under His rule. This viewpoint strives to interpret every verse in it's biblical and historical context, period.
So I keep reading this, and I feel my heart come alive. Everything is lining up. Some things are a complete paradigm shift, as I've been taught for many years now the futurist view. But after doing all kinds of research this is the worldview that honestly makes the most sense to me. Nothing has to be bent or stretched to fit. And it lines up with what I know to be true of my Father and with what I see around me. It's so incredibly freeing.
Because now I'm empowered to change the world.
You see, if the destiny of the world is to degrade until Jesus comes back, all my efforts to make the world a better place are futile. There's no point. It becomes survive and teach my kids how to survive. Earthquakes hit and I say "yup, just a sign of the times. Praise God, Jesus is coming soon!" As a side note, if natural disasters are always a judgement from God, why did no one die or get seriously injured when the tornadoes ripped through St. Louis? CNN called it a "blessing," shouldn't the church? Moving on.
But if I understand that the destiny of the world is to be continually made better through the church working in unity and power, because the King is returning for a kingdom and a bride made ready, then I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. It's more than just spreading the gospel of salvation, it's spreading the gospel of the kingdom. We begin to disciple nations and see their GNP soar because they do kingdom business. People get saved, healed, and delivered left and right, and that's the starting point. The promises in Isaiah 61 and the second part of Isaiah 65 come within reach. Nations turn to the church for counsel like Egypt turned to Joseph. Jesus' prayer for all believers in John gets fulfilled.
It's interesting, there's several pages in Kris Vallaton's book Heavy Rain that are quotes by leading "experts" in various fields in the past making statements about how certain things were impossible. At that time, it was taken as truth, but looking back on these statements we think of these people as morons. If our books weren't packed away, I'd write some, but they were along the lines of leading surgeons saying that we will never be able to operate anywhere in the torso, or scientists saying we'd never go faster than the speed of sound, or go to the moon, etc. Now shift that perspective to gas prices. Right now, gas is like $4.14 a gallon or so. What if a breakthrough is right around the corner that will drop prices down to $1.50? Food for thought.
The more I read and the more I learn about my Father the more I see His heart in all this. It's all making more sense, and it's all becoming more simple. Learning about organic food production and natural childbirth, I'm seeing in God's heart a desire for harmony. Getting close to the earth, paying attention to it, paying attention to my body, I'm seeing a rhythm in creation. The way ecosystems work and how to develop them to their full potential. The way a women's body gives birth and takes care of all the little details. One doctor described that when a woman gives birth naturally, no interventions, and the baby and the mother share skin to skin contact for a period afterwards, that hormones are released that act similar to morphine. We try to improve on the wonder in creation, but taken outside of co-laboring with God, it doesn't work. I'm seeing all this and all I can do is just gaze in wonder. It's amazing, and it's His heart for the world to operate in harmony, both with Him and each other. That's how He made it. The final pieces will be put into place when Jesus returns and brings heaven with Him, but there's a lot for us to do right here, right now. We're expanding the influence of His kingdom now, creation is groaning for us to step into our rightful place as the heirs of heaven and the bride of Christ.
Anywho, I feel like I can sleep now. Please, tell me your thoughts! Let's get this conversation started!
PB
First, a little back story. I actually had my first encounter with God through the Left Behind book series. In a nutshell it's a series of fiction books based on the futurist understanding of the "end times." Basically that all the christians on earth will be taken to heaven at the beginning of a seven year period of tribulation leading up to the final judgement day, when everyone gives an account of their life before God. Since then, I've read David Sliker's book on revelation, read/listened to some of Mike Bickle's stuff, read all of Marv Rosenthal's teachings on it in the Zion's Fire magazines and his letters, and picked up bits and pieces here and there from Joel Rosenberg and many others. I felt like I had a pretty good futurist understanding of the book of Revelation and the "end times." Things were going to continually get worse, there were going to be earthquakes, wars, famines, and a great falling away from christianity before that seven year period began. Satan through the antichrist was going to take over the world and for seven years it was going to be hell on earth. Obviously, there's a lot more intricacy to that worldview, but that's the nuts and bolts.
But now, after reading books like Heavy Rain and Victorious Eschatology, my worldview has completely shifted. It's hard to hold to the world going to hell in a handbasket when you actually look at the cold, hard facts that the state of the world is actually improving. Remember, most of our information about the world around us is fed to us by large newsmedia conglomerates interested primarily in profit. Drama and sensationalism drive ratings, and slight exaggerations or highly opinionated personalities add flavor to drama and sensationalism. It's a result of our fascination with entertainment, and it's further perpetuated by the masses growing access to influence the content of the mass media, thanks to social networking. Good or bad, it doesn't matter, it's just how it is.
But now take that into consideration. Bad news sells way better than good news, so that's what gets broadcasted, which perpetuates our view of a world in chaos. But if you take a good look at world-wide social statistics, things are getting better. There's more access to food, water, shelter. More access to education and opportunity. More shelter and protection from oppressive people/groups. Just look at the middle east in turmoil. The violence is terrible, no mistake, but these people want to be out from under oppressive regimes, and they are succeeding. The middle east will be a completely different place in 10 years. Now, I'm not naive. We still have a long ways to go, but I'm not seeing a downward spiral.
Back to the book. Here's my disclaimer: I'm still chewing on a lot of this. It hasn't completely settled into solid conviction in my heart yet, but it is quickly getting there. Victorious Eschatology presents the partial preterist view, which is basically that Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father after He rose from the dead, and has been ruling from heaven while the Father makes all His enemies a footstool for His feet. Most of the "end times" discussions in the new testament related to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Jesus will return to earth on the last judgement day, but there's no seven year tribulation period, and evil is continuously being subdued under His rule. This viewpoint strives to interpret every verse in it's biblical and historical context, period.
So I keep reading this, and I feel my heart come alive. Everything is lining up. Some things are a complete paradigm shift, as I've been taught for many years now the futurist view. But after doing all kinds of research this is the worldview that honestly makes the most sense to me. Nothing has to be bent or stretched to fit. And it lines up with what I know to be true of my Father and with what I see around me. It's so incredibly freeing.
Because now I'm empowered to change the world.
You see, if the destiny of the world is to degrade until Jesus comes back, all my efforts to make the world a better place are futile. There's no point. It becomes survive and teach my kids how to survive. Earthquakes hit and I say "yup, just a sign of the times. Praise God, Jesus is coming soon!" As a side note, if natural disasters are always a judgement from God, why did no one die or get seriously injured when the tornadoes ripped through St. Louis? CNN called it a "blessing," shouldn't the church? Moving on.
But if I understand that the destiny of the world is to be continually made better through the church working in unity and power, because the King is returning for a kingdom and a bride made ready, then I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. It's more than just spreading the gospel of salvation, it's spreading the gospel of the kingdom. We begin to disciple nations and see their GNP soar because they do kingdom business. People get saved, healed, and delivered left and right, and that's the starting point. The promises in Isaiah 61 and the second part of Isaiah 65 come within reach. Nations turn to the church for counsel like Egypt turned to Joseph. Jesus' prayer for all believers in John gets fulfilled.
It's interesting, there's several pages in Kris Vallaton's book Heavy Rain that are quotes by leading "experts" in various fields in the past making statements about how certain things were impossible. At that time, it was taken as truth, but looking back on these statements we think of these people as morons. If our books weren't packed away, I'd write some, but they were along the lines of leading surgeons saying that we will never be able to operate anywhere in the torso, or scientists saying we'd never go faster than the speed of sound, or go to the moon, etc. Now shift that perspective to gas prices. Right now, gas is like $4.14 a gallon or so. What if a breakthrough is right around the corner that will drop prices down to $1.50? Food for thought.
The more I read and the more I learn about my Father the more I see His heart in all this. It's all making more sense, and it's all becoming more simple. Learning about organic food production and natural childbirth, I'm seeing in God's heart a desire for harmony. Getting close to the earth, paying attention to it, paying attention to my body, I'm seeing a rhythm in creation. The way ecosystems work and how to develop them to their full potential. The way a women's body gives birth and takes care of all the little details. One doctor described that when a woman gives birth naturally, no interventions, and the baby and the mother share skin to skin contact for a period afterwards, that hormones are released that act similar to morphine. We try to improve on the wonder in creation, but taken outside of co-laboring with God, it doesn't work. I'm seeing all this and all I can do is just gaze in wonder. It's amazing, and it's His heart for the world to operate in harmony, both with Him and each other. That's how He made it. The final pieces will be put into place when Jesus returns and brings heaven with Him, but there's a lot for us to do right here, right now. We're expanding the influence of His kingdom now, creation is groaning for us to step into our rightful place as the heirs of heaven and the bride of Christ.
Anywho, I feel like I can sleep now. Please, tell me your thoughts! Let's get this conversation started!
PB
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Good Life
I've been learning a lot about family lately. How once you have kids, life drastically changes. It's kind of unnoticeable at first, after the first few weeks. Once babies are out of the brand-new stage and they're only waking up once or twice a night, they are pretty low-maintenance. Eat, sleep, poop, look around, repeat. You're still able to do pretty much everything you did before, you're just hauling around some more equipment. You say to yourself "I don't know what all those older people are talking about. This isn't so bad. I'd rather have my kids brought into all the ministry I'm doing, and let them grow up in it." And this works for a while. It's a little tougher when they start to crawl...and then walk...and run/scream/play. Now it takes a lot more effort to keep up with them and keep them entertained. You find yourself saying "no, I can't make it" more often, due to nap times and bed times, meals, and whether the place is kid-friendly or not. And then kid number 2 shows up and everything doubles. Ours is on the way, but I'm assuming that everything more than doubles, as it's no longer the parents trading off who's on "kid duty," but now both of you are needed all the time.
You feel like you kind of fade from the scene, as you're not in the pulsing "ministry" artery anymore. Church services seem like a blur, because half of the time you are trying to wrangle the insatiable curiosity of a toddler.
And yet, at the same time, you find yourself saying "man, I never knew it could be this good." Watching your child put the crayons back in the box, dump them out of the box, put them back in the box, dump them... brings a ton of joy. Spending afternoons working on gardening layouts, while your wife sews and your child plays bring an amount of satisfaction and fullness you didn't know existed.
Man, I didn't know it could be this good.
Ziggy Marley wrote a song called Family Time that captures this really well. We listen to it on Saturday mornings, because that's our family time. We eat waffles, skype with grandpa and grandma, and goof off. Most of our evenings consist of: dinner, cleaning up, passion projects, goofing around, and bed. That's it, and that's all it needs to be in this season. Not too long from now there will be plays, sports, and random school/community functions. But that's next season, this is this season.
We still get to pour into others, too. It's having a friend over for lunch and encouraging them. It's giving a fellow parent some advice. It's investing heavily into the community around us. We've been welcomed into all different kinds of circles that others aren't in yet, and we get to be leaven that's kneaded into these places until it's transformed into something that's completely new.
This is life abundant. This is the tiniest sprout of Acts 2 - type living that's beginning to take shape, in a totally different way than I had thought. It looks more like 1 Thess 4:11. Why? Because Family and Kingdom are synonymous. We're called sons and daughters of the eternal Father. Jesus came to reveal the Father. That's the over-arching goal of the whole thing. Family. The governmental structure of the Kingdom is family, and everything from a relational standpoint flows from that one truth.
Family.
Man I didn't know it could be this good.
You feel like you kind of fade from the scene, as you're not in the pulsing "ministry" artery anymore. Church services seem like a blur, because half of the time you are trying to wrangle the insatiable curiosity of a toddler.
And yet, at the same time, you find yourself saying "man, I never knew it could be this good." Watching your child put the crayons back in the box, dump them out of the box, put them back in the box, dump them... brings a ton of joy. Spending afternoons working on gardening layouts, while your wife sews and your child plays bring an amount of satisfaction and fullness you didn't know existed.
Man, I didn't know it could be this good.
Ziggy Marley wrote a song called Family Time that captures this really well. We listen to it on Saturday mornings, because that's our family time. We eat waffles, skype with grandpa and grandma, and goof off. Most of our evenings consist of: dinner, cleaning up, passion projects, goofing around, and bed. That's it, and that's all it needs to be in this season. Not too long from now there will be plays, sports, and random school/community functions. But that's next season, this is this season.
We still get to pour into others, too. It's having a friend over for lunch and encouraging them. It's giving a fellow parent some advice. It's investing heavily into the community around us. We've been welcomed into all different kinds of circles that others aren't in yet, and we get to be leaven that's kneaded into these places until it's transformed into something that's completely new.
This is life abundant. This is the tiniest sprout of Acts 2 - type living that's beginning to take shape, in a totally different way than I had thought. It looks more like 1 Thess 4:11. Why? Because Family and Kingdom are synonymous. We're called sons and daughters of the eternal Father. Jesus came to reveal the Father. That's the over-arching goal of the whole thing. Family. The governmental structure of the Kingdom is family, and everything from a relational standpoint flows from that one truth.
Family.
Man I didn't know it could be this good.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Kingdom
The next thing I've been chewing on:
Jesus taught continuously "the Kingdom has drawn near you" when someone was healed or delivered or blessed in some way. He taught us to pray "Your kingdom come on earth as in heaven." What did He mean? What's He talking about? Usually when I think about the kingdom of heaven, I think about the Revelation picture of Jesus returning as the conquering hero on a white horse setting up His throne on earth. That things will continue to go to hell in a handbasket until He returns to set things straight. So is the kingdom here now, or is it coming later? What I've been taught is that the "kingdom" Jesus is referring to is mostly just the spiritual aspect of our lives; that yes, it does affect the way we live but it's more of a set of principles to live by than an actual "nation", so to speak.
True? Not sure anymore. I read this morning about Jesus teaching on the kingdom in parables. He taught on how valuable it is and how the righteous will be separated from the wicked at the end. But He also taught on how it's like leaven that a woman worked through a bunch of flour, until it had influenced the whole batch. With parable on the tares, He taught how both the wheat and the weeds grew to maturity, and it was easy to distinguish between the two. But there's still not a whole lot of answers to timing there.
So which is it? Is the "kingdom" actually supposed to superimpose itself over governmental structures, economies, education systems, etc? Are we actually supposed to disciple nations, not just people in those nations? Or do we just hang in there while the world goes to pot, try to get a bunch of people saved and look forward to Jesus coming back? The answer is super important, because it determines not only my role but the role of believers as a whole.
Close up, the works look the same: extending compassion, helping others out, loving big, healing the sick, etc. But behind the works, the heart is vastly different. With one, you watch the news and say "yep. Times are getting crazy, everything is in chaos, just like Jesus said." With the other, you watch the news and say "alright, this needs to change, the kingdom needs to draw near this situation." and we have a responsibility to do just that.
And that's what I've been wrestling with. The thought, idea, doctrine, etc. of working to bring the influence the kingdom of heaven into every realm of society seems futile when the world is only going to get more and more dark and chaotic until Jesus comes. But I guess that's the question: who's responsibility is it? The kingdom of heaven will be brought to influence upon every realm of society, but is it our responsibility to do that now, or do we hold out and wait for Jesus to do it at the end of the age?
That's the question I'm after right now. Until next time!
Jesus taught continuously "the Kingdom has drawn near you" when someone was healed or delivered or blessed in some way. He taught us to pray "Your kingdom come on earth as in heaven." What did He mean? What's He talking about? Usually when I think about the kingdom of heaven, I think about the Revelation picture of Jesus returning as the conquering hero on a white horse setting up His throne on earth. That things will continue to go to hell in a handbasket until He returns to set things straight. So is the kingdom here now, or is it coming later? What I've been taught is that the "kingdom" Jesus is referring to is mostly just the spiritual aspect of our lives; that yes, it does affect the way we live but it's more of a set of principles to live by than an actual "nation", so to speak.
True? Not sure anymore. I read this morning about Jesus teaching on the kingdom in parables. He taught on how valuable it is and how the righteous will be separated from the wicked at the end. But He also taught on how it's like leaven that a woman worked through a bunch of flour, until it had influenced the whole batch. With parable on the tares, He taught how both the wheat and the weeds grew to maturity, and it was easy to distinguish between the two. But there's still not a whole lot of answers to timing there.
So which is it? Is the "kingdom" actually supposed to superimpose itself over governmental structures, economies, education systems, etc? Are we actually supposed to disciple nations, not just people in those nations? Or do we just hang in there while the world goes to pot, try to get a bunch of people saved and look forward to Jesus coming back? The answer is super important, because it determines not only my role but the role of believers as a whole.
Close up, the works look the same: extending compassion, helping others out, loving big, healing the sick, etc. But behind the works, the heart is vastly different. With one, you watch the news and say "yep. Times are getting crazy, everything is in chaos, just like Jesus said." With the other, you watch the news and say "alright, this needs to change, the kingdom needs to draw near this situation." and we have a responsibility to do just that.
And that's what I've been wrestling with. The thought, idea, doctrine, etc. of working to bring the influence the kingdom of heaven into every realm of society seems futile when the world is only going to get more and more dark and chaotic until Jesus comes. But I guess that's the question: who's responsibility is it? The kingdom of heaven will be brought to influence upon every realm of society, but is it our responsibility to do that now, or do we hold out and wait for Jesus to do it at the end of the age?
That's the question I'm after right now. Until next time!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The First
So, my first real blog post. Not for Banner City Media, my business; just mine. For the past few months I've felt like I'm going crazy because I don't have an outlet for the passion I feel burning inside of me. So, like most mid-20s generation Y-ers, I start a blog to voice my...voice.
I guess the current thing right now that I'm chomping on is the issue of obedience. Obviously, it's important. Duh. But I think we've totally skewed what Jesus was talking about. It's not obedience in the sense of "do what you're told", or "obey your master." Over and over Jesus is teaching us how to live like royalty. In the same gospel where the big discussion is on obedience (John 15), there is also the biggest discussions on love. It is all built on relationship. Always. The Kingdom is family. So how does obedience fit? Jesus tells us in John 15. "Abide in me by keeping my commandments. This is my commandment: love one another (paraphrased)." Pretty straight forward, if you ask me.
We tend to think in Old Testament, or "religious" terms. That is, "do A, B, and C and you'll get D and E." More on that later, but the point is: our relationship with God is more than a system of actions. We think "OK, keep his commandments. So everything He said I have to make sure that I do." I think that's off-center. I think we mistake His teachings and his commandments. He taught us to live like kingdom royalty, look at the sermon on the mount. He wasn't saying "do this", He was saying "check this out, true life is in this."
What's my point? That we need to view obedience from the perspective of a friend, not a slave. "No love is greater than laying down your life for your friends." If He asks me to do something, I'll do it not because He gives the orders, but I'll do it because it's important to Him, and I value our heart connection above everything else.
Welcome to my blog
I guess the current thing right now that I'm chomping on is the issue of obedience. Obviously, it's important. Duh. But I think we've totally skewed what Jesus was talking about. It's not obedience in the sense of "do what you're told", or "obey your master." Over and over Jesus is teaching us how to live like royalty. In the same gospel where the big discussion is on obedience (John 15), there is also the biggest discussions on love. It is all built on relationship. Always. The Kingdom is family. So how does obedience fit? Jesus tells us in John 15. "Abide in me by keeping my commandments. This is my commandment: love one another (paraphrased)." Pretty straight forward, if you ask me.
We tend to think in Old Testament, or "religious" terms. That is, "do A, B, and C and you'll get D and E." More on that later, but the point is: our relationship with God is more than a system of actions. We think "OK, keep his commandments. So everything He said I have to make sure that I do." I think that's off-center. I think we mistake His teachings and his commandments. He taught us to live like kingdom royalty, look at the sermon on the mount. He wasn't saying "do this", He was saying "check this out, true life is in this."
What's my point? That we need to view obedience from the perspective of a friend, not a slave. "No love is greater than laying down your life for your friends." If He asks me to do something, I'll do it not because He gives the orders, but I'll do it because it's important to Him, and I value our heart connection above everything else.
Welcome to my blog
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