New Blog

Hey ya'll- not even sure that anyone reads this anymore since I rarely post. I have been working on lots of other projects, the biggest of which is www.wildcottonphotography.com !

The new blog is: http://wildcottonphoto.blogspot.com/ so you can start following there.

Thanks for reading! :)

to sum up the weekend....

You see the question isn't are you going to suffer any more

But what will it have meant when you are through?

The question isn't are you going to die, you're going to die

But will you be done living when you do? -Justin McRoberts

"To love one's neighbor, therefore, means essentially to will to exist equally for every human being without exception. If then you meet the king, gladly and respectfully give him his due. You should see in him his inner glory, the equality of glory, the neighbor that his human magnificence only conceals. If you meet a beggar - perhaps suffering in sorrow over him more than he himself -you should nevertheless also see in him his inner glory, the equality of glory, the neighbor which his wretched outer garments conceal. Yes then, you shall see, wherever you turn your eye, your neighbor. In being king, beggar, scholar, rich man, poor man, friend, enemy, we do not resemble each other - in these ways we are all different. But in being a neighbor we are all unconditionally alike..."

"[and on how to love your neighbors]...to help another human being to love God is to love another person.

-Soren Kierkegaard

there is no "plan b"

so at church last week, lloyd preached on the passage in genesis about the fall of adam and eve and what that meant for humanity. this was interesting to me because i had just read something earlier that day in john piper's book, "spectacular sins" about the exact same thing. so i figured i might should pay attention.

"Consider 2 Timothy 1:9, 'God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.' Saving grace was given to us before the ages began. That is, it was given to us before there was any human sin to save us from. Therefore, grace was planned before human sin was there to need it. This means that God's plan to save us through grace was not a response to human decisions to sin. Saving grace was the plan that made sin necessary. God did not find sin in the world and then make a plan to remedy it. He had the plan before the ages, and that plan was for the glory of sin-conquering grace through the death of Jesus Christ....Therefore, the biblical view is that the sufferings and death of Christ for sin are not planned after the actual sin of Adam but before. Therefore, when the sin of Adam happens, God is not surprised by it, but has already made it part of his plan- namely, a plan to display his amazing patience and grace and justice and wrath in the history of the redemption, and then, climactically, to reveal the greatness of his Son as the second Adam superior in every way to the first Adam." - piper

or, as lloyd put it, God didn't have a "plan b." this was the plan. God was not surprised when Adam and Eve sinned, he planned it as part of his redemptive story. a redeemed creation is more beautiful than a creation that never fell. Jesus' glory is greater because he has and will redeem all sin and suffering. he is the whole point anyways.

doesn't this blow your mind? its beautiful and powerful and comforting all at the same time. i am still pondering all these things, but it is life changing stuff.

january

"I think its crazy the way things work this time of year
Politicians screaming promises, making sure we all can hear
As for the weather, wouldn't mind to see the sun all wrapped blue
These settings in my mind, and the cold winter breeze, keeps me from our everyday rendezvous

Forgive me I was born in June, that's probably my worst excuse.
I've got to say it, its neccessary...I blame my problems on January.

Hibernation is calling me to sleep, until a brighter day comes my way
Even birds have left the winter for a warmer destination- the place that i call home
Seasons will be seasons but i've got some good reasons for this month to go on away
Put away my sweaters and my jackets, trade them in for little packets of sunshine and longer days.

Forgive me I was born in June, that's probably my worst excuse.
I've got to say it, its necessary...I blame my problems on January.

I will whine, i'll complain, but the state of affairs is still the same.
At least i've got something to blame, i've got something to blame.

I'll blame it on January, i'll blame it on January."

-Micah Dalton


as a fellow june-baby, i agree with him on this one. january always seems to put me in a funk for some reason. perhaps its because spring feels so far away.....

the grace of giving

"Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." -2 Corinthians 9:6-8

the phrase "good work" comes from the greek word "ergon," meaning a good deed, or to do something. this same greek word is used when mary annoints Jesus in mark 14:6. Jesus remarks that she has "done a beautiful thing to me," after one of the disciples questions her extravagant giving. mary was worshiping through giving an amazing gift to Jesus.

"good works" does not mean busyness. it means worship.

i pray that the Lord gives me (and you) the grace of giving this christmas.

go listen to it

It always starts like this,
A harmless and simple thing to fix.
Contagious and spreading quick…Like cracks in ice,
Wholly claiming our lives while we sleep.

We’ll pray for Heaven’s floor to break,
Pour the brightest white on blackest space,
Come bleeding gloriously through
The clouds and the blue.

Forcing one place from two,
Killing formulaic views,
Only love proves to be the truth.

When heaven meets the earth,
We will have no use for numbers
To measure who are and what we’re worth.

When Heaven meets the earth,
We will have no need for mirrors
To tell us who to be and where we fit into this awkward point of view.

When angels meet the earth, may our bodies be light.
When angels meet the earth, may our heavy hearts untie.
When angels meet the earth, may our bodies be light.
May our bodies be light for you.

- Heaven Breaks, Sleeping at Last

i will.

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
Ezekiel 36: 25-27

i love that God promises to be the one to clean our hearts out of all the junk we put in them. coming from someone who is more than a little OCD about cleaning, its nice to be reminded that someone else is doing the complete and perfect work that i could never do. just when we feel helpless and frustrated to do what the Father has called us to, he reminds us that HE gives us the Spirit that enables us to obey.

the phrase "I will put/I will give" that is repeated over and over again in this passage correlates to the hebrew word "nathan," meaning to give, to put or to set in place. it is the same word used in Genesis 1 when it talks about God setting the sun, moon and stars in the heaven.

so the Father uses the same power to place His spirit in us that he used to create the universe.

that is amazing to me. really, really amazing.

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name." Ezekiel 36:22