i think the first very interesting thing to note with this psalm is the intro: 'For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”' if you read the first seven verses you see David's response to basically 'being told on' and he is not amused. should we learn from that example of David and go to ourselves, 'ah cool, [...]
well, not really, but i think the permanent ADT guard who lives in a little wooden hut across from my buddy Dunc's house where i stay may be suspecting that's what i do... purely for the number of different cars of all shapes and sizes that he has seen me drive into 2 Smithers Road over the last two months... i am always friendly and i always wave at him [or hims, because i think [...]
"Just part one ocean in front of me, once, God, and i will never doubt you again!" that's how i think sometimes. but a huge part of me knows it unlikely to be true. it wasn't enuff for the Israelites [a day later they were whining about water so God made it appear out of a rock, then it was food and God made bread appear six days a week, then it was about the [...]
one of the first things i want to do once i am settled in Americaland is buy a copy of this song 'You won't relent' by Jesus Culture - i find the lyrics and the singing of it so powerfully haunting and it just resonates s completely with my soul in terms of catching a glimpse of how God sees me. i am reminded of this passage from 2 Corinthians 2.14-15 which says, 'For Christ's [...]
Robert is a friend that tbV and i met once in Americaland at a protest of sorts and have since become strong online friends and co-appreciators of Pearls Before Swine and other shared forms of humour as well as sharing in a hunger for following Jesus - he has been married to Heather for close to 18 years and while this is more of a story than a 'one thing to learn' piece, there is [...]
my friend, Rich Erasmus, has been married for seventeen years to his lovely wife Cindy, and has some nuggets of wisdom to share with us in the area of one way you can love your spouse better: 'I would say one of the most important ways that I have “learned to love my wife better”, is through a technique I was introduced to during an “Imago” course. Bottom line … I learned to listen to [...]
this is also my 800th blog post altho that is completely irrelevant but a nice round number nonetheless... so if you are reading this, then by now you know that myself and tbV are heading to Oakland, California to work with Common Change, and you also probably have some idea of what our specific roles with CC look like, and so the last thing i want to comment on is the support aspect. Val and [...]
there is a great principle of ministry that you can see glimpses of in the life of Jesus: Teacher does, pupils watch. Teacher does, pupils are involved and do it with Him. Pupils do and teacher watches. Pupils do by themselves and report back to teacher. Then later the pupils find their own pupils and the whole scenario begins again. In this passage in Mark 6.6-13 we see Jesus sending the disciples out to try [...]
i am busy reading 'the life of Pi' having already watched the movie and there are definitely some interesting thoughts on religion in it - while i don't necessarily agree with everything written so far, this piece i found absolutely profound: 'And that wasn't the end of it. There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and [...]
'For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.' i mean, that's quite an intro already, right? and possibly carries a profoundly deep message in terms of really getting our minds around the fact that David, altho he had messed up horribly, still ends up at the feet of God, rather than simply trying to hide or run the other way... [...]