- It's either that or watch Dancing With the Stars.
- Jesus read his Bible (or course he had it memorized, and, technically, he wrote it...and it was probably the NIV).
- Bono wants you to.
- George Bush reads his and he's a good, wise Christian.
- You can't find your copy of Joel Osteen's book Your Best Life Now so the Bible will have to do.
- You aren't getting into heaven unless you read it EVERY SINGLE DAY.
- Playstation is broke.
- What Would Kirk Cameron Do? (WWKCD)
- Because Kim Golden is more spiritual than you are now.
- Lost your copy of the Bhagavad Gita and/or can't read Sanskrit.
- Song of Solomon.
- Book of Leviticus is a good cure for insomnia.
- Look up theme verses for your Christian punk band.
- Need answers to life's questions and your Magic 8-ball is broken.
- Helpful tips on crucifying your annoying sibling.
- Donated to John Hagee Ministries and you need to kill time until Hagee's new book (your "free" gift) on Israel and the end times arrives.
- Because someone sunk your battleship.
- Two words: talking donkey (think Shrek but without the voice of Eddie Murphy).
- After 12 hours of making butt wipes anything would be a good distraction.
- Because, in some mysterious, incomprehensible way it puts us into a posture of attentive listening (if we let it), where the Spirit of Christ can speak life-change into us (if we let Him), transforming us into citizens of a kingdom-here-yet-coming, whose only prayer is "Your will be done."
Reasons Why You Should Read Your Bible
Mystery and More Mystery
There is always something more beyond, well, nearly everything. There’s always a deeper level (or levels) sitting patiently below the surface, resting on their haunches, silently breathing in and out, waiting to be released. Behind every sin is a deeper problem. Behind every crisis is a legion of smaller difficulties that are at the real root of what is going on.
It is the mystery beyond the mystery.
Too often it seems like when we try and help people through crises by listening and offering wisdom, as well intentioned as our advice may be, we never quite seem to get at the root of the weed. So while we may certainly deal with our friend’s crisis of the moment and send them merrily on their way, we have only led them down a path toward a new, perhaps more tumultuous and destructive crisis event.
I’ve counseled a number of students from 12-20 years of age and so many of them, if you are listening for the story behind the story, are saying something completely different than the simple words coming out of their mouth. Behind the anger is a deeply rooted bitterness that started 3 years ago with a judgmental comment made by a parent, a friend, a sibling, a teacher. Behind the foul language or hateful words is a powerful, controlling fear of intimacy.
This is why relationships are so important in the context of Christian community, or really, just in life as a whole. Until you know a person’s true story you will have difficulty recognizing the roots of their struggle—and the more difficult it becomes for you to enter into that struggle with them, standing at the foot of the cross, and praying for their freedom.
And freedom is what it’s all about, isn’t it?
shalom, matt
Similarities That Make You Sick
Header from Oprah's official website:
"It's Not Meant to Be Racial"
Except that it actually is. What a freaking idiot! I hate getting lumped into the same category as redneck racists like this.
Melody
I’m just trying to find a decent melody… __from U2’s album All That You Can’t Leave Behind__
(Caution Dad: Metaphor ahead)
I was listening to U2 the other day, during what was one of those warm, sunny, window-down-in-the-car, listening-to-U2-even-though-Bono-is-overly-pompous kind of days. For whatever reason this line struck a chord in me. Maybe it’s because Bono is an amazing Irish wordsmith (sort of…); maybe it’s because U2 rights compelling rock songs that speak about something more than what they speak about (except for songs that end with the lyrics, Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya…); or, perhaps, it’s because my life is decidedly disordered and that line spoke about something that I would like to find.
Melodies are based on structure. Notes, chords, rests, and the like are brought together into an ordered pattern that (hopefully) form a beautiful tune.
So. If I’m trying to find a decent melody then I must not have a decent melody already. Or, worse, I have a crappy melody, something written by Mariah Carey or R. Kelly perhaps, that has little structure or is simply just unbearable to listen to aurally, something piercing and irritating.
I don’t have much structure or discipline in my life. In fact, it’s kind of a mess, like someone vomited a bunch of music notes onto a sheet, handed it to the conductor and said, “Play it.” It sounds awful. The challenge of finding and a constructing a decent melody is so massive that it borders on overwhelming. I don’t know where to start writing the melody. What note do I start with? Where do I put the chords? How about the rests? How many? How far apart? What key is it in? Where do I begin finding discipline? Where is my starting point? How do I learn to pray again? When you haven’t red Scripture in months where do you start? How do you learn to do it again?
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Sigh.
Like I said, I’m just trying to find a decent melody. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve got a song to write.
shalom, matt
Paradox
All the most profound truths lie in paradox—and death itself is a paradox, the end yet the beginning, all quite indescribable but all utterly real—another paradox—and in the end the ultimate reality…lies beyond myth, beyond metaphor, beyond symbol, beyond analogy, beyond words, beyond the breath of life itself…and where there’s paradox there’s eternity, because beyond all the paradoxes lies the eternal truth.
__From the novel Ultimate Prizes, by Susan Howatch
(More on this a little later. I'll let you chew on it for awhile.)
shalom, matt
Put the War in Perspective
Never mind the human cost of the war in terms of soldiers and Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives, let's put that aside for a moment because it's too tragic to even comprehend. Let's look for a moment at the economic impact, or lack of impact, that the cost of the war is foisting upon the rest of the world. I found this article on the net and thought it worth sharing.
In war, things are rarely what they seem.
_______________________
War: always a good investment. Right? Right? Who's with me? (note dripping sarcasm as I end this article)
shalom, matt