Early in my journey I wanted, no needed answers. I would read and study a wide variety of topics from numerous authors to find answers. It was a unquenchable thirst to be right, to have answers, and to be able to win any debate that might come my way.
Lately, I’ve grown more
comfortable with mystery.
For example, the Trinity is a huge
mystery. I’ve heard great speak-
ers try to explain it by comparing it
to an egg, to water, and a whole
variety of illustrations.
The kicker for me was when a prominent author and speaker compared it to a pretzel. What??? The Triune God reduced to a Auntie Ann’s pretzel at the mall.
A few years later, I was reading St. Augustine...and was surprised when one of the most influential theologians in A.D. history didn’t even attempt to explain it, but said it was so...it’s a mystery bigger than us...that’s it.
That moment in my journey was so freeing. I didn’t have to completely understand everything about who God is and why He does what he does. He is bigger than me (us). His thoughts are beyond ours.
The arrogance that I displayed in thinking that I could read the “part” of the story that he revealed and from that make an complete and accurate statement about who He is and what He is thinking.
I’M NOT SAYING that we cannot know anything and we are doomed to just bouncing around the waves of culture hoping to catch a glimpse of God through our experiences. I AM SAYING that God has clearly revealed SOME things, and not clearly revealed other things.
I have to accept mystery. When we reduce the gospel to a bridge and the Trinity to a pretzel, then you’ve reduced God down to something that I can understand...if I can understand it all...if it isn’t beyond me to grasp God’s greatness...then He is too small.
Again...I can know what God has plainly revealed. However, I personally think it great arrogance to even begin to fathom the entirety of God’s thinking and the vastness of who He is.
In our world, I (we) so desperately desire to reduce everything to something that we can control. It’s that part of us that wants to be a little god. However, the beauty of God and his pursuit of us (for me) is that he is mysterious. He is bigger than my intellect and all of the worlds intellect put together.
So much of our Christianity is defining who God is. Is He Calvinist? Is he Armenian? Is he coming back when our charts say he will? Or is he beyond us and we are just getting the glimpses of his revelation that he thinks we might be able to handle.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
lovin the church
I'm in love with the church. Sounds crazy I know...but I'm just in love. Can't help it!!!
I know that its not always the prettiest, sometimes it can be flat out ugly...but I still love it.
The church in its plethora of expressions represents God's FBO (Forward Base of Operations) in the world today. It is the church (you and I) that have been commissioned to bring light into the world and to season it with Jesus' redemptive message of grace.
You may have your preferred expression...but no single expression is more important to Christ than the other. Pretty or Ugly (all in the eye of the beholder), Christ sees each the same...His followers living out His teachings to the best of their understanding. (hopefully mature enough to change along the way)
I would agree that there are many who lose sight of the mission and the church becomes all about them, but even the stubborn hard-headed ones are part of His church...He loves them all...I'm learning to love them too. As Rick Warren tweeted the other day..."I love them but I don't LIKE them" is hypocrisy,self-delusion & violates agape. Love covers all sins Prv.10:12" So...I love the church! It's not perfect, but it is the vehicle that to which God has entrusted His message of love, grace, and forgiveness.
I love the church...even the parts that used to frustrate me and drive me nuts...growing up I suppose. ;You never know...I may be the ugly one...after all.
I know that its not always the prettiest, sometimes it can be flat out ugly...but I still love it.
The church in its plethora of expressions represents God's FBO (Forward Base of Operations) in the world today. It is the church (you and I) that have been commissioned to bring light into the world and to season it with Jesus' redemptive message of grace.
You may have your preferred expression...but no single expression is more important to Christ than the other. Pretty or Ugly (all in the eye of the beholder), Christ sees each the same...His followers living out His teachings to the best of their understanding. (hopefully mature enough to change along the way)
I would agree that there are many who lose sight of the mission and the church becomes all about them, but even the stubborn hard-headed ones are part of His church...He loves them all...I'm learning to love them too. As Rick Warren tweeted the other day..."I love them but I don't LIKE them" is hypocrisy,self-delusion & violates agape. Love covers all sins Prv.10:12" So...I love the church! It's not perfect, but it is the vehicle that to which God has entrusted His message of love, grace, and forgiveness.
I love the church...even the parts that used to frustrate me and drive me nuts...growing up I suppose. ;You never know...I may be the ugly one...after all.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tolerance...
What do you tolerate? Well...at first glance, the list may seem rather small, but look deeper.
How about the crack in the mirror? Or...the 3 emails in your inbox that you don't want to deal with or feel to guilty to delete? There is always that conversation you have been avoiding. If you pulled out a pen and a legal pad and started listing all of the little and big things you tolerate...I think you would be surprised.
The truth is that all of those little things eat at you day after day after day. They seem harmless...they are so little and their bites don't even hurt. However, one day you wake up stressed out of your mind realizing that a chunk of your heart, soul, and life is missing. The number one question I get asked is, "How did this happen?"
You kept tolerating things until your boat sunk!! That simple...you allowed to many passengers on board.
So...what can you do? It is really simple. Grab that pen and paper and start writing. Keep writing...and when you wake up tomorrow write some more. When you wake up the day after tomorrow...write some more. You need to make an exhaustive list of all of the things, people, circumstances, etc that you are tolerating in your life.
Then once you recover from the shock of seeing all the junk you've been carrying around...take a deep breath. Now, pull out the pen...yes...once again. Right next to each item try to identify how long it would take you to solve and/or eliminate this tolerance. My guess is that there are some that you can just scratch out and decide not to worry about anymore. Others can be checked off this weekend. In the next 90 days, you could probably downsize your tolerations to a manageable few items.
If you follow these steps...you will have opened a lot of emotional real estate in your life. All of the items on your list will not be easy and there are a few that will stay listed forever. But, if you can cut the items you tolerate in half...you will regain chunks of life you don't even realize that you've lost.
For more information...find a Life Coach to help you walk through the process...or email me...happy "no more tolerating."
How about the crack in the mirror? Or...the 3 emails in your inbox that you don't want to deal with or feel to guilty to delete? There is always that conversation you have been avoiding. If you pulled out a pen and a legal pad and started listing all of the little and big things you tolerate...I think you would be surprised.
The truth is that all of those little things eat at you day after day after day. They seem harmless...they are so little and their bites don't even hurt. However, one day you wake up stressed out of your mind realizing that a chunk of your heart, soul, and life is missing. The number one question I get asked is, "How did this happen?"
You kept tolerating things until your boat sunk!! That simple...you allowed to many passengers on board.
So...what can you do? It is really simple. Grab that pen and paper and start writing. Keep writing...and when you wake up tomorrow write some more. When you wake up the day after tomorrow...write some more. You need to make an exhaustive list of all of the things, people, circumstances, etc that you are tolerating in your life.
Then once you recover from the shock of seeing all the junk you've been carrying around...take a deep breath. Now, pull out the pen...yes...once again. Right next to each item try to identify how long it would take you to solve and/or eliminate this tolerance. My guess is that there are some that you can just scratch out and decide not to worry about anymore. Others can be checked off this weekend. In the next 90 days, you could probably downsize your tolerations to a manageable few items.
If you follow these steps...you will have opened a lot of emotional real estate in your life. All of the items on your list will not be easy and there are a few that will stay listed forever. But, if you can cut the items you tolerate in half...you will regain chunks of life you don't even realize that you've lost.
For more information...find a Life Coach to help you walk through the process...or email me...happy "no more tolerating."
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Life is...
Just the other day, I celebrated the one-year anniversary of the scariest day of my life. It was the day that I came face to face with my own mortality. When the doctor said that he was afraid I wouldn’t be able to see my children grow up or my wife grow (gracefully) old…it scared me.
This is what I’ve seen and learned:
Life is simple
Taking a Sabbath is not just essential…it is necessary. (a Sabbath is not the same thing as a day off, it is a refocusing of life and long date with the Father)
Friends are important…but they don’t always stick around...
Life Is Simple…it’s about passionately serving God in whatever my circumstance…doing all that I can to love and provide for my family (even working for min. wage)…taking deep breaths and enjoying the beauty around me…walking with God or enjoying a cup of coffee with Him.
Life is simple…
The rebirth of a blog
I've waited patiently for this day for a few months. The day when foreignculture would rise out of the ashes.
Today is that day...I have some things to say...and a journey to share!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
listen, leave, trust...
Not a day goes by when you don't hear of someone talking about praying or someone (maybe ourselves) asking for or promising to pray. Proverbs 28 has an interesting statement to make about prayer..."9 God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to him."
So unless our prayers are a conversation that involves us listening to what God says and what he has written down for us our prayers are not much more than an attempt at self-medication.
One of the biggest hindrances to having a two-sided conversation with God, is that we do not want to deal with the brutal honest truth about who we are on a heart level. 13 You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them. You cannot expect your relationship with God to grow or move forward if you have sin in your life that you haven't admitted and left.
What is your whitewashed sin? Find someone you trust...tell them. James says, that we move forward in our journey by confessing our sins one to another. So tell...someone you trust, and be smart about it. Foolishness is blabbering it to the wrong person. Anyway, confess it to a trusted friend / mentor, confess it to God...and move on. Give that someone permission to kick you in the middle (if you're a guy) if needed to keep you moving on.
Until your relationship is moving forward, you are merely grasping for hope and that leads to trouble. You don't need to grasp...you need to a foundation / relationship to trust in. 25 A grasping person stirs up trouble, but trust in God brings a sense of well-being.
(my prayer) Father, still my heart to listen. Bring to my attention the whitewashed fortresses in my heart, and allow me to move from where I am (grasping) to living a life built on consistent trust in you.
Chris -
So unless our prayers are a conversation that involves us listening to what God says and what he has written down for us our prayers are not much more than an attempt at self-medication.
One of the biggest hindrances to having a two-sided conversation with God, is that we do not want to deal with the brutal honest truth about who we are on a heart level. 13 You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them. You cannot expect your relationship with God to grow or move forward if you have sin in your life that you haven't admitted and left.
What is your whitewashed sin? Find someone you trust...tell them. James says, that we move forward in our journey by confessing our sins one to another. So tell...someone you trust, and be smart about it. Foolishness is blabbering it to the wrong person. Anyway, confess it to a trusted friend / mentor, confess it to God...and move on. Give that someone permission to kick you in the middle (if you're a guy) if needed to keep you moving on.
Until your relationship is moving forward, you are merely grasping for hope and that leads to trouble. You don't need to grasp...you need to a foundation / relationship to trust in. 25 A grasping person stirs up trouble, but trust in God brings a sense of well-being.
(my prayer) Father, still my heart to listen. Bring to my attention the whitewashed fortresses in my heart, and allow me to move from where I am (grasping) to living a life built on consistent trust in you.
Chris -
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Don't Brag
Proverbs 27:1 Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.
It shocks me at how often I'm deciding and announcing what I'll be doing tomorrow when I don't even have control over today. God desires for us to follow Him on a moment by moment basis, yet I tend to want the highlight version.
The movie "Click It" starring Adam Sandler highlights this reality for me. So often, I just want to jump ahead to the planned future (my plans). It is especially tempting when I'm going through something that really sucks. However; it is God who decides human destiny, and it is God who knows what I need to become the follower of Jesus that he desires to shape me into.
Father, teach me to live more in the moment with you. I tend to get so ahead of what you are doing in and around me right now. Especially with my kids...don't let me get ahead of myself and forget to teach them to follow your ways...don't allow me to get so far ahead that they miss out on seeing me live it out in front of them in the now.
James 4 :12 says, "God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others? Nothing but a Wisp of Fog 13 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” 14 You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. 15 Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” 16 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil."
It shocks me at how often I'm deciding and announcing what I'll be doing tomorrow when I don't even have control over today. God desires for us to follow Him on a moment by moment basis, yet I tend to want the highlight version.
The movie "Click It" starring Adam Sandler highlights this reality for me. So often, I just want to jump ahead to the planned future (my plans). It is especially tempting when I'm going through something that really sucks. However; it is God who decides human destiny, and it is God who knows what I need to become the follower of Jesus that he desires to shape me into.
Father, teach me to live more in the moment with you. I tend to get so ahead of what you are doing in and around me right now. Especially with my kids...don't let me get ahead of myself and forget to teach them to follow your ways...don't allow me to get so far ahead that they miss out on seeing me live it out in front of them in the now.
James 4 :12 says, "God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others? Nothing but a Wisp of Fog 13 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” 14 You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. 15 Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” 16 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil."
Monday, March 16, 2009
Left Turn
Pray for El Salvador! After several years of stability and headed in a positive democratic direction, it has taken a 90 degree turn to the left.
Sunday, Salvadorians voted in a socialist president that represented the party of the guerrillas that drug the country through a horrendous civil war in the 80's.
The Americas project has been researching some partnerships in El Salvador, it remains to be unseen how this will effect those opportunities.
People will always be disappointed when they put their hope in governments and political parties...our hope should be in Jesus.
Sunday, Salvadorians voted in a socialist president that represented the party of the guerrillas that drug the country through a horrendous civil war in the 80's.
The Americas project has been researching some partnerships in El Salvador, it remains to be unseen how this will effect those opportunities.
People will always be disappointed when they put their hope in governments and political parties...our hope should be in Jesus.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
life interrupted...pt2
(disclaimer...all this happened mid January and I'm recovering quite well)
After the initial interruption, 5 long dreary days tick by. Test after test, scan after scan...nothing. The relief that nothing serious had been found is deadened by the question, what's wrong?
As if the unknown wasn't unbearable enough, my thoughts flatlined. Just blank stares at the wall or ceiling in front of me...the best moments were when I could just dose off to sleep. After the initial shock I had hoped / assumed that there would be some profound life altering thoughts or that I would gain some profound spiritual insight...but nothing.
The only thoughts I had were concern for my family and the slow realization that I was no longer immortal. Up to that point...death and sickness was something others experienced.
Little did I realize at the time that those two (simple) thoughts would begin an earth shattering transformation in my life.
After the initial interruption, 5 long dreary days tick by. Test after test, scan after scan...nothing. The relief that nothing serious had been found is deadened by the question, what's wrong?
As if the unknown wasn't unbearable enough, my thoughts flatlined. Just blank stares at the wall or ceiling in front of me...the best moments were when I could just dose off to sleep. After the initial shock I had hoped / assumed that there would be some profound life altering thoughts or that I would gain some profound spiritual insight...but nothing.
The only thoughts I had were concern for my family and the slow realization that I was no longer immortal. Up to that point...death and sickness was something others experienced.
Little did I realize at the time that those two (simple) thoughts would begin an earth shattering transformation in my life.
Friday, February 06, 2009
pardon the interruption
Life has been interrupted. Like a barking dog at 2am after a long days work, January interrupted my comfortable existence.
After weeks of wiping away a runny cold, and feeling the low rider vibrations in my chest every time a I took a breath; I went to the local hospital. Not like they could really help me. The place looked like Trading Spaces on the first morning. So much for a bad economy...these guys have money...o...that's right...they lied to their creditors, which has nothing to do with this story.
The ole doctor routine kicks in, they jam a prob under my tongue and strap a velcro cuff around my arm. Beep...Beep...Beep... ??? "Let's try the other arm." Beep...Beep...Beep... "No way!" Let's get him back to the room and have one of the nurses check it. Beep...Beep...Beep... ??? "Get another machine!" Beep...Beep...Beep... ??? "Find me a manual cuff." "Umm Umm...286/190?" "I'll be right back." "Mr Alford, we are going to have to move you to another room, we are not setup to handle someone with your blood pressure."
Wheelchair arrives, off we go...TRAUMA UNIT??? Trauma Doc opens the curtain, "Mr Alford, If you want to see your kids next Christmas (only 10 months away), you may want to let us admit you and find out what is going on with your blood pressure." ???OK???
Let's just say...life has been interrupted.
After weeks of wiping away a runny cold, and feeling the low rider vibrations in my chest every time a I took a breath; I went to the local hospital. Not like they could really help me. The place looked like Trading Spaces on the first morning. So much for a bad economy...these guys have money...o...that's right...they lied to their creditors, which has nothing to do with this story.
The ole doctor routine kicks in, they jam a prob under my tongue and strap a velcro cuff around my arm. Beep...Beep...Beep... ??? "Let's try the other arm." Beep...Beep...Beep... "No way!" Let's get him back to the room and have one of the nurses check it. Beep...Beep...Beep... ??? "Get another machine!" Beep...Beep...Beep... ??? "Find me a manual cuff." "Umm Umm...286/190?" "I'll be right back." "Mr Alford, we are going to have to move you to another room, we are not setup to handle someone with your blood pressure."
Wheelchair arrives, off we go...TRAUMA UNIT??? Trauma Doc opens the curtain, "Mr Alford, If you want to see your kids next Christmas (only 10 months away), you may want to let us admit you and find out what is going on with your blood pressure." ???OK???
Let's just say...life has been interrupted.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Day of the Kings
As a family, we celebrate the day of the kings. On the 12th day of Christmas, Jan 6, some Latino cultures celebrate the giving of gifts to coincide with the day the kings gave their gifts to the baby Jesus.
A few years ago in the attempt to get out of the commercialized nightmare that Christmas can become...we made a switch. On Christmas eve, we open the gifts given to us by relatives and friends. On Christmas day, we spend the day reflecting on the Christmas story, Jesus, and family. Most years we even bake a cake...it helps our youngest to grasp what's going on. Some years we bake tons of cookies and deliver them to people who have to work on Christmas.
On the day of the kings, we recount the story and share gifts like the wise men / kings did with Jesus. Of course, we also throw in a feast. Most years it's crab legs, shrimp, and steak. This year Kristina surprised me with oysters as well.
Tonight was the night! We fed ourselves like kings, then we shared gifts. The cool part is I don't feel that I'm overshadowing the purpose of Christmas. And Christmas goes from being 1 big day to 12 days of celebrating the arrival of our Savior.
A great by product is that our family buys all of its gifts at around 50% off the week after Christmas.
All in all, we are trying to create signposts throughout the year that point us back to God. There is a lot of time to wander with just Easter and Christmas.
A few years ago in the attempt to get out of the commercialized nightmare that Christmas can become...we made a switch. On Christmas eve, we open the gifts given to us by relatives and friends. On Christmas day, we spend the day reflecting on the Christmas story, Jesus, and family. Most years we even bake a cake...it helps our youngest to grasp what's going on. Some years we bake tons of cookies and deliver them to people who have to work on Christmas.
On the day of the kings, we recount the story and share gifts like the wise men / kings did with Jesus. Of course, we also throw in a feast. Most years it's crab legs, shrimp, and steak. This year Kristina surprised me with oysters as well.
Tonight was the night! We fed ourselves like kings, then we shared gifts. The cool part is I don't feel that I'm overshadowing the purpose of Christmas. And Christmas goes from being 1 big day to 12 days of celebrating the arrival of our Savior.
A great by product is that our family buys all of its gifts at around 50% off the week after Christmas.
All in all, we are trying to create signposts throughout the year that point us back to God. There is a lot of time to wander with just Easter and Christmas.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Top 10 List #2 (The Positive in 08)
10. I learned that I need a spiritual rhythm in my life. So I've adapted the liturgical calendar to provide spiritual markers to keep me from wandering.
9. My son (Connor) is becoming a man...time with him is precious and running out.
8. Ministry isn't what it is cracked up to be, but being a spiritual leader is an exhilarating and challenging experience.
7. The point of prayer isn't communication it is communion.
6. Eugene Petterson's writings have been a God-send.
5. I adjusted to life with good friends...it's been a long-time since I've let people in too close.
4. Christmas can actually be fun and great...Scrooge no more!
3. Speaking truth in peoples lives is tough, but it is freeing when you say what God has put on our heart.
2. God provision is amazing.
1. My wife is the most amazing woman in the world, and I married way out of my league
9. My son (Connor) is becoming a man...time with him is precious and running out.
8. Ministry isn't what it is cracked up to be, but being a spiritual leader is an exhilarating and challenging experience.
7. The point of prayer isn't communication it is communion.
6. Eugene Petterson's writings have been a God-send.
5. I adjusted to life with good friends...it's been a long-time since I've let people in too close.
4. Christmas can actually be fun and great...Scrooge no more!
3. Speaking truth in peoples lives is tough, but it is freeing when you say what God has put on our heart.
2. God provision is amazing.
1. My wife is the most amazing woman in the world, and I married way out of my league
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Top 10 List #1 (Negative Things Learned)
This is the first of several top 10 Lists I plan to publish...this will let me get a lot out of my system in a efficient manner.
(These reflect things learned over the last 10 years of church leadership, or relearned this year) (If you are bothered by any of them...spend some time soul searching before calling...lol)
1. When someone says that its a 99.9% to 0.1 % that something will not happen...prepare to get the snot beat out of you with a pitiful 0.1%.
2. When people promise...get it in writing...then get a witness...so you will have someone to talk to when it doesn't happen.
3. How ironic that my generation can deconstruct centuries of Christianity without giving a dime or an hour, but call the sincere actions of those who give and volunteer at Sunday School legalistic??
4. It amazes me how the internal system that gets us to school and work on time, and helps us not forget the most remote facts...never seems to work on Sundays or when it their time for nursery.
5. Normally, those who are stoked about the vision always have something else more important to do, and those who rarely speak get the vision done!
6. What is committed to at a planning meeting can almost always be assumed to be a momentary lapse in judgement!
7. Most people of my generation are all about a relationship with God, but don't bother to explore how God defines that...they assume they can define it for themselves.
8. If traditional church is so wrong...what do we have to show for all our right?
9. A lot of people say. "I'm all about freeing people to embrace Jesus...as long as you don't ask me to (insert...pretty much whatever)".
10. I've learned that you value what you put your time and money into; therefore, the church normally isn't worth more than cable.
(These reflect things learned over the last 10 years of church leadership, or relearned this year) (If you are bothered by any of them...spend some time soul searching before calling...lol)
1. When someone says that its a 99.9% to 0.1 % that something will not happen...prepare to get the snot beat out of you with a pitiful 0.1%.
2. When people promise...get it in writing...then get a witness...so you will have someone to talk to when it doesn't happen.
3. How ironic that my generation can deconstruct centuries of Christianity without giving a dime or an hour, but call the sincere actions of those who give and volunteer at Sunday School legalistic??
4. It amazes me how the internal system that gets us to school and work on time, and helps us not forget the most remote facts...never seems to work on Sundays or when it their time for nursery.
5. Normally, those who are stoked about the vision always have something else more important to do, and those who rarely speak get the vision done!
6. What is committed to at a planning meeting can almost always be assumed to be a momentary lapse in judgement!
7. Most people of my generation are all about a relationship with God, but don't bother to explore how God defines that...they assume they can define it for themselves.
8. If traditional church is so wrong...what do we have to show for all our right?
9. A lot of people say. "I'm all about freeing people to embrace Jesus...as long as you don't ask me to (insert...pretty much whatever)".
10. I've learned that you value what you put your time and money into; therefore, the church normally isn't worth more than cable.
Friday, September 26, 2008
presidential debate idea
I've always been a political junkie, but this year I keep throwing up in my mouth at the outlandish lies that each candidate wants me to digest. So I've come up with what I think would be the greatest presidential debate of this election.
No it's not a sumo style wrestling match...it's a tad bit simpler.
Each candidate should be required to watch their own TV ads, and the ads of the groups that support them and defend them. Give the owner of the ad 5 minutes to explain it, then the opponent 5 minutes to defend himself. After they get done, have a panel of fact checkers lay out the truth in the ad, the hypocrisy, and the lies.
Anyway, I think it would make for some interesting TV.
No it's not a sumo style wrestling match...it's a tad bit simpler.
Each candidate should be required to watch their own TV ads, and the ads of the groups that support them and defend them. Give the owner of the ad 5 minutes to explain it, then the opponent 5 minutes to defend himself. After they get done, have a panel of fact checkers lay out the truth in the ad, the hypocrisy, and the lies.
Anyway, I think it would make for some interesting TV.
not homeowner improvements
This morning I was reading Luke 6 and verses 47-49 jumped out at me. I grabbed "The Message" and found these words: "These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. the are foundation words, words to build a life on."
In my own life, many times the words of Jesus can digress to being just additions to my already established life. However, you and I should constantly ask ourselves, "Are Jesus' words foundational or just additional luggage for the journey?" I think that to often his words are mere trinkets that will fill our shelves with but have little to do with the core of who we are and the destination of our journey.
Luke 6: 47-49 "Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." (esv)
In my own life, many times the words of Jesus can digress to being just additions to my already established life. However, you and I should constantly ask ourselves, "Are Jesus' words foundational or just additional luggage for the journey?" I think that to often his words are mere trinkets that will fill our shelves with but have little to do with the core of who we are and the destination of our journey.
Luke 6: 47-49 "Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
update
It seems strange to me how a place once so familiar can become so awkward. The past few days have been spent trying to remember how to do some of this blogger stuff. I think that I've got it working.
You will still be able to access my blog through ChrisAlford.org or you can go directly to ForeignCulture.tv.
You will still be able to access my blog through ChrisAlford.org or you can go directly to ForeignCulture.tv.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
back to the future...
Many moons ago, I discovered Blogger and became an active blogger. It was early 2000 when I first experienced the thrill of blogging.
However, over time it became a ranting place. Life took over, and blogging had to take a back seat. I've attempted several comebacks, but nothing seemed quite right. But, I'm returning to the blog address where it all started and we are launching all over again.
Welcome to ForeignCulture!
I'll be customizing the blog as I go...
However, over time it became a ranting place. Life took over, and blogging had to take a back seat. I've attempted several comebacks, but nothing seemed quite right. But, I'm returning to the blog address where it all started and we are launching all over again.
Welcome to ForeignCulture!
I'll be customizing the blog as I go...
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