A new website will feature a new blog! Most old entries will be relocated there as well. Look for the tab that reads, "Journal."
Main web address remains the same.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Most Joyous Man That Ever Lived?
"You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else."
This verse is taken from Hebrews 1, where the Son of God's status is being made known. That last part of the verse evokes an interesting suspicion. Was Jesus the most joyous person the world has ever seen? This thought kinda blew my mind. I never would have described the Jesus I grew up hearing about as joyful. I picture him tossing tables and weeping behind closed doors. I paint him as pensive, not that I blame the guy. After all, he lived his whole life knowing that he would die a young and gruesome death. For three years he was hated for stirring up traditions, made claims no one else dared to make, and was a teacher to a group of people who rarely seemed to grasp the material. It seems like every time he turned around someone wanted him to heal something or answer a question. If anything, I would bet the man was mournful and maybe even a bit frustrated. On the other hand, if joy comes from God the Father, and Jesus, being God's Son, has perfect union with the Father, then who else could compete with him in terms of joy? If Jesus didn't have joy, who does? In actuality, Jesus being the most joyous person that ever lived makes perfect sense. So what's amazing here, is the fact that Jesus had joy in the midst of all the anguish he went through. But how? Let me tell you what I think. Everything he went through didn't steal his joy, it gave him joy. Let that sink in for a minute. Now add this to the mix. Jesus was fully obedient to God. Not only that, but He wanted the things God wanted. He wanted to glorify God, and God wanted to rescue mankind from depravity. Thus, to please God, to fulfill God's plan, to be obedient to God, gave Jesus great joy. And since Jesus never disobeyed God once, I can only imagine the amount of joy he must have had. May I learn his love for justice and his hatred for evil in my life.
This verse is taken from Hebrews 1, where the Son of God's status is being made known. That last part of the verse evokes an interesting suspicion. Was Jesus the most joyous person the world has ever seen? This thought kinda blew my mind. I never would have described the Jesus I grew up hearing about as joyful. I picture him tossing tables and weeping behind closed doors. I paint him as pensive, not that I blame the guy. After all, he lived his whole life knowing that he would die a young and gruesome death. For three years he was hated for stirring up traditions, made claims no one else dared to make, and was a teacher to a group of people who rarely seemed to grasp the material. It seems like every time he turned around someone wanted him to heal something or answer a question. If anything, I would bet the man was mournful and maybe even a bit frustrated. On the other hand, if joy comes from God the Father, and Jesus, being God's Son, has perfect union with the Father, then who else could compete with him in terms of joy? If Jesus didn't have joy, who does? In actuality, Jesus being the most joyous person that ever lived makes perfect sense. So what's amazing here, is the fact that Jesus had joy in the midst of all the anguish he went through. But how? Let me tell you what I think. Everything he went through didn't steal his joy, it gave him joy. Let that sink in for a minute. Now add this to the mix. Jesus was fully obedient to God. Not only that, but He wanted the things God wanted. He wanted to glorify God, and God wanted to rescue mankind from depravity. Thus, to please God, to fulfill God's plan, to be obedient to God, gave Jesus great joy. And since Jesus never disobeyed God once, I can only imagine the amount of joy he must have had. May I learn his love for justice and his hatred for evil in my life.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Shawn
I've been on a Shawn Mcdonald kick today. Man I love this guy's story and music. The interview in the vid below is a lil cheesy at times but I thought it was cool. I tend to try and look at art from the perspective of its artist. I find that knowledge about the artist often explains the artwork and changes the way I view it. The same goes for the creator of the universe.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Not For Sale
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
-Edmund Burke
Identity. Countries, cities, generations, races, schools, businesses, ages, genders, presidents, individuals all have identities. Some parts of an identity are assigned, some parts are assumed, and some parts are fought for, but all three create for us an identity. For centuries people have fought for their identity, even before they had one. America fought for its own identity separate from Britain much like a teenager fights for their identity apart from their parents. My generation, my parents' generation, and my grandparents' generation all have different identities. Make us all the same age, give us the same clothes, put us in a room together and you'll still be able to tell us apart from the choices we make to the way we spend our money. Identity. I wonder what identity the human race has. We're born into an existing one. What have we accepted as part of our identity? Is there anything we've rejected? Is there anything we fight to lose? To gain?
27 million people of our living human race are currently enslaved around the world. Atlanta, the city in which I was born, happens to hold the highest amount of human sex trafficking in the United States of America, aka the "land of the free." As an Atlantan, that's not an identity I want to have. For some reason, it's easy to accept shortcomings as part of an identity. But there's a funny thing about identity, it can be changed. It can be fought for. Just ask America or Saul. If who you are isn't who you want to be, then do something.
I am not naturally outgoing, but sometimes I must fight to be. I am not naturally exceptionally musical, but because of my passion for it, I must fight to be (fight being the key word). The human race is not free, but we must fight to be.
When you see 12-17 year olds selling themselves downtown on a corner, they aren't prostitutes, they're slaves.
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/ invisiblechildren.com
-Edmund Burke
Identity. Countries, cities, generations, races, schools, businesses, ages, genders, presidents, individuals all have identities. Some parts of an identity are assigned, some parts are assumed, and some parts are fought for, but all three create for us an identity. For centuries people have fought for their identity, even before they had one. America fought for its own identity separate from Britain much like a teenager fights for their identity apart from their parents. My generation, my parents' generation, and my grandparents' generation all have different identities. Make us all the same age, give us the same clothes, put us in a room together and you'll still be able to tell us apart from the choices we make to the way we spend our money. Identity. I wonder what identity the human race has. We're born into an existing one. What have we accepted as part of our identity? Is there anything we've rejected? Is there anything we fight to lose? To gain?
27 million people of our living human race are currently enslaved around the world. Atlanta, the city in which I was born, happens to hold the highest amount of human sex trafficking in the United States of America, aka the "land of the free." As an Atlantan, that's not an identity I want to have. For some reason, it's easy to accept shortcomings as part of an identity. But there's a funny thing about identity, it can be changed. It can be fought for. Just ask America or Saul. If who you are isn't who you want to be, then do something.
I am not naturally outgoing, but sometimes I must fight to be. I am not naturally exceptionally musical, but because of my passion for it, I must fight to be (fight being the key word). The human race is not free, but we must fight to be.
When you see 12-17 year olds selling themselves downtown on a corner, they aren't prostitutes, they're slaves.
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/ invisiblechildren.com
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Doc
2 Corinthians 1
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
As a kid, I hated getting shots more than anything in the world. I didn't understand them. I couldn't comprehend the necessity of such a painful experience. I remember this one time, I tried to bargain with the nurse who was going to give me a shot. I told her if she didn't vaccinate me (i had a bigger vocab then), I would gladly go home, find a stick in my backyard, and poke myself with it as a substitute. Man, my childish little mind just didn't understand how thankful I'd be for those shots (not the pain) later in life. Funny how our minds work. The familiarity of this situation dawned on me the other day. Imagine this, you're a child with a father whom you love and trust. He leads you to the car and you follow. He takes you to an unfamiliar place. The doctor pulls out a needle and you get nervous. All this time your father knows the pain that lies ahead, for both of you, and he knows it's necessary. The needle pierces your skin. You cry out in pain. Maybe you even take a few verbal strikes at your father for leading you to such an awful place. And he, lovingly, takes them because he knows the medicene in the shot, not your pain, is necessary. And he knows that oneday you'll understand in full. Oneday you'll thank him. But even though it is necessary, he does not enjoy watching you suffer. And even though it hurts him to watch, he does not leave the room. He's right beside you, letting you grip his hand as hard as you can throughout the pain. I don't think it's God's intention for us to suffer, it's just the effects of imperfection and the process of correction. Sometimes the things that cause us to suffer are necessary even when the pain isn't. Whatever you've been through, are going through, or will go through, know that you can reach out to God's hand and it will be there.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
As a kid, I hated getting shots more than anything in the world. I didn't understand them. I couldn't comprehend the necessity of such a painful experience. I remember this one time, I tried to bargain with the nurse who was going to give me a shot. I told her if she didn't vaccinate me (i had a bigger vocab then), I would gladly go home, find a stick in my backyard, and poke myself with it as a substitute. Man, my childish little mind just didn't understand how thankful I'd be for those shots (not the pain) later in life. Funny how our minds work. The familiarity of this situation dawned on me the other day. Imagine this, you're a child with a father whom you love and trust. He leads you to the car and you follow. He takes you to an unfamiliar place. The doctor pulls out a needle and you get nervous. All this time your father knows the pain that lies ahead, for both of you, and he knows it's necessary. The needle pierces your skin. You cry out in pain. Maybe you even take a few verbal strikes at your father for leading you to such an awful place. And he, lovingly, takes them because he knows the medicene in the shot, not your pain, is necessary. And he knows that oneday you'll understand in full. Oneday you'll thank him. But even though it is necessary, he does not enjoy watching you suffer. And even though it hurts him to watch, he does not leave the room. He's right beside you, letting you grip his hand as hard as you can throughout the pain. I don't think it's God's intention for us to suffer, it's just the effects of imperfection and the process of correction. Sometimes the things that cause us to suffer are necessary even when the pain isn't. Whatever you've been through, are going through, or will go through, know that you can reach out to God's hand and it will be there.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Monday, February 4, 2008
More Shadows
Shadows dispeled by rays of the sun
weaken in morning, when the day has begun.
Sifting through trees as hair through a brush,
strands of light leave no room for dusk.
No room for darkness, no room for sorrow
My past is behind me, today is tomorrow.
Free from the past is free from the night
As free as the bird who sings without words
I stare at the trees I so yearn to climb
not moving at all, in fear of the fall.
weaken in morning, when the day has begun.
Sifting through trees as hair through a brush,
strands of light leave no room for dusk.
No room for darkness, no room for sorrow
My past is behind me, today is tomorrow.
Free from the past is free from the night
As free as the bird who sings without words
I stare at the trees I so yearn to climb
not moving at all, in fear of the fall.
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