I wrote this on one of my lunchtime walks along the Dead River:
I love the pulse of the woods in winter. It's slow, subtle, hidden. There is a sacred quiet, that forbids you to speak or even to think. It pulls you into it's stillness, it's dormancy. It's not a defeated stillness, it's one of utter rest, seemingly frozen in time. Life is there, but it seems encased inside living sculptures. The only sounds of life are those of a handful of winter birds, and maybe some squirrels. Even these behave as if they are stowaways wandering about a forbidden museum.
There is something mysterious about the frozen forest. With the undergrowth dormant or locked in seeds awaiting spring, the landscape opens up and reveals it's secrets. There are paths and routes that were before hidden from you. The landscape itself changes every day as snow accumulates, drifts, and settles. One day there is evidence that there were other strangers wandering the alien terrain, the next day their traces are gone. The wind is devoid of the wet slapping of leaves in the summer, or the dry crackling of autumn, nor does it carry the sweet scent of promise in the spring. It sounds ethereal, distant, with it's hollow whooshing, deterred only by empty branches and conifer needles. Wind in it's pure and ancient form, able to blow through your very bones.
There is something exhilarating about wandering through the woods in this season. You are in a hostile environment, trusting in your ability to return to the safety of the warmer indoor climate. You feel, on a deep level, "I shouldn't be here," much like Digory and Polly as they explored the frozen and fading world of Charn. But it is only in this season that, once the risk is accepted, the forest shares her deepest secrets.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
My Food has a Face
*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!
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, 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
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