Oh Sweet!

They are doing Stranger Than Fiction Friday. Two of my favorite movies of last year. These people are on to something at Mars Hill. Pretty shrewd those folk. Indeed. I absolutely love movies. I do.

Film and Theology-The Prestige

This is an awesome audio clip from Mars Hill. This pastor from Mars Hill was touched by the Prestige in the same way I was. Film is subjective, but he really gets it! And if you do, there is much to think about in the Prestige.

I have this idea that everyone watches movies in this way, and yet I don't think most people do. What a fun, engaging talk.

The Prestige was never about the ending. It's about the ideas underneath. But no matter what you thought about the movie, his words on film and theology at the beginning are cool.

Sorry, as I write this, I'm listening, and I just jumped in the air, and clapped my hands in glee. I see why I love this movie so much. Even more than I initially thought. It encapsulates so much of my sin.

Wow. Oh goodness. I didn't even pick up this: "Even manipulating your own diary to fool yourself." Nice. What a great movie, and a beautiful message.

Check it out here.

Day By Day

As a heads up, if you want a blessing, head over to P to the Likens blog. It's quite a project he has going over there. It's full of blessed transparency, thoughtful insight, and organized messages for knowing more of God. It's a blessing to see all the Lord is doing in Philip's life.

The Lost, The Poor, The Homeless

In reading Ephesians, God sent me to Isaiah, and into a passage I could not shake:

Isaiah 58:6-12

"Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?

Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from
your own flesh?

Then your light will break out
like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily
spring forth;
And your righteousness will go
before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say,
'Here I am'

If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and
speaking wickedness,
And if you give yourself to the
hungry
And satisfy the desire of the
afflicted,

Then your light will rise in
darkness
And your gloom will become like
midday.

And the Lord will continually
guide you,
And satisfy your desire in
scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered
garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Those from among you will rebuild
the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old
foundations;
And you will be called the
repairer of the breach,

The restorer of the streets in
which to dwell."

So many, many things in that.

When I fast, why do I do it? For what? Is it to loosen the bonds of wickedness? Is it to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, or just most of them? Even if I leave one yoke, I am in bondage I should not be in. And what about this: Is it to divide my bread with the hungry? Is is to bring the homeless poor into my house, to clothe the naked, and not to hide from my own flesh?

Ha! I don't think so. Here it is, laid out: I just don't have an overwhelming heart for the lost. I don't. And that leaves me with this: Where is the fruit? Why don't I have a burden for the poor? I'm so content with my happy life, I leave no room for others. If I do, it is for my closest friends, not those who I don't know. This is just the complete truth of my life right now. I cannot sugarcoat it.

So, I am begging God to give me a heart for the lost. As I wrestle, I come face to face with this absence of love in my life.

But what if I fast for these things? What if I beg God for these things? Isaiah says things that I cannot comprehend with my mind. Earth shattering, glorious, beautiful, redemptive blessings.

"Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily
spring forth;

And your righeousness will go before you;
THE GLORY OF THE LORD WILL BE YOUR REAR GUARD. (my emphasis)

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say,
'Here I am."

Hahaha...that just makes me giddy. The Glory of the Lord will by my rear guard? Talk about an action hero. Ya'll just wait until I get that backup. Wow. I will cry, and He will hear me. Mercy. Amazing.

What about this: What if I stop pointing my finger at outside circumstances and people? What if I remove the yoke of the passive heart from my midst? What if what flows out of my heart is not wickedness, but, "good treasure." (Matt. 12:34-35/Matt. 15:15-20)

What if God rips my reliance on people and things away from me with the sweetest mercy in the world, and bends my knees so that I can rest my head in his lap?

What if through this fasting, the Lord has me give myself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted?

"Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.

And the Lord will continually
guide you,
And satisfy your desire in
scorched places, (Wow!)

And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered
garden,
And like a spring of water whose
waters do not fail."

Please. Please do this work Father. Oh, what language God uses through His prophet Isaiah! He will satisfy my desire in scorched places? Thank you merciful Father, thank you. All those burnt desires in my soul--the desires in film, in love, in people--they will be satisfied by God for His purposes, and for His glory! Haha...wow.

What a change this would be. I am begging God for it to happen. Please, Father.

Thank God...

...Jesus loves the poor in spirit.

Jesus

When I was reading through Matthew, God showed me Jesus in clear ways I have never seen before. I've read and heard about these things countless times growing up, but never in the way He revealed them to me in my daily dates with Him.

I have never, ever read the Bible like I have these past two weeks. Never. I've been a Christian for over 11 years. He has cut open the eyes of my heart on my dates with Him. I've never met with him like this. I drive home in anticipation over our talks. I have a standing date with God...haha. Amazing. The more I get to know him, the more I shed of pretense. He is just not the person who puts up with it. The more real I am before His throne, the more Grace He shows.

Anyway, in reading Matthew I wrote down five things about Jesus.

Jesus:

1. Is firm/Confrontational when needed
2. Requires abandonement of anything but Him/Complete, consuming devotion
3. Powerful
4. Lives by the Spirit and Prayer
5. Merciful

It seems like these five things populated Matthew. In different ways, and different stories, this is the figure that emerged out of the canvas to me.

Jesus

I've made so many changes in my 28 years of life so others would approve of me, not because of God's glory. I struggle so much with the reality of the biblical Jesus. Sometimes I can only see Him as children's stories. Sometimes, I feel like He is a stumbling block to me. My whole Faith is built around this man I doubt so much. I feel the Holy Spirit so much everyday. I just don't know what to do with the man in the Gospels all the time. I can't wrap my head around Him, and everything that happened when He was on the Earth.

Don't be a stumbling block to me. Please. I don't want to doubt.

Just Thinking

I thought this would be fun to just watch. It mixes Sigur Ros's promo videos director with Snow Patrol, which is a nice combination.

Big Bend

Here are more of the pictures from Big Bend:

Big Bend 2007

And this is a slideshow:

Wow!

Amen! How thankful I am for God's Grace! Wow. That was hard times. God is faithful and a giver of overwhelming blessings. It is amazing to look back and see how He has answered prayers beyond anything I could imagine. My goodness.

"Out of the depths, I have cried to you,
And on the heights you have heard me too."