I don't know where

All of the world is nothing,
life is war,
you aren’t here and can’t see
what this life is doing to me

the skin is the same
everthing else has shifted.
you may see the one you know
but you don’t know him,
he’s gone, replaced with me

can you learn to love through loss
let go of him and hold me.
We look the same, but we aren’t
there is so much to share with you
without a place to start
hold my hand,
please… this hurts

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Video… what?

Hmmm, well it’s been so long since I’ve really set myself up to film anything, to do anything with film, and well… my heart is wandering back. I have the strong desire to pick up my camera and just go, get for what? How will anything I create be used or even seen.

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Photo: Student Strike/Protest in Toulouse

Today was another Toulouse student strike over a recent law past by the French government that will allow any employee who has worked for less than two years at their current employer to be terminated without reason/notice. While obviously unfair, it raises the question of, “Who Cares?”

Sitting outside capitole this afternoon with my friend we watched the mass of nearly two hundred students (out of about 50,000-70,000+ who were on strike, in Toulouse, and not in school) amass with goofy chants and large bed sheet signs held between two by fours. Video cameras arrived on the scene from the local media after rumor of two students being hurt by police. Those cameras were just in-time to catch this. The three person thank you crew.

Mind you it is around 40? outside right now, and I salute their bravery in the face of the weather and many only lookers. The question remains, does it accomplish anything? In earlier the words of my French friend about the protest, “Look at them, they look so stupid. This will do nothing.” At the sight of these three, she just laughed.

Points to learn from:
1. Don’t strike if your numbers can’t change anything
2. Remember to vote, otherwise the politicians won’t care
3. Those who have the drive and determination to do well will be cherished by their employer and not need to worry about this new law.

God bless democracy

In Light of 'Injustice'

Lately this has really been press upon my mind. In one of the forums God helps me provide spiritual insight and prayer a person is really challenged as of late. Best friend died, parents split, and his whole life seems to be going down the drain. But at the same time God has been showing me more and more of His glory than ever before.

The higher the God becomes in our sight, the further above us that He rises in all his Glory, Majesty, Splendor, Righteousness, and Holiness, the less unjust the world appears. For in truth, the very rising of the sun every morning is an act of completely mercy on a worthless and broken creation, that had it been me I would have abandoned. Yet God is continually choosing us, loving us, and searching for his lost folds of sheep in this world.

In the presence of the indescribable Glory of Jesus Christ, every ‘injustice’ is beyond deserved because there is nothing we deserve, even today. May this truth only increase my worship and praise.

What's in my Name

In elementary school the girls used to fill pages in the notebooks with names, and the names they wrote didn’t exist. They were the name of their friends with the surname of their crush, or even theirs. There was this excitement at the prospect of changing their name. An excitement that was laughable by nearly every boy.

Ten years later Jesus saves me. Yet my name is still my name, even though the word of God says I am now part of the bride of Christ. How I wish I had the same excitement about this truth, as those innocent and young school girls had about a crush. That I would desire my name to fade that Jesus might be exalted in everything and though every breath of mine.

Photo: Be Different

The differences in life draw the eye and stand apart. Christ was the most different person every to touch the earth, let alone walk upon it. Therefore let Jesus mold you into His likeness as the Word, that is Christ, promises.

Photo: Hope Killing Foreshadow

Not much to this picture, just an elder plant that is drying up in the dank ally and the younger vibrant guy. Not sure what I’m getting at with the juxtaposition or why it really strikes a cord with me. Maybe it’s the looming fear that the life I’ve left behind, the one of this world, that is wilting away, is weighting on me. That what I’ve left has caused me to feel that what I have now is somehow less permanent (even when it is eternal).

The only problem with trying to identifying foreshadowing before the end of the show, is that you never know what was written in to mislead you. God is the author and perfector of my faith, and He alone knows my heart. I know I’ve chosen that which is wise and life giving, and have left death behind.

Nothing outside of the Glory of God

There is nothing outside of the glory of God. Everything that has ever been created, seen, known, and felt is to bring glory to God. Every purpose every given to us by the Lord has been that His glory might increase. The end goal of the life of Jesus was the worship and glory of God. The very reason I’m in france is that God might receive Glory.

To draw a comparison to something more tangable. The pursuit of every christian endeavor must be the Glory of God. Everything in scripture has been done for the Glory, for Him to receive praise. Even the very basics of the Christian life are focused on God’s Glory; prayer, evangelism, and fellowship. So what was different today then yesterday, why is this some new ‘insight’?

Looking back on what Jesus showed me a couple days ago about beauty, today He helped me make another connection. God receives glory when we are in Nature, and Nature being created by God just radiates and overflows with His glory. This is why I love getting lost in the woods and just being away from the ‘city.’ It allows me to really get an overwhelming taste of the glory of Jesus.

"Becoming a Contagious Christian" by Bill Hybels, Lee Strobel, and Mark Mittelberg

This series has become very well known across Christian circles in the united states (and potentially other countries as well) and it is difficult to not see why. It offers a non-confrontational way to proclaim the gospel with those we know. Yet when I read the gospels and epistles I don’t see this strategy ANYWHERE. Now I’m not going to go as far as to say that this method isn’t biblical, but there is a major emphasis missing. We as servants of Christ are to be Bold in proclaiming the King and Creator of EVERYTHING (even time), to the point where we realize our chains to the procession of Christ and nothing else matters. When the full grandeur of God is in your sight there is nothing else that matter but His glory. Your friends and there possible rejection of you/your beliefs is secondary.

Next is the attempt to provide a formula for telling others about Christ. The bible shows us over and over again that there are no formulas. When the prophets where called they were each different (personality), every time Jesus healed someone it was done differently (method), and the only consistency was that it was for the Glory of God.

Nowhere in this book do those truths come forward. If the Apostle Paul needed others to pray for his boldness, how much more we need it! This book does provide a good starting point for people, but it must be followed by the truth that God doesn’t like formulas. Every person, life, and moment is uniquely written by Him.

God’s children need tools (like how to first prepare their testimony and an easy starting point with the gospel) to build confidence, which this series does well. If you do go over this with your small group make sure to place emphasis on the uniqueness of God’s plan for everyone, and how to be open and lead by the Spirit. Look into the book of Acts and see how God responded when the Kingdom of God was boldly proclaimed. I would love to see this series completed in a way that encourages people to put God drastically first in their lives.

4/7

While these are two separate books (the former written before the latter) they were together in the edition I was lent to read. Wow is my first reaction. There was such a hard truth laced through the words, a truth that is so often ignored by today’s church and believers. I could go on for pages to tell of the things that God challenged me with through this author. Causing me to re-look at scripture that I always used to understand because it was taught to me, not because God revealed it, or I experienced it.

If you are someone who is a Christian, and is wondering if what your faith hold is everything. I encourage you to pick up a copy of either book (or both) and dive in. You’ll be challenged and encouraged, see God as bigger and more glorious, and be more excited about what it means to know Jesus.

I give it a Seven out of Seven rating.

(I like rating things out of odd numbers because then you can’t cop out and give an ‘average’ rating).

Review of “By the Power of the Spirit” and “Surprised by the Voice of God” by Jack Deere