lotus flower

If you are a Radiohead fan you should read this article. Even if your not a Radiohead fan you should read this article.

Here is a little a little snippet...

"If we allow ourselves to notice what Radiohead notices, we’ll see that behind the grinning faces on Facebook, the cheery updates on Twitter, the Sunday smiles, and the happy coworkers are human souls who feel cramped by the world around them, hemmed in by technology and noise, and desperate for someone to set them free."

Read the rest here.... http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/03/27/see-what-radiohead-sees/

And if you are new to Radiohead you should watch this.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Today I am thankful for

Espresso, because it clears my head
Kayla, the best little sister in the world. For teaching me patience and to slow down and notice things. Love you bub.

Peter

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that
at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on
Him, because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:6-7


"He cares for you." No matter how hard I try I can't get my head around that. What a truth.

Love does win.

"There is, however, still a third sense, in which Jesus leads us to ascribe universality to the divine love. This is done not so much in explicit form as by the implications of His attitude toward sinful men in general. We must never forget that our Lord was the divine love incarnate, and that consequently what He did, no less than what He taught, is a true revelation adapted to shed light on our problem. If the Son of God was filled with tender compassion for every lost human soul, and grieved even over those whose confirmed unbelief precluded all further hope of salvation, it is plain that there must be in God something corresponding to this. In the parable of the prodigal son the father is represented as continuing to cherish a true affection for his child during the period of the latter’s estrangement. It would be hardly in accord with our Lord’s intention to press the point that the prodigal was destined to come to repentance, and that, therefore, the father’s attitude toward him portrays the attitude of God toward the elect only, and not toward every sinner as such. We certainly have a right to say that the love which God originally bears toward man as created in His image survives in the form of compassion under the reign of sin. This being so, when the sinner comes in contact with the gospel of grace, it is natural for God to desire that he should accept its offer and be saved. We must even assume that over against the sin of rejection of the gospel this love continues to assert itself, in that it evokes from the divine heart sincere sorrow over man’s unbelief. But this universal love should be always so conceived as to leave room for the fact that God, for sovereign reasons, has not chosen to bestow upon its objects that higher love which not merely desires, but purposes and works out the salvation of some. It may be difficult to realize from any analogy in our own consciousness how the former can exist without giving rise to the latter; yet we are clearly led to believe that such is the case in God. A logical impossibility certainly is not involved, and our utter ignorance regarding the motives which determine the election of grace should restrain us from forming the rash judgment that, psychologically speaking, the existence of such a love in God for the sinner and the decree of preterition with reference to that same sinner are mutually exclusive. For, let it be remembered, we are confronted with the undeniable fact that this universal love of God, however defined, does not induce Him to send the gospel of salvation to all who are its objects. If the withholding of the gospel is consistent with its truthfulness, then a fortiori the withholding of efficacious grace must be. That there are good reasons for the former is true: but undoubtedly God has also His wise and holy reasons for the latter. The Scriptures do not assert that election and preterition are arbitrary decrees to the mind of God. All they insist upon is that the motives underlying them are inscrutable to us, and have nothing whatever to do with the worthiness or unworthiness of man."

Geerhardus Vos, "The Spiritual Doctrine of the Love of God

Inspiration

I am throwing out a opinion here, I know I said I wouldn't. But its so close to being a universal truth because I can't imagine anyone not loving these. Inspiration! Sweet inspiration! Thank you design sponge.






Things I am thankful for....

1. Sleeping in by accident and getting to have breakfast with Kay.
2. Risen, the new sov grace album feat. Pat and Joel Sczebel's amazing songwriting skills and Joe's swelling guitar solo's. You can check it out here.....http://sovereigngracemusic.org

Longing for heaven or escaping to heaven?

Have you ever refurbished something? I am no expert which is why I almost always skip the difficult parts like sanding and staining and instead just attack the poor thing with 2 cans of black spay paint. The few times I have tried my hand at completely refurbishing a old piece of furniture it takes me the span of a week or two and I normally quit and restart half a dozen times. I am always tempted to take the easy way out. Especially when my dear, woodworking brother will stroll out into the garage and state simply... "Wow". In that moment my faithful bottles of black spray paint never seemed so beautiful. Okay.... Where am I going with this?

I was listening to this song in the car yesterday.....

Soon and very soon
I'll be going to the place He has prepared for me
Then my sin erased, my shameful garden
Soon and very soon

Though I have not seen Him
My heart knows Him well
Jesus Christ the Lamb, the Lord of heaven

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul with be satisfied
Soon and very soon


and had a (rare- those of you who know me...know that I am not a crier) burst of emotions that arose from a mixture of exhuastion and condemnation. I was feeling worn thin from the rhythmic sanding of everyday trials and struggles. From the coarse grit of my sin that was scratching deep patterns into my life. This song hit the nail on the head. I was longing for heaven. Longing to be free from the bondages of my sin. Longing to be done with this frail broken world. But was I truly longing for heaven or just looking forward to my escape from here? Was I just looking for the easy black spray paint cover?

I was almost immediately convicted of the true intentions of my heart. I was just looking for a easy way out. I was just trying to fix it on my own, failing, and wanting a clean slate. It lead me to ask where do you draw the line? What is the difference between longing for heaven and using it as a escape from life's difficulties? John Piper said, "It is better to lose your life than to waste it." Can you waste your life puttering through life waiting for heaven? I become burdened with being 'stuck' here and miss out on the joy of living for Christ in this world. Scraping the layers of hardened, chipping paint. Sanding for hours and hours, staining just enough to see the grain, but not too much or else you'll flood the wood and get drips. It's all part of the process. It's all so Christ might be glorified. He is using the frail and broken world to make me more like Him. He's preparing a place for me in Heaven. But until then this is my home, it's a gift not a burden.

Today I'm thankful for...

The delete button, because it seriously saved my life a few times today.
Adele, because her voice is so beautiful it makes me crazy!

Why I don't want to be hip.

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my return (please note the sarcasm in my typed words.) Unfortunately this blog promises no great achievements, nor thousands of followers. I never have been very good at following rules, so please forgive the spelling errors and grammatical abominations. The resurrection of this no-name blog was brought about by desire to challenge my heart and head. To not accept the opinions of culture and to further pursue the truths of Christ. This brings me to the name of my blog, I saw this shirt a couple years ago in Urban Outfitters that had Obama's face on it. Just above the dear presidents head was a phrase that stuck with me, "It's hip to have an opinion." I won't even begin to talk about the irony in that statement being on a t-shirt in Urban. Unfortunately, for better or for worse, I cannot get that catchy little phrase out of my head. My desire for this blog is to be something more than a place to vomit my opinions. Opinions can be a cheap replacement for truth. I believe in a little something called truth and that might make me outdated or unhip (is that even a word?) but that's something I am willing to deal with. C.S Lewis wrote, "The most dangerous ideas are not the ones being discussed but the ones being assumed." I don't want to go through my life playing in the cultures tide pools of opinions when the ocean of truth is just up the beach. I don't want to be a person of opinions but of truth.


So I am taking a leap out there. Challenging myself to be faithful with something. Laying my fear of people reading what is in my head at the Fathers feet. In hopes that Christ might me glorified. I also want to have a ongoing 'thankful' list. Sometimes spiritual, sometimes not, but always from God and the thanks going to God. Romans 11:36 says "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen."

Thankful for...

1. Gods never changing love for me, because I am prone to wander and He is a solid foundation for my life.
2. Mini-wheats, because they are delicious and nutritious and now come even more mini version than before!