Cool Links

Hands Set (4)
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

A Bright Light Comes On

This is a fantastic article about a group of engineering and business students from Colorado State University who are developing a stove that can help people in Third World generate electricity for their homes. It's a brilliant idea and a brilliant movement.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5121611


Lonliness and Technology

In a world which claims to be networked - to be connected - we are actually losing connectivity a greater pace than ever. We can surf MySpace for hours, chat endlessly, check e-mail on our Blackberries (I mean CrackBerries) and fly to London this afternoon. Yet, we are losing humanity. We are losing community. Great article.

http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/69/Loneliness_and_Technology.html

Amazing Grace - The Movie Trailer

If you haven't heard about it yet, this looks to be a phenomenol movie. It is the story of the song and also of the movement in Britain. I sing it to my son almost every night before bed. It should be fantastic. Check out the trailer here.

http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/index.php

challenged to be like Him

Want some Body
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

"...because God was not just redeeming that which was profane, but was setting all that was sacred free..." - a quote from Shane Claiborne's, The Irrestible Revolution.

This book has captured my attention and it has done so because He captures my attention. I now consider it in my top 5 reads. If you haven't read it, you should. Buy it. Borrow it. Steal it (just kidding, unless it's from a friend who says you can steal it so long as you give it back when you are done.)

I'm being challenged in ways I can't even possibly begin to conceptualize. I know what I need to do. But I'm scared. I'm honestly and genuinely afraid. I have FEAR as my backbone.

The curtains tore open because Jesus was setting us free. You and me. Poor from poverty. Rich from greed. Destitute from poor health. Wealthy from lonliness. Me from fear. Jesus did not shield himself from the masses by hiding behind the Holy Temple curtains. He walked openly among the homeless, touched lepers, healed beggers, challenged aristocrats, confronted the possessed. He was in the midst of humanity, not running from it. The curtains could not jail Him (Luke 23:44-46).

I'm afraid.

To quote Kierkegaard, "... the matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly."

I know he wasn't talking directly to me when he said this, but it sure feels like it. I live a life of comfort and ease. At the very root, I am afraid to let go of that comfort. The desires of the flesh have set their roots in my heart and made me afraid. I hear Him calling...

"Come. Follow me."

"Come. Follow me."

"Come. Follow me."

And I just sit here pretending not to hear.

it's all about perspective

Windows on an Angle
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

If I was to tell you the sky was green, what would you say...? Would you tell me I was insane...? Would you think I was insane...? Or, would you stop to ask what sky I was talking about...? Would you wonder if I was speaking some other language...?

It's all about perspective.

I don't always sympatize with others view - that is for sure. Our differences make a big deal and understanding those differences can be crucial to understanding each other. Our family structure, histroy, experiences, location, culture - these are all part of defining who we are.

I want to do a much better job of trying to understand other people.

And yet, don't we all linger and long for the same things. Don't we all desire (1) a sense of belonging, (2) a air of competency, and (3) a feeling of worthiness...? I'll be exploring all of these in coming posts.

my sick little guy

Asher getting crazy
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

Asher has been sick since Saturday with vomiting and the "blats". It's been fairly gross to be honest with nothing very fun coming from within the bowels. It really is better going in than coming out.

I am amazed with three things though. First, I'm once again amazed by the design of our bodies and their functionality. As I would hold Asher to the sink, his stomach wrenching in pain, it was clear his body was trying to purge itself of some kind of intruder. Asher wasn't happy about it either... crying and calling for "Mommy!" His body though convulsed and shook to remove the virus or whatever else attacking him. It was cool in a weird way, though I'm sure it would have been much less cool had I been the one vomiting.

Second, I am amazed by Asher's ability to rise above his pain and illness to carry on being a kid. He rarely complained about being sick and for the most part carried on as the crazy kid he is. Last night Jayla and I were trying to teach him to somersault and it could not have been more fun. Jayla and I had forgotten we were BIG kids now and could barely even somersault ourselves (in fact I can't really do it all - sad), but Asher didn't notice. He just flipped and rolled and turned. He loved it.

And lastly, I am amazed by the relationship dynamics that take place when Asher is not feeling well. In some weird way, I almost wish he was sick more often. (not really though when you see his diaper) He is affectionate and adorable. He likes to be held and to snuggle. He wants his parents to love on him and hold him and take care of him and to help him.

The best picture of this was yesterday. I was returning from the gym at about 6:50am (yes, in the morning) and I walked into our bedroom, when I looked up to see Jayla and Asher spooning - except Asher was in the back. I guess he had woken up at about 5:30am so Jayla took him into our bed with her - then they had both fallen back asleep. It was a moment in which God's design became so clear to me. Asher's head was snuggled into the back for Jayla's neck as his arm was draped over her shoulder. They were there together in bed - innocent and pure. It was a great picture of love and even more so in the moment - of God. His creation was alive even in the midst of sickness. And that's what I mean by "wishing" Asher was sick more often. Love was so alive in the pain.

I wonder if that's what God feels when we are broken and humbled and we have nowhere left to turn but to Him. I think so. I think he desires it and wants it and looks to it as little ways to take pictures - pictures that are engrained in our very being. These pcitures show us love and compassion and grace and I cannot think of anything more amazing.

the yoke

DSST Angles3,
originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

Much like I've been impressed with Shane Claiborne and the Irresistible Revolution, I'm similarly impressed with Rob Bell's book, Velvet Elvis.

Springs.

Yokes.

Truth.

Reality.

Relationships.

Bell has a fresh perspective on how we perceive the world especially in relation to our views of God and Christianity and Doctrine. I suppose I connect with it because I've said so many things in my life that just don't make sense.

"Just teach the Bible."

"How can there be just one way?"

"It's just so confusing that Jonah was swallowed by a fish."

"Are you saying the curtains actually ripped?"

These are things I think. And it's OK. We have to pursue understanding from different angles, from different viewpoints. We are not the same because each of our stories is unique with a unique set of memories, experiences and beliefs about who we are. As soon as presume to think we are the same we allow judgement to enter the equation.

And just imagine, God knows this is going to happen. He wired us to be unrobotic. That's cool.

I especially see this at the Denver School of Science and Technology. We have white kids, black kids, hispanic kids, asian kids, poor kids rich kids, some kids who are further along than others, some who are further behind. I walk around school every day and see just how important all the angles are. As soon as I look from one angle and think I have it figured out, I look from another and am humbled. The angles matter.

The same is true with our faith and our communities. We have been designed with certain similarities such as the desire for belonging and love and competency and community. These are part of who we are. But we see them in different ways from different angles.

I like those angles.

Hypocrite, Coward and Fool

Neds man from the front again
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

Shane Claiborne starts his book, The Irresistible Revolution, with the following:

"Dedicated to all the hypocrites, cowards and fools... like me. May we find the Way, the Truth and the Life in a world of shortcuts, deception and death."

I am a hypocrite.

I am a coward.

I am a fool.

Thank you for your words Shane as they strike me deep with the cavities of my chest.

Further, I read another short passage that I can't help but to fall in love with:

"...there is another movement stirring, a little revolution. Many of us are refusing to allow distorted images of our faith to define us. There are those of us, who rather than simply reject pop evangelism, want to spread another kind of Christianity, a faith that has as much to say about this world as it does the next. New prophets are rising up who try to change the future, not just predict it. There is a movement bubbling up that goes beyond cynacism and celebrates a new way of living, a generation that stops compplaining about the church it sees and becomes the church it dreams of. And this little revolution is irresistible. It is a contagious revolution that dances, laughs and loves."

I love to dance.

I love to laugh.

I love to love.

Thanks again Shane for speaking truth to my soul.

Hearts - Knees - Resources

Perspective Column, originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

This is the commitment God is asking of us right now - will Jayla and I give Him our hearts in order that we will follow Him, that we would give Him our knees in order that we pray fervently and that we would give Him our resources in order that we should make the most of every single gift He has given to us.

We are challenged to let go of Amsterdam for the time being and to live where we are for as Todd told me this morning - You are where you are. (Thanks Todd!) It has been a year and half since we moved back to the States and though we still miss Amsterdam so very much, we have come to the realization that our home is no longer there. At times, we still feel like strangers in a strange land and yet we feel the desire and challenge to connect with vigor to a community here.

It is also the approproate time to change the name of my blog from "Reflections" to "Gateways" - sort of change from looking at the past to dreaming for the future and living in today. Long before I understood much about Christ, I was drawn to a short passage in Matthew 7:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

I didn't know what it meant at the time, only that life was hard and that I had to make choices. Now though, I'm starting the journey to understanding. It is a journey in which being a stranger in a strange land will never change while walking this Earth. One day I will experience the choirs of angels singing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord" but until that day we journey through valleys and mountains and pastures and rivers, up and down, left and right - always trying to walk the narrow road.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by whether he/she has more memories than dreams or more dreams than memories. Lord, please help me to dream.

not sure anymore

i can't decide if i'm going to keep blogging or not. it's kind of nice not to.