Moving on...

well....its time. I am moving to wordpress. There is some cool stuff that can be done there.

The new site is called napkinology, yes, the study of napkins. Its sort of a pen-on-napkin approach.

For the faithful two, thats where I will be.

napkinology.wordpress.com

Great video about some friends of mine making a difference in Zambia...

The Psalms: Part I

Hallelujah! Sing to God a brand new song, praise him in the company of all who love him. Let all Israel celebrate their Sovereign Creator, Zion's children exult in their King. Let them raise his name in dance; strike up the band and make great music! And why? Because God delights in his people, festoons plain folk with salvation garlands!

Let true lovers break out in praise, sing out from wherever they're sitting. -Psalm 149.1-5

Sometimes I wonder where the psalmist found such energy and passion to write words like this. How often can we honestly say that it would be easy to just take out a pen and paper and write down our hearts true praise to God? Its almost like you can envision a giddy little boy jumping around in a field, spinning and singing because he has found that something that makes him most happy. That thing that satisfies him beyond all worry.

I guess the question is, why does it feel like this would never happen today? Our fast-paced lives demand scheduling as many people live and die by their blackberry's, palm pilots, or notebooks (for those who still like the feeling of writing something down and being able to cross it out once they have completed it). Why was this joy so blatantly obvious to the psalmist?

I recently saw a movie about a martial arts fighter. His life was bent on restoring his families reputation after an incident nearly 3 decades earlier. His mind was so consumed with fighting that the little things no longer mattered to him. As soon as his family tragically passes away because of his ignorance and inability to think of anyone but himself, he recluses to a small village. Even there he finds himself in competition as he tries to be the fastest field worker. At one point, he notices everyone in the field stop at the exact same time. Why? The wind had started to blow through the valley. The trees were swaying in a beautiful green shimmer as the sunlight pierced through, and the people stopped to take it in.

The joy God planted in him then is no different to the joy we experience today. We definitely have new ways of making it harder to recognize, but it is still there. Imagine what life would look like if the most noticeable part of your day was the joy God had instilled within you.

Can we sing from wherever we are sitting?

Challenge: Become a true lover and take time to break out in praise, in whichever form it takes, from wherever we are sitting.

Passion

The video clip in the previous post said many things, but one of the highlights was passion. Brent loves film, and as a result, has chosen to do great things with his great love.

We all have passion and most of us have a passion. But why? Why are some people so in love with what they do, and why does this translate into being very good at what you do?

Its hard to argue that they are spiritual gifts because even non-Christians have passion and talents. Its also one of those words thats hard to describe. You almost can't do it without using a "passionate" tone of voice. Try describing it to someone and listen to how you sound and you will see what I mean. Passion is not just desire, its strong desire; its not just emotion, its strong emotion; its not just love, is strong love; passionate love.

Is it ok then to say I have a passion for playing the guitar, for filming, for athletics, and in the same breath say God is passionate about humanity? Or does the word "passion" take on a whole new meaning in the context of God?

Azusa Pacific University: Life on Film-Brent

This should make you think

Creation Museum?

Recently, an article was published in CNN speaking of a new creation museum that would be opening in the Cincinnati region of the United States. The museum seeks to provide a literal account of the creation process, proving the earth was created only 6-10 thousand years ago, while accounting for the existence of dinosaurs and refuting nearly all scientific evidence saying otherwise.

Is this honestly the best the thing to do? To proclaim to the world that science means nothing to Christians?

Remember:

- the sun revolved around the earth for a long time and then miraculously became the center of our solar system (sarcasm)

- dinosaur bones were carbon dated to millions of years ago, however, this assertion has now been withdrawn since the earth is only a few thousand years old (more sarcasm)

- it is impossible that God could have actually created the science that we now choose to refute (even more sarcasm)

All kidding aside, there must have been a better way to spend $27 million. If this causes people to turn and be saved, then I cannot complain, for the ultimate goal of man is to make disciples of all nations. However, who is to say that the money spent elsewhere would not have brought about salvation?

I have a close friend in India right now working with children who have been a part of the sex trade since their early teens.

Northern Uganda has been involved in a civil war for 21 years now and ruled by a ruthless militia (LRA), abducting children as young as 7 and turning them into killing machines.

The AIDS epidemic continues to spread throughout Africa.

This is a lot of money we are talking about and it is just frustrating that it was put into a project that only adds fuel to a debate that will most likely be fought for as long as I'm around, in a country where nearly 85% of the population already claims to believe in a Supreme being.

I'm not saying this museum is bad, the intentions are surely good. The point is, with or without this museum, the debate of creationism and evolution will always exist. It just seems to me that the money could have been used for a different endeavor with the same intentions; to seek and save.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070520/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticsreligion_070520222942


Comments are welcome...

The Space Between...

Recently, I have been hearing a lot about the topic of space, and I am just starting to get into the reading aspect. The science of astronomy definitely is one that I think all of us could know a little more about, because it honestly doesn't get the time it warrants.

We live on planet earth. We, along with a few other planets, revolve around a star (sun) to form the solar system. Our solar system is part of the milky way galaxy.

Within the galaxy are billions of stars, meaning potentially billions of systems. Within the Universe, there are billions of galaxies. Now, to the human, the "greatness" of this is simply out of our grasp, myself included.

It can be explained in the simplest terms and you can understand the words used to describe it, but can you honestly fathom a billion stars and then on top of that a billion galaxies, on top of that realizing that the universe is continuously expanding?

Now, assume God is creator as is widely accepted by most theological positions. If the creation is simply too great for humanity to fathom, how can we conceive of a God who is the creator of "greatness" and second, if we could, why would He want to be in relationship with us?

Is it possible life exists elsewhere then? If not is that just a huge waste of space (no pun intended)?

Just thinking...