Living life with steps of faith

A young man sits dreaming out his window, looking out across the sky at the beautiful sunset and the painted sky.  He dreams of another life and as his mind wanders he dreams of receiving recognition, just once, through the attention of the man his people honor with the title of "emperor."  He realizes that it is just a title, and the man is an ordinary man, but the title still makes this man special and revered.  So special, in fact, that they are willing to move walls and structures in order for people to honor this man.  The boy sits and dreams and imagines this "emperor" as weak and dying and in the midst of his great weakness the "emperor"sends a message to this Chinese boy who sits at the edge of the empire.  To the boy, he recognizes the reality that a thing like this would never happen, but in his fantasy he also realizes that a message like this would never make it to him, because he is too unimportant and too far off and there are too many peopl

This has been a week of God sightings. This past Monday immediately after receiving a phone call that could have made me very nervous, a beautiful, bright rainbow with clearly defined colors appeared perfectly framed by my living room window on a sunny day.   It was as if God was saying "I promised" and "It will turn out alright." This morning I had a dream where an acquaintance came to my door and asked me to intercede in prayer for him.   And this past week my mom encouraged me to contact this pastor who lives 1,000 miles away whom I have never met to see if he would be willing to meet.  I contacted a member of his church and within 24 hours I received an email response saying that this pastor will be in my neighborhood this upcoming week and was given his cell number! In none of these circumstances was I expecting to hear from God.  Perhaps I should be listening more!

So this blog is a blog of personal bewilderment.  Everyone is pregnant! Yes, indeed they are.  Let's see: Of my two best female friends - one is already a mother & the other found out this spring that she is carrying a little one in her womb.  I'm so glad that she was the first person to tell me that she was pregnant. Then there is our couple's small group leaders - they are expecting their first. Next up, is my closest guy friend from seminary - his wife is expecting. Then my best guy friend from middle school through high school - his wife is expecting. Then there is one of my closest clergy friends - she is expecting.  In fact she told me she was pregnant when I called her to confirm that she wasn't.  Everyone else was expecting - so why shouldn't she? Then there is one of the women from seminary who was my theology partner.  She recently announced that she is expecting. My roommate from college called to tell me she is pregnant. And today I receive

Since moving to a new region of the country I have been very confused by potlucks.  I can't seem to bring the right item and I sense that in some unknown way I have offended the host/ess in what I have brought.  The potlucks here are different.  At church they have stuffed olives and fancy displays of unrecognizable finger foods.  At parties, everyone seems to bring wine or elegant desserts. Today while doing research on cultural socio-economic class differences I came across a video clip of Dr. Ruby Payne telling about the time she took a casserole dish to a woman who was sick and inadvertently offended the woman.  I guess that the gift was offensive because for this woman and her social-class it wasn't so much about the food as it was about the display of the food, which included the serving dish.  I guess in this cultural setting the dish was also a part of the gift! So, I decided to research the culture of potlucks and I came across this blog  about potluck etiquette.  

Interesting article: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/19437-no-place-like-home

"And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons." - Mark 1:39 This morning I called my good friend who happens to also be a rabbinical student. Like usual, we had a great conversation. We met last year during a summer chaplaincy training program and felt a nearly immediate bond. In some ways it was as if we were the same person, yet formed by different religious traditions. She is the identical twin I never had. In our conversation I realized an area in my life where I have in a way "compromised" my Christian faith. On several recent occasions when I've introduced myself to friends of friends or new neighbors I have only identified myself as a graduate student rather than as a seminary student. I mentioned this in passing during the morning call and my friend kindly called me out on it. I excused myself by saying that people don't expect a rabbi to proselytize while they expect a pastor to try to con

What if the next President announced that all debt held between U.S. citizens is forgiven? What would be the result? (Speaking figuratively)

I have finally come to realize and accept that the answer "both" is a legitamate option!

I just wanted to share that I visited the seminary I will be attending next year and I love it! The people are so kind and friendly and care about ministry. I want to share with you the outline from the Samuel Class I visited. I really enjoyed it: 1. Discussion about how we read a text (out loud, to ourselves, in a group outloud, with character voices, etc.) and how just the reading of the words influences our interpretation. 2. Exegesis of the text. 3. Discussion about the various ways the text has been interpreted through history. Literal, allegorical, etc. Even include recent interpretations in movies. 4. Discussion about how the text can be presented to the church during the worship service. 5. Reflection on how the text speeks to us personally as ministers, what does it say about ministry, leadership, and following God. It was great, we went from studying the text to teaching it to personal life application!!! Yeah! I loved it!

2 Random Thoughts (or at least somewhat random): 1. Couldn't the Q Source be God? 2. Don't sleep with your cell phone, unless you have the time to search for it in the morning.

"May our homes be filled with dancing May our streets be filled with joy May injustice bow to Jesus [I love that line] As the people turn and pray [this one too] From the mountain to the vally [I like to imagine this - people from around the world, every walk of life] Hear our praises rise to You From the heavens to the nations Hear the singing fill the air May our light shine in the darkness As we walk before the cross May Your glory fill the whole earth [Amen] As the water over sea Hallelujah Hallelujah" From the song "Hear Our Praises" by Reuben Morgan published by Hillsong Publishing and Integrity's Hosanna! Music It is nice sometimes to take a step back, and read the lyrics of a song as poetry.

I just thought, "I am getting too old for this [being a student.]"

Okay, as a Communication major I was thrilled when I came across a social map of New Testament relationships. If you are at all interested in the social networking of Biblical characters and communication theory, you've got to check out this site: ESV and mapping NT Social Networks . You might also want to check into Biblical name weights and frequency and dispersion of Biblical name weights . Of if you are interested to find out who the top 50 most important people are in the Bible (based upon the frequency by which they appear) or even the 50 most significant women in the Bible, check out Logos Bible Software Blog . So, for those less interested in the Communication and Social-Relationship Theory aspect of this blog, you might want to check out who Zeruiah is, she seems to be pretty important based upon this research!

I'm cold. I just thought I should share that.