so on the plane to NJ i finished bruggemman and absolutely loved it!! i highly recommend it. over the break i started reading lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. we are beginning a series with this book and i wanted to dive into this text. after finishing that (thanks to ry) i am going to read Nothing Sacred by rushkoff and then palmer's Let Your Life Speak. shalom.
so after a wonderful week of rest in NJ, we headed back to church this morning. i spent some time in the word before we left, trying to pick songs and i felt God's direction to plan songs that fixed our attention on God. william taught from rom 12:1-2 and i really like petersons translation in the message. in reading that - the phrase that stuck out to me was "fix your attention on God and you'll be changed from the inside out." so all in all i thought the songs went well and the morning was great. i told amanda it is very refreshing being in a mainline denomination because at least once a week we hear things like "salvation is about being renewed and being transformed - not a list of a bunch of dont dos." william put it this way - it's not salvation by subtraction, ie i dont drink, i dont smoke, i dont do this or that or etc....and therefore i am a christian. it is very encouraging to hear these things from the leadership of the church. also, i love this thought from last sunday... "salvation is not about getting me into heaven. it's about getting heaven into me." and also - "to get the hell out!" i love it!!
or a good laugh....click here....hilarious!!
brueggemann is speaking here of an alternative reality: "We need to ask not whether it is realistic or practical or viable but whether it is imaginable. We need to ask if our conciousness and imagination have been so assaulted and co-opted by the royal consciousness that we have been robbed of the courage or power to think an alternative thought." wow...these words are so right on. i love that we are being called to imagine and be filled with wonder. dream. inspire. this is the way of the new kindgom. i wonder if we as followers of the way are to help people out of their weakness in following the regime at hand and help inspire others to a place where they have the courage to think an alternative thought. just hearing these words inspires me to write music along this thought.... wake up, o sleeper. "thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist." brueggemann rocks.
brueggemann on an 'imperial reality': "Imperial economincs is designed to keep people satiated so that they do not notice. Its politics is intended to block out the cries of the denied ones. Its religion is to be an opiate so that no one discerns misery alive in the heart of God." sounds a little like the reality of where we live.... and here is what brueggemann suggests as to combat this: "Passion as the capacity and readiness to care, to suffer, to die, and to feel is the enemy of imperial reality" powerful words, beautiful words.
so i must admit - on first listen, i wasnt to fond of A Collision. but today i sat down with some headphones and read the words as i listened to the album....oh my...the lyrics are absolutely amazing...
i highly recommend checking the album out. it spoke to my soul this day....
come on over to our story begins and check out the full pic tour of our apt in houston!
so today marks the 25 year in my lifetime....wow....
ive spent most of the day reflecting on that - 25 seems to be more of 'milemarker' than any other bday has been so far. its like amanda said at dinner tonight "you are a full blown adult!!" wow - i am...i can remember being in middle school and thinking 25 is soo old. and yet i dont feel 'old' - i am excited to see where these next 25 years take me and where i take them.
show me your ways oh God, teach me your paths. guide me in your truth and teach me.
after a marvelous breakfast in bed we headed over to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to explore what we could find. it was spectacular!! one of the featured artists was Thorton Dial and i loved his stuff. nikki - you should check him out if you havent heard of him - totally mixed media - we think youd dig him.
so along with dial there is some picasso, rembrant, rothko and many others. also some sweet corinthian gear and many hellenistic artifacts. it was a great afternoon. in about two weeks there will be a basquiat exhibit that we will have to hit up as well.
here are some photos for ya:
two of my favorite pieces:
pablo
and our new favorite homeade drink....orange julius!!!!
