28 May 2009 - psalm 113:8-9
"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD."
27 May 2009 - thankful praise
"Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God."
Encouraged by a friend's desire to just praise. Oh to remember Psalm 50... to simply live a life of thankful praise.
"I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine...If I were hungry I would not tell you"
23 May 2009 - the site of mercy
new mwY, continuing to amaze...at least in this song, "the Angel of Death came to David's room and said friend, it's time to go...good Angel, don't I get a warning sign before it's my time to go?
a sign? come now, David! where's your Grandma gone? and where's your grandpa gone? their time came to go. . .where's Uriah gone, stranded on the battlefield, the troops withdrawn? his time came to go. come now, David! where's Bathsheba gone? and where've your binoculars and rooftops gone? and the unexpected Baby-from-the-bath-night? their time came to go."
It should be noted that the house of the Lord was built on the former threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Where the Lord spoke to the angel of the Lord, who put his sword back in his sheath.
"Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep.' 1 Chronicles 21:17 and now 22:1. Then David said, "The house of the Lord God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel."
just like the length of cord that would inevitably spare one, but not the man next to him, so too were Araunah's neighbors, one was 70,000, the other was not 70,001. But his time too would come to go. But a new Temple would come and take the unsheathed sword, so that an ever greater mercy could be ours.
20 May 2009 - best house
"in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation" psalm 5:3.
and a name scrawled on a piece of paper- by my computer so i can pray, proves useful months and months later, providing the silver lining to a night of otherwise poor communication.
14 May 2009 - grace like rain
"i need your grace, to remind me, to find my own..." sp
sometimes even the wanting to pray is manifest grace.
psalm reading for the day: "let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found." 32 "broken spirit" 51 "a sign of your goodness" 86
13 May 2009 - crowns, crowns, crowns
we made crowns at church tonight. they were a hit. i should pray more. "be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care...eager to serve... being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receveive the crown of glory that will never fade away." 1 Peter 5
11 May 2009 - flybye
"the day is gray outside. it's still brighter than the day would be, if i was without You." seven day jesus
studying almost over with.
5 May 2009 - daily and forever
"and there will be an end to these troubles, but until that day comes, we'll live to know You here on the earth... O no, You never let go through the calm and through the storm. O no, you never let go, in every high and every low... Lord, You never let go of me." m. redman
"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves" ps. 68
29 April 2009 - seriously?
made my way to the roof tonight. He is ever good.
27 April 2009 - because they trusted in Him
"They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him." 1 Chronicles 5:20-21
22 April 2009 - psalm 9/10
probably originally one big poem. "He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted... the needy will not always be forgotten. . . But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."
21 April 2009 - now i ride my bicycle
after stolen tires, broken locks, failed attempts at bike fixes, several work consultations, actual attempts that still don't pan out, late night tire changes in random places with nice help, stranded bikes meanwhile rusting or being irrevocably broke, no bike and walking around the whole city, waiting for my bike to arrive... how great was it to be back riding my bike, flying around city streets!
18 April 2009 - fig newtons
hi from chicago, the land of good pizza, on the starting day of the nba playoffs! was thinking again on what it means to know people. some of people's interests change- several of the foods i liked as a child are vastly different than the foods i like today, while some are likely to never change (me and mello yello are tight). perhaps another part in knowing someone is to know and understand the person as they change. we can't have just a snapshot knowledge of a person and expect it to be accurate on every count. sometimes we see this well when we see someone we haven't seen for a long time, even more if they are from a different season in our life... thankful for friends who have seen the here and the there and who put pieces together. and even more the One who knows it all and understands the change better than me.
13 April 2009 - scott Park
someone knows.
someone knows about the days where feelings play a greater role than they are supposed to... when life, strangely cyclical as it is, adds its own toppling weight... when normally available outlets are shut due to past problems requiring maintainence... when wounds that are supposed to no longer hurt, sting like a freshly skinned knee... someone knows, even when others do not understand. Oh, Someone knows...
12 April 2009 - resurrection life day
resurrection is not normal, natural. death is. and yet another reason why it is so great... once people get past the unexpectedness, they'll find something that works backwards into their lives. something that goes against the downward spiral of nature they see all around them. bringing life to where there is only death, hope to where there is only despair, and triumphant joy to where was previously defeat, defeat, defeat.
04 April 2009 - the first we hear from samson
"His father and mother replied, '... Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?' But Samson said to his father, 'Get her for me. She's the right one for me.' (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)" from Judges 14
31 March 2009 - the road to Zion
i recommend driving across the country. especially with plenteous good food, mello yello finds, moments of hilarity, and lots and lots of driving. wish i had more time. somehow amidst the studying i snuck in some time to read my new book- escaping north korea. you should read it. some of the stories are just woah...
19 March 2009 - thought of the day
people can leave who don't feel connected.
08 March 2009 - giants they do fall down
doing chronological Bible in a year! thoughts from numbers- The giants that the explorer scouts saw were the same. the huge grapes were the same. but the responses vastly different. to some, "Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?". (this is an incredible question. . .and yet one that i am not immune from when i let the nephilim become bigger than the One they are grasshoppers to.) But Joshua and Caleb believed God. the grapes were a sign of the goodness they were coming into. and the aftermath... an 11 day journey became a 40 year journey to which only Joshua and Caleb would complete.
can't help but think it was a parallel situation with David and the israelites. they all heard the same cry from Goliath day after day. but only David heard it in the context of who God was and knew he could answer the call.
"everything that can stand fire you shall make go through the fire."
03 March 2009 - on your true prayer
more ponderables from vineyard sermons. sometimes we pray for things and we may not get them and yet what we wanted most was not that thing, but that thing seemed to be the necessary route to what we want/need to such a degree to not realize to think that we could pray for what we really want behind what we want... perhaps there is a better/different way to what is lacking, and One that certainly knows better ways.
13 February 2009 - on showing grace
sometimes it's not until the situation changes and you see the capacity to act the same way the other person acted toward you... for it's all inside of you, too. and since it's more often than not that we don't know the back story, perhaps it's that benefit of the doubt that better enables us to love the way we should, and all the more so to one going through and in need of some grace.
11 February 2009 - then they will call upon Me...
a Calvin quote on Zech. 13:9 (from JP) It is therefore necessary that we should be subject, from first to last, to the scourges of God, in order that we may from the heart call on him; for our hearts are enfeebled by prosperity, so that we cannot make the effort to pray.
busyness also keeps us, but as Luther says, that should prove the opposite, so busy, need to pray more.
things that make you pray, praise God for them.
10 February 2009 - don't send us on -- without You
listened to vineyard sermon on it during the day, then at night the scheduled reading also included exodus 33. i still remember p. paul preaching on it from year's ago... in the sermon, dave said he read it in His wedding.
"You said, I know you by name and you have also found favor in my sight. Now therefore, I pray...show me now Your way that I may know You and that I may find favor in your sight... And the Lord said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. And Moses said to the Lord, if Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here! . . .Is it not in going with us so that we are distinguished."
6 February 2009 - powerful and effective
elijah was a man just like us -so constitutued, but he took God at His Word, and there was no rain for a really long time.
from sinclair insight to an obscure verse of a favourite hymn of mine, "Soon shall the cup of glory
Wash down earth's bitt'rest woes,
Soon shall the desert briar
Break into Eden's rose;
The curse shall change to blessing -
The Name on earth that's bann'd
Be graven on white stone
In Immanuel's land."
4 February 2009 - my life not as a movie
i get it backwards sometimes when i consider such drama. it is good to remember the fly that sat upon the chariot-wheel, and said, "What a dust do I raise!". and even better to think how it is all His story.
31 January 2009 - abandonment and faith must walk together
thinking back to the twenty year old vs. the four year old. one needs to ask if he can go out and play. the other has grown to the place to have the freedom to make decisions without having to call home from college. one is easier. the other, painfully necessary. but we are not left alone. we can take to Him the Lord as best I know. . .'s. and try and do the right thing today, even if tomorrow is unknown. and it takes years to understand parents' love. how much more to get His- who keeps sending us back to school because He wants us to know more of that deep deep deepest of deeps Love.
25 January 2009 - end of the spear
another finally got to see movie. with violence that was not for the sake of violence. but that came with the words, "i am your friend."
from John 15, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last."
20 January 2009 - now or later
remember esau. he sold his birthright for some red stew. a double portion of the inheritance, the head of the family... and heir of the promised blessing vs. stew. showing contempt for those rights while living in the moment, for a single meal. rather than living by faith, and taking the future seriously, as he later wished he did.
15 January 2009 - job's tears
before understanding that it was a plant, when I saw the name Job's tears associated with things like soup or tea, I could only guess why it would be named such. Perhaps it was something that was not so good going down, but was really good for you. Well, either that or something that really cleaned you out. . .Or _maybe_ it was just really good soup. named not for job's initial tears, but his latter tears... that surely must have come when his brothers, sisters, and friends came and feasted with him in his home.
13 January 2009 - waterfall
the good thing about having bike issues is the long walks home...
from the book of job: How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out. "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. . .He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.' So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor."
10 January 2009 - you do not have because you do not ask
and so the studying begins in earnest.
thoughts meanwhile: it is one thing when you ask and you don't get. it's another altogether when you mope about not having something when you didn't even ask for it.
7 January 2009 - lunchtime reading
while enjoying a tangerine. . . the spring of persistent love
01 January 2009 - 2008 year in review: longest entry yet
I like new year's day, not only because I love celebrating, and holidays provide occasion, but I doubt it is without reason that people celebrate a new year, even when in some sense it is arbitrary and not remarkably different from the day before. But because He is making all things new, because it is a 365.25x picture of "His mercies new every morning", it is all the more a time to refocus, restart, and keep on running. As you must know by now, part of that for me involves recapping the year that was. Some lessons are only learned when distilled with a wider lens. It is good to think over the year. Not only does it help us to see the sheer wonder of life and its bigness, but it also aids one in examining life rather than just letting it fly by unmeasured. Such introspection has its place, when rightly framed. Too much self look can lead to despair. But if after looking, you look back up, and redirect towards the maximum glory of God, it can be very good. That is my hope, and while I won't cover all the year held (some has already been written here) I surely did think through so much of it. And yet it was perhaps the hardest year to recap to date. At times I did feel as I was not the one leading the way. And perhaps I was not. . .As the (random) phrase of the year says- that was a crazy game of poker.
I'll begin where I did- it was good to start the year in prayer. It was definitely needed all the more in January with the carryover of unresolved health issues (and new ones), the shock of a church dismissal that threatened everything, and a stressful work situation, just to name most of the major things that month. and He saw me through. The year had quite the full spectrum of a relationship- writing out prayers, soccer prayer, and yes of course on my bike and walking around the city. There was also marked struggle, and long (too long) periods of lack. and learning well where two come together in His name, that He is there, ever amazed at His love. Memorable march prayer and tears, marveling that He hears and knows my heart. while on march, it was an early spring and somehow (after hurried cleaning and dominoes) i ended up in pittsburgh. and from there, it was planes, trains, and automobiles indeed.
oh there were highlights. more babysitting than the rest of my life combined, from pizza and dancing with evie, to westminster party and more! a new friend of the year. a new neice. RLC begins in earnest!
church held some amazing moments. opening the church with prayer and the gym by playing with the kids. and the next day 2700+ people for convoy of hope despite a fatal shooting across the street. hearing God of the city before the remarkable survey crew hit the streets. the rest of the grand opening week. children's ministry extension, teaching Sunday school. getting to lead worship myself. secret agent thursdays. leading Bible studies. follow up prayer. and on i could go.
the year in food (partial at best): mac and cheese (from cauliflower, lobster, ritz cracker, to buffalo chicken!), bulgogi hot dogs, octopus pizza, wegman's rolls, grace garden, ekta, eggplant coins, chicago pizza, pork&eggplant, jamaican, ncaa bbq, blueberry lemon zest pi, hershey kisses - from candy corn to candy cane, and so much more good eating, including the many usual suspects. reading a lot more than I realized: ranging from letters to malcolm to my friend is sad. And of course book series of the yr- tales of the kingdom. music: the (jj mix) cd of year, hillsong videos. movies- from north korea movies to prince caspian. traveling: minny twice, va many, Chicago, Rhode Island, maine, nyc, beach, dc, princeton, potter co. but "scott miller may belong in PHL". fav family fivesome was key- ungame, heart motives, dinners, get togethers, keller, nba,. . .
6 weddings, 2 funerals, bike troubles galore, soccer slump, more worship drama, 2 is more than 0, going crazy, church harangue, feeling bad, 3 championship losses (2 casa, 1 lza), unfun health visits, blasted feelings, central park exploring, SHASAM, banana pancakes, parade, running the loop, epic smath, wns, seeing 22 shooting stars one night, 23 total, cupcake dunk, the super catch, heart issues, LiNK, best fireworks ever, tent adventures and games, 2 fists to my paradigm, John Legend in the rain, ice cream festival, church double church, indian queen, drinking while walking, texts on the hour, ridiculous weather forecasts, king's x, exasperation, don't stress don't stress don’t stress, you do it!, fun at work- bike and otherwise, family histories, dunk hoops, skedoosh!, say something about policemen, joy joy joy, support group, more exciting births, dedications, baptisms, birthdays; rlc reunion, seeing former kids baptized and teaching my Sunday school class!, friends visiting or returning from afar, sg, playing with kids, Jesus storybook Bible, keller in philly, great friend times, DQ, dolce, many sermons, satsuma and mello, flower show, ice cream guessing, smiling so much, catching leaves, franklin institute, magic, treehouses and hammocks, sunrise, TOTC, plateau, clark park easter, amazing bday of philly friends food and 31 mello's!, orchid, big slide, self photos, the swings, ski trip pizza hut, may wknd in VA, running through fountains, going aways and coming backs, starbucks, haverford, lemongrass, letters, ctown, lunchtime stroll, bookstore reading finding studying, south street, the holiday party, always losing, penns landing, dating (i'm bad at it), church cleaning, praying, wording, praising, time together, walks, runs, rides, broken clock, studying late, can't see, sick, fairmount park, art museum, free libr. bkstre, papaya salad, phonecalls, va run playground, basketball, shopping, kfc coupon hunting, moments, glimpses, fridays, romans 8, va trips, reading books aloud, old photos, new photos, faithwalking. realizing redemption is not a one off thing. i need Jesus badly. God's grace is big.
wanting to live by faith not by fear. this despite all its length a song still unfinished. . .2009 here we come, happy new year to all.
29 December 2008 - this life of contradictions
from The Message, "I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. **I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight.** Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud."
26 December 2008 - simple prayer is simple
reading Foster on prayer. good to remember how easy what he calls 'simple prayer' is. and how at whatever stage we are at we can go to Him. even now. without our excuses. with simplicity of heart. and find such love.
25 December 2008 - joy of every longing heart
merry christmas y'all!
it is good- i think- to long for Him to come, to a life that 's been so bethlehem.
"Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee."
14 December 2008 - long time coming
got to hear Ron Sider speak... 4 years after writing about his book here. interesting to hear him speak on microloans. and the call to live more simply so others can simply live.
but even better was praying back from w. phila. not only does He delight in genuine prayers, but i like the much needed activity as well. it is so nice to have the venue to go to Him honestly and know that He understands.
11 December 2008 - we will reap a harvest if we do not give up
time for your at least annual IAWL entry... as we got to watch it while the jovial kids slumbered upstairs.
the sacrifices that made George seem stuck on the hard days, were the same ones that lead to the fruit he could celebrate in the end. this, of course, after realizing that even the ultra hard day could be viewed differently when awakened to life perspective. life is a gift... that sometimes needs to be reopened.
9 December 2008 - and a light unto my path
took a few days to read over the longest psalm, and it was good to dwell on... such words of road signs, and the way of life.
"build me up again by your Word. grace me with your clear revelation... i'm wiser than the wise old sages simply by doing what you tell me." the Message
6 December 2008 - welcome introductions
baby eliza is here! got to visit my newest neice, journeying through the snow. and a mello yello was pre-chilled waiting for me with the grandparents...
1 December 2008 - easier to be a baller than to be taller
there are some desires we have that it would be hard to do much about. the best example of this might be- wanting to be in the nba. but there are some that are clearly in our hands, that we can do things about. it is frustrating to see others with the same desires make it happen when i can't. but on the flip side, it is encouraging to think about desires- if they are really priorities, do something about it. it can be easy to let the urgent or convenient override, but better to fight for the life you really want.
30 November 2008 - children, heirs, friends. . .
thinking about the impact made by those who choose to pour their life into certain people. not knowing for sure how the choice of investment is made. but realizing grace repeats itself on many levels.
meanwhile, it seems like sin is always settling for less. like insidious pride in a title. when those God bestows are far better. take heirs. heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings... and not servants, but friends if we follow, and who bestowed as such go forth and lay down life for one another.
18 November 2008 - worth the voyage
i would purport that you would question things with kids running crazy, and a 75% cry rate. but as someone said- if nothing frustrates you, you're living a boring christian life.
"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore...
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wider seas Where storms will show your mastery; Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars, We ask You to push back The horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future In strength, courage, hope, and love."
it's always easier to do nothing. or follow our own comforts. but His dreams are so much better, and worth pursuing. and as It says- "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain"
9 November 2008 - miracles
read some of a keller book. he was talking about how Jesus' miracles weren't done to just show capacity, but to invoke worship. and sometimes i need to turn things around- and see the work of God displayed in my life, and give Him worship.
7 November 2008 - broken for good
life conference was about being broken for the city ...2Cor4. what you want to do for others must first happen to you. Jesus said- anyone who wants to come after Him they have to take up their cross and follow after Him.
noone would think to look for treasure in easily breakable vessels used for refuse. and if they wanted to get the treasure out it was easy to break, demolish. sometimes God breaks up our plans, our wills, what we are trusting in. . . to show off the glory of Christ in every area of life.
5 November 2008 - on a handful of fortune
you just happened to be standing there. when it dropped. all sorts of the finest goods off the delivery truck. and as you gather as much as you could hold in your pockets and in your two hands pressed against your chest, you notice the others starting to arrive who heard the din, yet find not much remaining. could you really not share?
31 October 2008 - sparkle parade
everyone was straining to see. there were people (children and adults) on each other's shoulders, people climbing street poles, people on roof decks, looking out windows in every direction you looked... it was a sea of red and anticipation. and then the confetti rained from the sky, covering a city together to celebrate a victory, to watch a team parade down broad st. it was quite a sight to behold. and yet i couldn't help but think, if this is the reception for a winning team, what will it be for a returning King... victorious over the greatest enemy of all. 25 years is indeed a long time to wait. but not compared to millennia. there are ardent fans, but what of those that are giving their lives for the city that is to come. those that didn't just watch from the stands, but actually fought the fight, ran the race, kept the faith, who not just wear the king's colors, but have a crown waiting- and not only for them, but to all who have longed for His appearing.
27 October 2008 - debt collector
i'm sure you're familiar with depictions of those who use rough and threatening tactics to collect outstanding debts, with such ruffians hired specifically because of their size and imposing ability to invoke fear which would get the owed money back sooner. in joseph's day the people gave up all their lands and everything to buy food, becoming indebted to egypt. Jesus told a story of a man who had to be sold along with his family because he was not able to pay the massive debt he owed. but he begged the king, and the king had pity on him and cancelled the debt. what would it be like to be that man? it is one thing to have a debt of ten dollars cancelled, but what of the millions this man owed? but how could it be? the lunch was not free. the debt did have to be paid... but when the debt collector came looking for life and limb, there was One who stood in the way- the King Himself- who was first roughed up, and then cut off from His Family because those He loved had no resources to pay the debt, who had no recourse when the debt collector came. . .
"Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another." Romans 13:8
23 October 2008 - double entendre
the church helps me better understand total depravity.
sermons are helpful. the corinthian church was so bad, but paul loved them so much.
21 October 2008 - dream job update
from one dream job to two. the new one unpaid but with better benefits. funny how life works out (i guess that is why it is called life, it is always moving). already such great moments like singing and dancing to joy, joy, joy that first week of sunday school. pray for me- yet another case where my weakness is going to have to be my strength.
