overproportioNATE

Why hasn't anyone been able to get denominations to work together? I would say that it's been a lack of effort, but it's deeper than that. There's a reason for that, there's a lack of want, a lack of desire. If we all get along, jobs are diminished, jobs are cut. Congregations combine. The very people who supposed to want to work together, are the most motivated to keep things the way that they are. It's similar to the reason why the church leadership is the way that it is. Biblically, one man shouldn't be running the show. He shouldn't be the main source of evangelism. But there's motivation to keep it that way from both sides. No pastor wants to lose his job, and laypeople want to just pay someone to take care of their spirituality. There's no motivation to change. No desire. Just His desire. I pray for direction. I pray for truth.

Giving up I think that we'd agree that giving up is not often the best way to deal with a problem. Giving up, even if it removes you from a situation, doesn't fix the problem. It puts it on someone else's plate. Giving up is an idiom, just thought that I'd point that out. The two words "giving" and "up" don't mean anything when you put them together. And giving up doesn't make much of a statement. You can give up on people, give up on a relationship.. But you're really not giving anything. You're taking. I hate to see it. I hate to see people give up on things, especially things that they've been a part of for decades. And you could say that they're throwing all of that time away, but I think more importantly, they are placing their thought in that moment above all the thinking they've been doing and absorbing for all of that time. It places so much power on the current thought.

Sorry, I've been researching for camp. But I still care. I still care.

One thing that I think will surprise us in the other side, will be the simple idea that we will all agree on what the facts are. I don't think we realize how much that influences our lives. We can't agree on the facts. We don't all agree on what's best, on what is most important. We have different priorities. Our priorities there will be in line. Of all the things to prioritize, God, others, environment, self, music, adventure, sacrifice, fun, beauty... We'll at least be able to understand the facts. We will see and know what is important to God. We are driven by these things here, and therefore, we are driven in different directions. I hope there will be something of a melding of the minds. Be able to really understand each other. See the care in each others eyes.

The ability to try. That's a highly underrated trait right there. Someone willing to try might not get it right the first time. They might make error after error. They will probably need some guidance from someone that's been around. But they will try. They will keep at it. They understand that the end goal is important and worthwhile. I want to try. I want to be reasonable. I want to be humble. I want to be like you.

Unexpected Snow It's like most unexpected things in life. They are loud and seem huge, but after time, melt away. Like having to work on a day you had off, or having an extra responsibility added on when you already feel loaded with the rest of life. They usually work out, they really do. The sun, kind of like grace, helps convert it into something more manageable and usable.

I saw God's Not Dead. It was pretty good. There was a little too much Christian Commercialization. The segment showing the life of the Islamic family was a little harsh [probably very realistic, but blunt]. There'll probably be some kind of retaliation for that. Overall, the student's response to the professor's challenge was fairly good. I mean, it wouldn't have worked with the professor that challenged me, but it was fair. I'm glad that it took an extreme life event to convince him to really change though, rather than a clever arguement of a student. God does the convincing in life.

We need to interview more dead people. I've been watching some Blank on Blank interviews on Youtube, interviews with people that are dead now. Wow, they seem so much more knowledgable now that they're dead. It's like, I guess we should listen to them now. We can argue with them, but it's pretty fruitless. So either we should start interviewing more dead people, or they just need to start talking on their own. Well, either that, or we should try to say more meaningful things.

He knew we'd get tired. I'm not particulary tired, no more than you are. But there is a tiredness to life. For me, in particular, it is driven by my personality. I don't even really enjoy the times when life really does slow down anymore. I want to keep going, keep rolling. But in all of that, I can start to lose track of what I'm really going after, what I'm really looking for. He knew that we'd have struggles. He talked like we'd have struggles. He gave parables, He told stories about how so many people would fall away, and how discouraging that would be. He knew what we would need, and He knew the things, the hopes, the healing, that we would never find on this earth. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." We live in the old order. And that's O.K., it's the only place that we can live in, it is the only current option th

It would take you 15 years to read the titles of every book ever written. That's used in a video to combat the idea of watching TV tonight, rather than reading a book. And while I agree, we as a country are very lazy. We are selfish, we are isolated, we limit ourselves. I also feel like it will take more than switching to a different form of media to make any real difference. Being educated is the important thing. But even at that, education also has it's limits. We can learn and believe in the right things, but until we are actually compelled to move, to actually do something, we will continue to know better, but not act any better. So yeah, maybe don't turn on the TV every night, but don't just read either. Watch some great historical speeches, listen to some music that does more than sound good, participate in some things in your community that are outside of yourself. Do some things that don't directly benefit YOU. That is something extreme, that is somethi

I hope there's adventure there. I like to believe that He's got some tasks for me, a new world to explore, new lands, creatures, sights unseen to all but Him. I want to explore. And not just alone. I want to go with friends, experience the other side of life together. Do all of the things we never had the chance to do this side of eternity. I like to believe that there will be. When He created this world, it was full of adventure, He talked about how we were to have dominion over all creatures. We got to choose. He said that was good. He created that, He wanted that for us. It wasn't an idea that we pitched to Him. If you're listening, I'd really like to explore Your new world with friends.

At the same time. To say nothing about our current predicament, remain silent about the world that we live in, is to remove an important voice. The world that Christ was in in need of the truth as much as ours is. Imagine a silent Christ. I'm not saying that silence is never the answer. Because we can and should choose silence sometimes. But there's a big difference between being silent, and being silenced. Don't let this work silence you.