Hallelujah-Tenth Avenue North

Me likes this song a lot. Actually their whole cd is good. Check it out on iTunes.

Flip

I want one of these. Really badly. It comes with 2GB of memory, which equates to 1 hour film time. I wonder if it will support a bigger card though? Cuz it would be super awesome with like a 64G SD card...

Gettin' rid of junk

Just thought I'd clarify on that a bit. At least my take on it, because Bell doesn't really explain how to do it, so I'll share my thoughts on it. I think the most important thing to know is that you CANNOT FIX YOURSELF. To "stare your junk in the face" doesn't mean to come up with a disciplined action plan on how to correct it. Or a "do" and "don't" list. Because you know what? You will fail. I promise. I'm speaking from experience.

Rather, I think to stare your junk in the face is to acknowledge the problem, and then give it to God. Because you can't overcome it outside of Christ. And ironically, to be too focused on the problem and trying to overcome it, that makes you NOT focused on Christ. The important thing is to become transparent, to emulate Jesus. As you are more focused on Him and worshiping and adoring Him, he will continue to change you and sanctify you, as he has promised. But it is important to face your problems by acknowledging them and then give them over to Christ.

Velvet Elvis

I've heard several people recommend Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, but I just never read it. The other day, however, it caught my eye at the bookstore and I decided to buy it. Plus it was 50% off. Anyway, I'm about half way through, and he's got some really good points in there. One thing I like is when he talks about salvation. He discusses how many people tend to view it as a legal transaction only. And it's ok to think of it that way, in fact the language used in Ephesians 1:13-14 utilizes legal terms. But his point is that you shouldn't stop there. Salvation isn't just about Jesus saving you at the cross. It isn't merely a once-for-all deal, it's more of a process. God doesn't only want to cover up our sins, He wants to restore us to the person He originally planned for us to be. As Christians, our goal isn't to not sin, it's to live like Jesus.

Another really cool point is about letting go of the past and moving on in your life, but that can't be done until we properly deal with our problems. Or as Bell so eloquently puts it, "For Jesus to heal my soul, I have to stare my junk right in the face." You know what I mean, we all have those really big issues we struggle with. Those things we don't talk about, we're ashamed of, the things we ignore and think that by doing so it will just go away miraculously. Well, you can't really get past those things until you face them and own up to them in Christ. And I kinda understand what he's talking about here. I've recently tackled some "junk" in my life (but not all!) and have experienced both healing and freedom.

Well, like I said, he has some good points, so I look forward to reading the rest of the book.

Tim Hawkins

This guy is hilarious...."Lord, change this Cheeto into a carrot stick as it goes down..."

Mere Christianity

Yo! Just wanted to check in with you, and let you know I'm currently reading Mere Christianity by none other than C.S. Lewis. I've always wanted to read his classic works, but never had the book! Well, thankfully I got his collection for Christmas, so I'm super excited. Currently, my favorite quote is, "But one word of warning. There has been a great deal of soft soap talked about God for the last hundred years. That is not what I am offering. You can cut all that out." Haha, I think that's awesome...thus, it's also on my facebook quotes.

Oh, another random update: So, I think I have more Calvinistic leanings than I previously thought. Before, I think agreed with up to 3 points of Calvinism, but now I think it's shifted to 4 out of the 5 (meaning T-U-_-I-P of the acronym, for those of you who know it. U is the latest addition ). I'm not up to explaining everything right now though, so I'll save that for a rainy day...

So, I haven't posted in FOREVER

Sorry about that. I guess I just don't do it that often because I have such slow internet access at home...but that has now changed!! We got DSL last week, and I'm oh-so-excited. I mean, I can actually check facebook in like a minute versus 10!!

So what's new? Well, I just returned home after spending a week with Aaron for the BIG WEDDING! I think it went really well and I'm extremely happy for them. I've seen them grow and change a lot as a couple, so it was cool to see this culminating act of marriage.