I've run out of bananas, so it's a pop tart breakfast day. It's also "Website Wednesday," even though it's Tuesday. It'll probably be a Monster Energy Drink day (instead of coffee).
Political Statements:
Let's vote on abortion.
I wonder what would happen if we did. Which side would win.
Ask a fan of the Democratic Party what he/she thinks about Fox News.
You might be able to laugh at the vitriolic response.
I wonder why that is.
Religious Statements:
Are the t-shirts that say something like "No Religion, Know Jesus" missing the point? The concept of "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship" is easy enough to understand (especially for a modern day evangelical), but does it put long-standing "mainline" denominations in a fair light? If you measured which group of believers are doing the most to "look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world," I wonder which "side" would win?
Don Miller:
Okay, Since I'm on my third Donald Miller book in two months (his first one re-written), I figure I might take a break from Genesis for a little while and comment on what I'm reading in Through Painted Deserts.
The Author's Note at the start of the book is short but bold, reinforcing the ideas that life is to be lived and that we change. Hopefully that change is from glory to glory. It's neat how God can use even tragedy or negative things and turn them into growth, education, and perspective.
It's neat to know about the two places Donald Miller talks about in this opening introduction -- Houston, Texas and Portland, Oregon. I would definitely choose Portland over Houston any day, he he, as Houston is kinda gross. I'm not sure what it is about that city, but I've never liked it. Maybe it's too crowded, too polluted, too unfriendly, too hot and humid. I don't know. Miller talks about how people have to leave to live and grow. He says if he grew up in Portland, he would have left that lovely place and probably gone South to discover other things. He loves Portland, though, and that beautiful city with its ever green vegatation all around and mountains on almost every side in the distance. If it weren't so expensive and so far extended on one coast, I could easily live there. I spent my childhood moving about every 4 or 5 years. It wasn't unsettling. Some of my moves were perfect -- like the one from Fairfax, Virginia to Edwards AFB, California right in between junior high and high school. It was a transition right on top of another transition, which fit like a glove. I never had the huge heartbreaks of leaving friends behind and being "homesick" of the place I left. Sure, I missed old friends and stayed in contact with them, but I moved on and discovered the new things around me. It's funny, but once I had a chance to live on my own and make my own (in a manner of speaking**) decisions on where to live, I sunk my roots down deep in Austin, Texas. It's kind of rewarding in a smug sort of way that everyone else has "discovered" in the past decade and a half how wonderful and cool this city is.
The challenge to change and grow can be scary, but when you place it under the Lordship of Jesus, Who knows us and truly cares for us, then it is a comforting thought. We will become more like Him and -- even when we make a bad decision that is not like Him -- we grow through mistakes. All living things grow, and that is change. Reading challenging books is a way to change. Stretching your perspective is a healthy thing, even though it's not always comfortable.
Being comfortable has its advantages, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Fruit becomes rotten. Bread grows mold. Muscles become weak. Paint becomes faded. I've always like the phrase: "the journey is the destination." I don't believe God saves us from sin and adopts us as sons just so we can join Him in the "bye and bye." Otherwise, why isn't salvation followed with a kind of instant entrance into heaven; rather than a baptism into a new life here on earth? There's something for us here, and He is actually available to enjoy all along the way. That's cool.
If you have a copy of this book or are brave enough to go buy it and follow along with this blog for a couple of weeks, that would be fun. If you do, leave your own comments.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 31, 2006 09:23 AM