October 29, 2008 • 10:15 pm 0
I promise I’m not slacking on posting the rest of this week and early next week, I’m just retreating with Mike Beckham from OU’s Campus Crusade.
We are hitting a conference put on by Campus Crusade on how to partner the local church with crusade to reach and impact more students on our universities.
I’m really excited to see how we can do this and I’m excited about just getting to know Mike a little better through our 7 hour car ride each way.
• 10:10 pm 0
This morning I spent some time at a coffee shop reflecting on how crazy the semester has become and how at about this same time each semester every student is overwhelmed and feeling like they are doing everything they can to keep their heads above water.
Unfortunately they feel like that feeling will leave them after the graduate but…alas…it doesn’t and that’s why you always need to have regular times where you sit down and look at life and make sure you are still on the same track that you hoped you would be on at the beginning of each year.
Here are some of my reflecting questions I wrote down and tried to answer/think through and I figured you just might be in the same boat…
1. Is there anything in my life that I should stop doing?
2. Is there anything in my life that I should start doing?
3. How can I move away from “prioritizing” my life and allowing God to be a part of ALL my life? Sometimes I get stuck in the trap of if I do a quiet time then I am good with God for the day but God wants to permeate everything I do in my day, not just my first 30 minutes…how do i do this?
4. How can I be more efficient in the way I use my time? This may help answering and solving questions raised in one and two…
5. How many new relationships have I made this year? For the year I would love to make three new ministry relationships and three new outside ministry relationships. Sometimes I get stuck in the rut of just liking my peeps…but…I’m sure there are more good peeps out there, right? Let’s meet.
6. Why, out of all the gifted people on the planet, is God allowing me to be a part of what He is doing? This question boggles my mind daily and I can get stuck feeling insecure or unworthy – which is true without God – but with God I should not be that way – I should move out – I should stand firm with the 2 spies that say, “Lets take the promise land! God is with us!
7. How can I better help people connect in community in the body of Christ?
8. Do I spend time listening? Or do I spend time moving people?
Anyways…good questions that I am wrestling with but may fit some of the stuff that you are dealing with too…
Filed under: Personal, Reflection
October 28, 2008 • 4:06 pm 0
I was just reading an article I found over at the New York Times on the latest reports of the anti-Christian violence that has erupted in Borepanga, India, and the tales of forced conversions to Hinduism.
“They were ordered to get on their knees and bow before the portrait of a Hindu preacher. They were told to turn over their Bibles, hymnals and the two brightly colored calendar images of Christ that hung on their wall. Then, Mr. Digal, 45, a Christian since childhood, was forced to watch his Hindu neighbors set the items on fire.
“ ‘Embrace Hinduism, and your house will not be demolished,’ ” Mr. Digal recalled being told on that Wednesday afternoon in September. “ ‘Otherwise, you will be killed, or you will be thrown out of the village.’ ”
I am very grateful that I do not have to go throw these similiar trials that many Christians are having to go through in their homes in India. I pray that they would remain faithful and true but even in that prayer I feel a bit of disgust of my abilitiy to pray that in the comfort of my own home, but none-the-less, Christ calls us to intercede on behalf of our brothers and sisters.
I will continue to pray for them and I also pray for the restoration of law and the coming of grace and truth.
You can read the full article HERE
Filed under: Religous
October 27, 2008 • 3:20 pm 0
Well here we are again…another monday…another game.
I know the weeks tuff but hopefully by getting you off on the right foot by playing a little game will help you adapt to being back behind whatever desk it is that you are…
Here’s this weeks game, and to be honest…it’s not that great. But…I picked it because I liked the name of it, “Fancy Pants,” and I love the way the guy runs and jumps, it’s pretty intriguing.
So go give it a whirl, take a deep breathe, and then get back to work!
Filed under: Games
October 23, 2008 • 3:32 pm 0
I had a good, thought provoking conversation the other day with some fellas about the balance between criticizing the shortfalls of the church and at the same time needing to honor the church and speak positively of her because after all she is the body of Christ. I also think there are people out there who have been hurt by the church and that has negatively impacted their life in such a way that they would prefer to live out religion and have Jesus apart from the church.
I am particularly interested in this conversation since a lot of the negativity is stemming from my generation who is leaving the church at record numbers. And if that weren’t enough, we have books now being written that are essentially reinforcing the idea with titles like “The Like Jesus but not the Church.” Granted I have not read this book and I am sure, or at least I hope, the authors intention is to bring attention to how we can better connect young people to the person of Christ within the Church context but none-the-less the title says a lot about individual religion.
All that to say, I’m pretty sure you can’t love Jesus and hate the Church. The Church is Christ. I think Derek Webb best sang this through his song titled, “The Church.” In my opinion I believe the most important thing young people can do is buy into the church and be used as a vessel of change. Allow God to move and work through you because that is what He has called us to do.
Anyways, I came across this quote this morning and I think Henry Nouwen got it right.
“When we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living Christ. When we say, “I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,” we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too.
The challenge is to forgive the Church.
This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ among us continues to offer us forgiveness.
It is important to think about the Church not as “over there” but as a community of struggling, weak people of whom we are part and in whom we meet our Lord and Redeemer.”
- Henry Nouwen
• 2:50 pm 0
If only we would attempt to do this all day everyday – I wonder what the world would look like…
Filed under: Church, Personal, Reflection
October 22, 2008 • 2:15 pm 0
I’m an avid reader and listener and I love talking about different books that have impacted my life and shaped both my christian and world views. From time to time people ask what’s on my nightstand and what I’m listening to on the ipod – so for all you curious types out there:
On my night stand (understand that I am a multiple book reader – I get distracted and have to jump into something else and so I generally have a couple going – couple christian and one non-christian to give me a little balance):
Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan – I’m about three chapters into this one and so far I am loving it. The author writes well and you can really begin to visualize his thoughts and how the events play out. Good stuff…I always love the man vs. wild theme
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church – This little nugget has been interesting thus far and Michelle and I are actually reading it together and using it for discussion. Wright is not the first author to write about the obsessiveness that Christians have with just living life to die and then go to heaven but he sure does it in a clear and concise way that makes you stop and think…that’s a great point. I’m interested to see how he channels his thoughts into how we live together as a community of believers called the Church.
This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God – This book is written by a pastor out of Portland, OR and is probably one of my favorites this year. I have read it once and this time I am going through it with our college life leadership team because I thought it was that beneficial. While I don’t agree entirely with all the theology around it (but really, what book do you agree with entirely) I do think he does the BEST job at helping you realize what it looks like to live in the kingdom of God right now. Fantastic job of unpacking Christ’s teachings on the Kingdom. Great application. Good read.
Here’s some new stuff I have just found on the airwaves – some of it you’ve probably heard of and some of it maybe not….
World by Five for Fighting
What Life Would Be Like by Big Daddy Weave
Dig by Incubus
Chainbreaker by Charlie Hall
Half Acre by Hem
Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle
That about rounds it up for now – enjoy and hopefully when I finish up the book I write up a little review for ya.
Filed under: Personal
• 11:36 am 0
One of my favorite things to do is learn new stuff about places all over this fat globe of ours. Michelle and I try to be very intentional about our vacation time and always try to visit some place new and different just to experience culture and life outside of our little bubble.
Anyways, just found this post over at this site, I’ve talked about this site several times, and it’s pretty interesting – I mean, how much do you know about Iceland? Now, you know a little more.
Here’s the post:
Iceland has been in the news lately, and the news has not been good. The island nation’s three major banks have collapsed, causing ripples throughout Europe. But rather than fixate on the financial, let’s take a look at some other aspects of the Land of Fire and Ice.
1. Mark Your Calendar
March 1 is Beer Day (Bjordagur) in Iceland, when natives celebrate the end of prohibition against the frothy brews. “Real” beer (of more than 2.2 percent alcohol by volume) had been outlawed since 1915, and the ban wasn’t lifted until 1989. Hey, if you went almost 75 years without decent beer, you’d find a reason to throw a party, too.
2. The Sun Also Rises … Sometimes
The sun shines virtually 24 hours a day during the peak of summer in Iceland. In mid-winter, however, it’s only light about four to five hours each day.
3. Say What?
The national language of Iceland is Icelandic, which hasn’t evolved much from the way it was spoken centuries ago. English and Danish are also popular—good news, as the native tongue is indecipherable to non-speakers. Icelandic has two unique letters, “thorn” (pronounced “th” as in “thing”) and “eth” (pronounced “th” as in “them”). Similar logic applies to the English words “broad” and “road,” which should be pronounced the same but are not.
4. All Work and No Play Makes Iceland Rich
Icelanders are notorious for their work ethic. Averaging 43.5 hours, they have the longest work week in Europe. Not surprisingly, they also have one of the highest standards of living in the world. (Iceland ranked #1 in a recent C.W. Post survey measuring economic opportunity and quality of life.)
5. Come to North America for the Available Food…
When overpopulation, famine and disease struck Iceland in the late 19th century, it prompted a mass exodus from the frozen land. Most immigrants ended up in the Canadian province of Manitoba, where they created a colony called New Iceland. But many others landed in Utah and converted to Mormonism.
6. …Stay for the Mormons!
Today, Spanish Fork, Utah, remains home to one of the largest Icelandic communities in the United States. If you can’t afford a plane ticket to the real thing, head to Spanish Fork, where you can visit the Icelandic Monument or attend the annual Icelandic cultural festival, hosted by the Icelandic Association of Utah.
7. No, It’s Not a Typo
Between November 1975 and June 1976, fishing disputes between Great Britain and Iceland, known as the “Cod War,” exploded in a flurry of net-cutting and boat-ramming. Name-calling was also resorted to, although neither side accepts responsibility for “starting it.”
8. It’s Really Green
The old joke is true — Iceland is green, and Greenland is ice. When Norwegian explorer Eric the Red made the trek from Iceland to the larger nearby island in the 10th century and colonized it, he decided to call it Greenland because he felt more people might be willing to move there if it had an inviting name.
You can view the original post HERE
Filed under: Random
• 11:30 am 0
Got a message yesterday from one of the faithfuls asking if I was still alive as I hadn’t done my usual couple of posts a day routine…but alas, not disappeared, just a little behind so something had to go…unfortunately it was you.
Hope we can kiss and make up and continue our merry relationship! More posts coming!!!
Jeremy
Filed under: Uncategorized
October 19, 2008 • 12:05 pm 1
You will want to go…I promise!!
Filed under: Videos
October 16, 2008 • 4:13 pm 0
From time t time I get questions like these:
What Bible do you use?
Which one should I use?
I’m not a scholar, is one easier to read than the others?
So I figured, why not spend a post talking about different Bible translations – the good and the not so goods and then give you an idea of why I choose the one I choose.
Basically, different versions of the Bible fall into two categories. These categories are based on the approach the translators took in rendering the Bible from the original languages into English. The first approach is formal equivalence. Here the goal is a word-for-word translation. The downside is that this can cloud the meaning, like when there doesn’t exist an equivalent word in English. Good examples of literal translation are the English Standard Version (ESV), the King James Version (KJV), and the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
The second approach is called dynamic equivalence. The goal here is to convey the meaning of the original text most clearly. The emphasis is on readability. The downside is that you are relying more on the interpretation of the translators. Various translations lean more toward literal translation and ease of readability. At the risk of being a little simplistic, the NIV tries to translate sentence by sentence. The New Living Translation (NLT) goes paragraph by paragraph. The Message translation basically reads a page of the Greek, waits a day, and then goes back and jots down what the author remembers from what he read. (That’s a joke). But translation like The Message and the NLT take a lot of liberty. Sometimes they nail it and sometimes I feel like they really blow it.
For myself, I tend to lean to versions that are right in the middle. The NIV and English Standard Version (ESV) are good in the middle ones. They are fairly literal but much more readable than the NASB. (The NASB is great, it’s just that the translators forgot people were actually going to read it). To be honest, it’s a good idea to keep more than one version around. That way, when you come to a passage, you can read it in different versions to help you understand. That’s one reason I used different versions on Thursday nights and sometimes I will use two versions interchangeably. I do the majority of my “time with God” in the NIV version but if I really want to dig into a passage I will break out the NASB. On a side-note, Michelle is the opposite of me. She prefers the NASB because she feels like she is digging deep into the word and feels like the NIV is just a little to simple for her taste but…she is a bit smarter than me…
Anyways…I hope that helps!
October 15, 2008 • 6:24 pm 0
As if a lose to TU wasn’t bad enough, I have some more bad news for the Sooner Nation out there (though its good news for those Aggies out there)…
The Times Higher Education put together a list of the top 200 World Universities…OU was not one of them.
Here’s the top 12:
You might be saying, “hey, that’s not bad news Jeremy – there’s a lot of universities in the world.” While that is indeed a true statement, however, the bad news is both Texas and Texas A&M made the list. Interestingly enough, Baylor did not make it either.
So…A&M may not win national championships but hey…at least we’re smart.
Sorry…I had to post this…
You can see the full list HERE and HERE is a separate article on the list.
Filed under: Random
October 14, 2008 • 2:56 pm 0
I want to see the community of CollegeLife @ Wildwood
That is truly the song of my heart. I pray that I would lead the way by making sure I am always implementing all the above in my own life.
Filed under: Leadership, Personal, Reflection
• 2:32 pm 0
Now Jesus can really be your light unto the world with this super new Jesus LED flashlight/keychain.
Don’t believe me, you can see it for real HERE. People always question how stuff like this makes it to the public market but the answer is obviously clear – people buy it. So…don’t by this! Let’s unite against all hooky religious stuff…
Filed under: Random
October 13, 2008 • 1:41 pm 0
Just came across this video over at The Washington Post (one of the many news sites that I follow to try to stay up on what’s going on and just general culture) that had Tim Keller talking about several religious issues that he deals with in New York City.
For those of you who are not familiar with Tim Keller, he is currently the senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and recently published “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” which I highly recommend! Anyways, good dialogue in the video…
• 10:52 am 0
I know, I know – long weekend with a sob story to go with it but…it’s back to the grind. Maybe I can help the transition by directing you to a little game action…sounds good to me!
This weeks Monday game is:
This is a game that is a little different from the others that I have posted on. It will test your knowledge of letters and shapes. It’s pretty hard and it will make you think and use parts of the brain you never use…or…maybe even parts of your brain that you don’t even have! (huh?)
Go play it HERE and if you’ve missed the other games, you can find them HERE
Filed under: Games
October 10, 2008 • 11:02 am 0
Last night we got the awesome opportunity of hearing Mark Robinson, our executive pastor here at Wildwood, gently lead us through the murky waters surrounding the topic of “predestination.”
Mark kicked if off with a short little video game action (which you can see HERE) to set up the problem that most of us have with this idea of predestination – that we are just a bunch of robots under control of a master puppeteer. The problem though is that Scripture never says that.
We dove into the passages found Romans 9 & 10 where Paul talks both about being chosen (chapter 9) but also the idea of making choices (chapter 10).
The problem Mark presented is that we have several different themes playing out in scripture, especially with regards to predestination – you’ve got the idea of election but on the same token you’ve got the idea of choosing, you’ve got the idea that Christ died for all but at the same time in order to reap the benefits of that death there is a choice, and if that weren’t enough – everything falls underneath the large umbrella that God is ultimately sovereign. The problem is when we try to take those previous points and draw direct lines from point to point and try to put God in a box – it just doesn’t work. We have to hold all those points loosely and to ultimately embrace the tension within scripture while relying on the fact that God is good and sovereign.
Good stuff – great interactions!
Next week – How do we respond to homosexuality?
If you’re falling me on facebook – know you can always find me on the web HERE
Filed under: Sunday Morning Reflections
October 9, 2008 • 11:14 am 1
I’ve been thinking and listening about the current economic crisis a lot recently – it’s actually pretty hard to get away from it. The television news is all over it and you can’t get away from it on talk radio – so it’s constantly rattling around in my brain.
For the most part of my life I have not followed, or cared too much about business or economic news. For all I knew is that I lived in America and that we were prosperous as a nation and a people (monetarily speaking), and most of us in the younger generations have not really had to weather any major storms from a national standpoint.
My generation has never been asked to enlist (though I have a few friends now whom I DEEPLY respect for serving honorably – thank you), or sacrifice our lifestyles for the betterment of the whole nation and other people. We all have had grandparents, or parents for that matter, who went through the depression and experienced great economic hardship so much so that it continues to impact their decisions today. Take for instance my grandmother, super intelligent lady who doesn’t keep money in a bank. She was around in the depression, saw it’s impact on her family and has since never trusted banks. It was always fun going over to her house as a kid because it was like one gigantic treasure hunt – she stashed her cash all over the house in different places – and still does for that matter! Now with this new economic failure, I am beginning to understand her greatest fear.
But still…for the most part…my generation is very different than my grandmothers generation. I have grown up in unheralded prosperity (yes…if you have a home, apartment, roof over your head, clean drinking water, access to food to eat, and your poop goes down through a toilet to some pipes – you are prosperous compared to most of the world) and have not had to sacrifice much. This is not to say that no one has made sacrifices, but for the most part we have been able to freely live the lifestyle we want…uninterrupted.
But it’s going to be interesting to see how these new times are going to effect us because times are changing for us as a nation and as a people.
I came across a post over at the Texas Startup Blog last night and it had a great post, “Get ready for mass business failures!”
Who is to blame? We are – i.e. you and me. We borrow too much! 43% of us spend more money each year than we make! First, we all spent too much money on houses, cars and consumer goods that we can’t afford. In the 1970s the average size home was 1,400 square feet, today the average is over 2,300 square feet. Are we that much bigger? Today we MUST have a phone, DSL connection, cell phone (maybe two), TIVO, cable TV and so on. All those services come with a monthly recurring cost – a cost we can’t really afford. We are a mess. Of course, lots of us are trying to blame Congress or Wall Street. Sure blame away, but at the end of the day the buck stops with you and me.
I think Alexander is right on. We want to blame everyone else around us, especially entities like big government entities and corporations, but to actually turn the mirror around and look at ourselves – I’m afraid that would be too painful. What makes it worse for me is the mud throwing between republicans and democrats (especially those claiming to be Christians) sending those absurd emails and youtube videos about how McCain woulda stopped all this and it’s the democrats fault, just stop it…it’s not helping.
We are the ones that while pursuing the “American Dream” continued to consume and consume until it finally turned in on us. I am as guilty as the government and corporations. I have taken out loans for things I consider to be “good” things, “needed” things (car, undergraduate school, and a house) – to which none of those things are bad – but the feeling that I need this or that to be complete is. I mean stop and think about our consumption. We find something that we like and we convince ourselves of the need for it, whether we can afford it or not. It just doesn’t really make sense on paper but somehow we have made the connection in our head that our lives will be substantially better, or worse incomplete, without it.
It’s comforting in an odd sort of way when I begin to look at life through my cultural window how Scripture just seemingly pops into my head. When I began to think about the current situation, these passages bring me comfort and hopefully will bring you comfort as well. On the other hand, I think the fact that knowing these passages bring me contentment makes me realize how twisted and backwards my understanding and reliance upon money has really become.
Matthew 6 is a great passage, and I don’t think its a coincidence that money and worry are coupled together. In the text, Jesus says,
19″Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22″The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24″No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry
25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I think this passage gives us a fitting reminder of what Christ is all about. Our desires should not bet to store up treasure here but there. The thrust of it all is that there is WAY, WAY, WAY more to life than a nice big house, a nice cool car, cool clothes, eating out, and keeping up with each other (yes CHRISTIANS do it!). When we begin to store things up on earth it can only create dependence on those things, as well as worry as Christ says, that those things may or may not deliver.
So maybe as hard as the financial crises may be and the aftermath that may take place – maybe it is a good thing. Maybe it is a return to a simpler, and probably freer life, along with a deeper understanding of just how well off we are.
Filed under: Personal, Reflection, Religous
• 10:16 am 0
For those of you who are still stuck in the process of making decisions and you just can’t seem to move forward, even though as we discussed last week that God desires to work in concert with our action, you can now turn HERE.
Not sure where or who pointed me to this site but…alas web help for those problems we have. Designate allows you to just load your dilemma and some possible solutions into the site and badabing badaboom – designate tells you what to do.
I find it really interesting and ironic that we all CRAVE the ability to make choices. We want to have control over our circumstances but SOOOO many Christians live in a state of paralysis with all the decisions that are before them. In fact, sometimes we just wish someone would make the decisions for us. But at the same time…we hate the fact that we wouldn’t be able to make those decisions.
I think that’s why most of us hate the idea of predestination at it’s core. We don’t like this idea that we are robots and that God is up their controlling our fates. But…is that what is really going on? Guess you’ll have to show up for College Life tonight at 8pm to hear the rest!!!
Need directions? No sweat – you can get a map by clicking HERE
October 8, 2008 • 9:39 pm 1
I know I know…this ‘OFFICIALLY” puts me into the “geek” column…or at least the gadget geek column BUT…I know many of you who do keep up with me on this blog have mentioned many a time that you wished you could get my bible app for your blackberry – well…NOW YOU CAN!!!
As stated above, I am an avid user of the iPhone Bible app created by LifeChurch @ YouVersion. It’s pretty sweet and I love that the verses have commentary and user submissions right there in the palm of my hand. Until today, the youversion bible app love was iPhone only but today they released a blackberry counterpart.
Anyways, just thought that I would let you all know in one place instead of texting each of you or trying to remember to tell each of you – so go grab it HERE!!!
Filed under: Random
|
