Quotage

"Hello, with a last name like Gundersheim? Jew-town, population: them."
--Tom

"I hate it when I get cold 'cause then I have to pee."
--Caitlin

Conversational Hilarities

I don't remember when these quotes were made, but I just found this posts in my drafts. Enjoy.

"Joy: it's just like syphilis."
--Joel/Me

"They weren't Jews, they were pre-Jews! Kind of like a pre-view, except it was a preview of the Jewish people."
--Me, speaking of Abraham and Sarah

Martin Luther On Fun

Philip Melancthon:
"Today, Martin, you and I will discuss God's governance of the universe,"
Martin Luther:
"No, Philip. Today you and I are going fishing, and we'll leave the governance of the universe to God."

I am very glad that God leaves me to play video games and man the computer lab, write poetry and hammock, enjoy the fellowship of my friends and live, love, laugh while he takes care of the bigger picture.

As a theologically minded control-freak, I constantly want to know what is up when it comes to God's will, direction, and action. But I don't, and since I don't foresee me becoming God anytime in the near eternity, I never will. So I'm going to ride my bike.

What are you glad you can do instead of worrying about God's governance?

[from Jared Wilson via Jason Boyett]

Of Materialism

"Our minds, which are even now only just awakening after years of materialism, are infected with the despair of unbelief. The nightmare of materialism, which has turned the life of the universe into an evil, useless game, is not yet past; it holds the awakening soul in its grasp."
--Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Materialism can be applied to an over desire for pleasure and other sins, yes?

I Am A Fan of Mark Driscoll

Literally. When I was still on Facebook, I was one of his fans. Here's a hilarious passage from Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll. I highly recommend this book:

"I have never had a suicidal thought, but in the darkest seasons of life I do find myself daydreaming about Jesus' return, some people getting loaded into a wood chipper, the curse being lifted, and the never-ending sunshine promised in Revelation so I won't have to put the top back on my Jeep. In the meantime, the feces and the fan are certain to continue interfacing until the day Jesus gets back and cleans up the mess we've all made."

Feces and Fan Interfacing. I love it.

Quotes o' Funnies

"If Tom Gill were in the military, there would be no more wars."
--Tom

"Get food and do your job."
--Joel, in reference to the conflict between ministry and obtaining sustenance

"They weren't being emergent per sé, but they were asking a lot of good questions and coming to not so good conclusions. Which is emergent."
--Me

"Seriously, Rick went to Palestine and came back with like 1,000 camels. And now they're all over the house."
--Joel

Why Reformed?

I understand there is a balance, but I agree with what he said:

"We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoner. But the chief needs of people are still spiritual, and social work is no adequate substitute for evangelism. In fact, efforts to help people will only be truly effective as their hearts and minds are changed by the gospel."
--James Montgomery Boice

Not Sunday Morning Worship

"If you will not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him one day a week."
--A.W. Tozer

True story. Tell your friends. I've found that my unwillingness (subconscious or otherwise) to worship God or give him glory instead of my carnal desires throughout the week can lead to a relative apathy when it "comes time to 'really' worship Him" on Sunday morning.

Salt and Light

"You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the world."
—Jesus, Matthew 5:13-14"

"So Jesus calls his disciples to exert a double influence on the secular community, a negative influence by arresting its decay and a positive influence by bringing light into its darkness. For it is one thing to stop the spread of evil; it is another to promote the spread of truth, beauty and goodness."
—John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on The Mount

Quotes from the Night of Anything Goes

Just some quotes that came up the night that Chris, Thom, Joel and I went to go see Anything Goes.

At the show:

"Old people--they know when things end"
--Chris

At Waffle House:

"You're six-foot-cries-a-lot."
--Thom
"I'm six foot'll-cut-your-throat-with-this-menu."
--Chris

"You starin' at my woman!?"
--Thom
"No, I'm staring at her goatee."
--Me

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

The following letter was written by a young pastor in Zimbabwe who was later martyred for his faith, taken from the book The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning:

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made--I'm a disciple of his. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with love living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bough, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must keep going until he comes, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until he stops me. And, when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.

Recent Quotes

"I don't know what the big deal is: 2,000 years ago, everyone was wearing dresses."
--Eddie, in a class discussion of gender issues

"I can't hear you, I've got pepper in my teeth."
--Josh

"Basically all John Donne was trying to do was to get in her petticoats."
--Me, about Donne's poem "The Flea"

Perilous Sympathy

"It is perilously easy to have amazing sympathy with God's truth and remain in sin."
-- Oswald Chambers

Oh, how easy it is.

Am I Fighting the Good Fight?

"There are people in the Christian church, even real Christians I daresay, who hardly ever fight the good fight of faith. They have no scars to show that they have fought their master's battles. They never slept in their clothes with their swords at their sides. They are strangers to the struggle that other Christians know so well. Ask them how to fight your battles with sinful desires that war against your soul and they will give you a blank stare in return. They don't know what you are talking about. They do not know what it is to be weary of watching for the Lord, of lifting their eyes to the hills from whence comes their help. The Devil has seldom troubled them because they aren't worth the effort."
--Robert S. Rayburn

The Despair of Unbelief

"Our minds, which are even now only just awakening after years of materialism, are infected with the despair of unbelief. The nightmare of materialism, which has turned the life of the universe into an evil, useless game, is not yet past; it holds the awakening soul in it's grasp."
--Wassily Kandinsky

I have come to the realization that I am the owner of a hardened heart. And not in the "Oh yes, T.J., everyone has a hardened heart" sense, I'm realizing it's more along the lines of the "God gave them over to their sins," nigh on unrepentant hardened heart. Essentially what this means is that I need to stop making excuses and start loving Jesus.

I have fallen into the same cycle of ridiculous actions, all the direct results of my like of belief:

• I do not pray, because I do not believe that my prayer will be effective.
• I do not love, because I do not believe that God loves me.
• I do not show grace, because I do not believe that I need God's grace.
• I do not follow God [and in turn follow various, numerous idols] because I do not believe that God will satisfy my every need.

I am reminded of a quote by Jonathan Edwards: "There must be a direct and immediate sense of God's glory and excellency. I say direct and immediate, to distinguish it from a mere perception that God is glorious and excellent by means of speculative and distant argumentation, which is a more indirect way of apprehending things."

This is where my belief fails. I have a "mere perception" of all of the above things, I have speculated and participated in "distant argumentation" of each of these things, but none of them are real to me. Just as if I was arguing that Britain exists...sure, there's a logical progression to arrive at that conclusion, but I've never experienced it, which limits my belief.

I look at what I thought I believed for all these years, what I thought I had 'down pat,' and wonder, like the older prodigal son, why I don't get to experience the grandeur that my brother does. Forgetting, ridiculously, that I have always had access to the Father and his blessings.

So now, the Father has extended his invitation to come into the 'party,' into his blessings, into his glory...what will I do?

Escape Trouble

"Escape is an activity born from intimacy."
--Prodigal John

Check Him Out

I Like To Swim

"The mathematician goes mad, not the poet, because the mathematician tries to build a bridge across the infinite when the poet can swim in the sea."
--Donald Miller

I will almost definitely be revisiting this quote.