to be young (is to want to be older)

I'm 30 now. Who am I kidding, I'm in my mid-30's. No complaints, but it's sure obvious that time is slipping by quickly. I don't long to be older... but I used to. I remember being in 1st grade and thinking how big 6th graders were and so on... and being sure I was never going to get there.

My kids are a lot like that now. They want to be older and anything that makes them look or seem older - they will wear it, say it, or do it. To be a teenager is the coolest thing to them, and they are positive they will never get as old as their dad is now. Looking at the world this way (that is, wanting to be older so bad), their perspective is quite skewed from that of an adult.

I saw this phenomenon just this week as my boy lost his first tooth. He was overjoyed because it represented growing older to him. A lot of kids that are just a year or two older than him have several teeth missing... and they are very cool. It is not normal for an adult to have the same reaction to one of their teeth falling out. For one thing we don't get any second chances with these teeth, do we? I guess this is one of several reasons why a kid grinning for a camera with several teeth out is much cuter than an adult with the same smile.

It reminded me of something I thought was pretty classic. A while back when my kids were ages 7 & 4, they were both really into the Dixie Chicks' version of the Fleetwood Mac tune "Landslide". I tried to get them into the Smashing Pumpkins version, but to no avail. Anyways, when they'd get to what I've always felt to be one of the heavier and downright sad parts of the song, their voices would swell with hope for the future as they sang, "Time makes you older/ even children get older/ & I'm getting older, too!"

I had never once looked at it that way, & they couldn't imagine it otherwise.

gratitude

gratitude (words/music by tim dickinson ©2009)

Mine was a childhood of pleasantness
I've got a picture of that
You could say hers was a little different
And she tries not to picture that

Our two roads converged on a dreary night
We fought over all that we had
Love is a verb and to keep it like that
We fight for all that we have

When you don't know what you have to thank God for
Notice the disconnect
When you don't know you've got so much to thank God for
Get on your knees, fall on your knees and

Breathe gratitude, breathe in breathe out gratitude
He granted you that breath

She and I running with our two little ones
I've got a picture of this
No one around that dark dreary night
Could ever have pictured this

Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah, Rembrandt

The Prophet Jeremiah, Michelangelo

I came across these paintings when studying for an overview of the Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations (titled "The Tears of Jeremiah" in the Septuagint) this week. The more I studied and felt the pain of the "Weeping Prophet", the more I was impacted by these paintings and felt that if a painting could capture a person you had only read about, these masters were spot on.

As a side note, it reminds me of what Père Marie-Alain Couturier, a friar who designed stained glass windows, said about Christian art: "It is safer to turn to geniuses without faith than to believers without talent". Kinda funny.

$400,000 Study on Gay Sex?

"The National Institutes of Health are paying researchers to cruise six bars in Buenos Aires to find out why gay men engage in risky sexual behavior while drunk -- and just what can be done about it."

Man is depraved. Needs Christ.

Keep the $400,000.

This is Jesus, The King of the Jews

Matthew 27:37 (English Standard Version)
And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."

Question for consideration...
Had God physically clutched the pen from Pilate's hand, would He have written anything different?

The Roman Governor who sent Christ to be crucified was still very much acting under the sovereignty of God.

tbd

Walking in Shadow

Paul Zastoupil is a friend and one of the missionaries we support at our church. He and his family are near Nairobi, Kenya, as long term missionaries. One of the ministries he manages is On Field Media (OFM). The following is an example of their work.

Road to Resurrection

The following is an Easter event we put on at our church. This is the 4th year we've done it. I remember when my dad originally walked me around the grounds here and talked to me about the idea he had to turn the place into "Jerusalem of Jesus' day" and do a walk-through depiction of the trials, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. It sounded a bit far-fetched...I was short-sighted.

What stands out to me the most is that it takes so many people doing so much to make it all happen (oh yeah, and a lot of prayer and the hand of Almighty God). 99.9% of it is done by volunteers/members of the church. There's construction, set design, costumes, cast, extras, sound, lighting, props, marketplace, setup/cleanup, etc. By the time the invitation to receive Christ is given each night, it is actually the people of the church that have collectively presented the gospel message.