There is beauty in the world: Yosemite
I've been reading again through one of the books that changed my life, Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel. One of his chapters talks about wonder, and he quotes Abraham Joshua Heschel, who said on his deathbed, "Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me."
Both Heschel and Manning lament that, "As civilization advances, [our] sense of wonder declines." Because we get so caught up in our plans and projects, our busyness and activity, with ourselves, that we forget to take time to bask, to celebrate God's glorious creation--"We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder."
The video below is an absolutely stunning time-lapse video from Yosemite, taken by Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty. It was a reminder to me that there is so much beauty in the world, if I'll only take a second to step back, open my eyes, and look up.
A trip to Yosemite has definitely been added (bold and underlined) to my bucket list.
I love The District Church
This past Sunday's service at The District Church was a simultaneously humbling and inspiring experience. We're in the middle of our "My Most Important Question" series, where we talk about some of our biggest issues. Part of the reasoning is that we don't want to be a church that tells its people to leave their questions at the door. That's not what God asks us to do--the Psalms are full of honesty, even brazen honesty. God doesn't get worried when we voice our questions, our doubts, our struggles; all he asks is that we voice them to him, that we include him in our conversation, that we're in relationship with him.
And so this past Sunday, Blythe, Bruce and Lindsay shared their stories, respectively: "What if I'm not doing enough?", "What grace is there for those who have not met Jesus Christ?", and "What is freedom?" And what stories. Their honesty, their passion, and the clear evidence of the Spirit of God clearly at work in their lives were such an encouragement to me. God has brought an amazing band of people to this church, and God is doing an amazing work in the life of every person that calls him- or herself a part of our community.
So grateful to be on staff at The District Church. All glory to God.
You can listen to the podcast online here.
Certain truths don’t change
A reminder for Monday morning:
certain truths remain unchanged: God remains sovereign, grace beats sin, prayers get heard, the Bible endures, heaven’s mercies spring up new every morning, the cross still testifies to the power of sacrificial love, the tomb is still empty, and the kingdom that Jesus announced is still expanding without needing to be bailed out by human efforts.
John Ortberg, The Me I Want To Be, 242
More Deadly Viper wrap-ups
This is not the end; this is just the beginning. May we continue building up the Body of Christ in a way that honors the God we serve and follow as well as our brothers and sisters:
- Eugene Cho: "reconciliation and unity need to be steadfast and intentional pursuits."
- Ed Gilbreath: "This is a wonderful start, but it will not be easy."
- Soong-Chan Rah: "There is one less expression of a stereotype and cultural insensitivity out there that you will have to deal with. There are many others, but at least there is one less."
- Ken Fong: "I believe it is paramount that a book about that topic should not in any way, shape, or form exclude female Christian leaders from the conversation."
- Helen Lee: "we can never really know what another person ’s life experience is or has been. That, however, does not mean that we shouldn’t strive to understand."
- A joint letter to Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite, the authors, and Zondervan: "May this be just the beginning of all our continued efforts to deepen our understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of God’s people."