“The God of the universe - the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and e-minor, loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing, love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.” — Francis Chan (via cafespirit)
(Source: deebella123, via brilliantlens)
“Being “authentic” is no excuse for being vulgar.” — Kevin DeYoung
[video]
“Courage is confused with picking up arms and cowardice is confused with laying them down.” — Mitch Albom (via quote-book)
(via think-react)
“I have resolved to pray more and pray always, to pray in all places where quietness inviteth, in the house, on the highway and on the street; and to know no street or passage in this city that may not witness that I have not forgotten God…. I purpose to take occasion of praying upon the sight of any church which I may pass, that God may be worshipped there in spirit, and that souls may be saved there; to pray daily for my sick patients and for the patients of other physicians; at my entrance into any home to say, “May the peace of God abide here”; after hearing a sermon, to pray for a blessing on God’s truth, and upon the messenger; upon the sight of a beautiful person to bless God for His creatures, to pray for the beauty of such an one’s soul, that God may enrich her with inward graces, and that the outward and inward may correspond; upon the sight of a deformed person, to pray God to give them wholeness of soul, and by and by to give them the beauty of the resurrection.” —
Sir Thomas Browne, beloved physician in Norwich AD1605
found in private papers (i.e. a journal of sorts) after his death
I have this friend. We’ve been together for quite some time now. As friends that is. Shared many experiences together. Seen many things. Heard many things. Done many things. We don’t always see eye-to-eye… but that’s personality I guess. Regardless of disagreements or inconveniences (which are surprisingly seldom), I consider him one of my true friends—and ”friend” isn’t a word I toss around lightly.
One of my favorite recurring interactions with him involve our conversations about heaven or the “new creation.” I can remember sitting on a couch for quite some time musing about eternal life after the last day and saying, “When we play soccer, how will we pick which team Jesus is on?”
I guess I think about the new creation often. More than once per week, but probably not every day. And I look forward to it. Greatly.
I’ve discovered something further about myself lately; perhaps it isn’t so much discovery as it is honing. And what have I honed? Discovery.
I love discovering new things. Learning. Experiencing. In books, but everywhere else too.
And I want to be able to saddle up on a stallion and travel through miles of hills. I want to discover mountains with ravines and lakes in between. I want to climb trees and hop dangerously to another. I want to boulder rocks, and drink water from a cactus. I want adventure.
And I wonder… in the new creation, when Christ remakes the world, when he fashions hills and valleys and deserts and gardens anew, will he allow me roam across new earth for a year or two? Taking along with me my best friend who has an eye for beauty and the most curious personality I know. Inevitably, I would come across several others who had the same mind to discover pristine creation. We would light a fire at night and tell grand tales of the magnificent creation of our God. And what’s more, we would tell of the magnificent Creator, and the wondrous person he is. We would each explain the story of how the great Redeemer took a grand adventure to earth to rescue his bride. And how he rescued each of us individually-corporately. We would worship our God.
god is love.: Conversations With the Person In the Mirror. -
I didn’t see you today, I waited on that park bench. The one with the perfect view of the pond with no fish in it, just a body of water filled with plants, but what beautiful flowers grow by the bank. I waited for hours that turned into days. And Now that I think of it I haven’t seen you in…
“Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you have morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic.he has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth and the other in fairyland.” — G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (via riayn)
Sitting at a Starbucks waiting for someone to begin a meeting.
Across the intersection, on the opposite corner sits a church building.
My guess is that more people walk in the doors of this Starbucks on any given day than walk through the doors of that building Sunday on Easter.
Why?