Chris's Musings

"You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."   The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, " - Hebrews 12:18-23 Have you taken a second to think about, I mean really think about, how truly awesome our experience with God through Jesus Christ really is?  Sometimes we (at least I) take it very cavalier, and approaching Go...

I am reading through Hebrews in my quiet times right now, and getting to the sections of the book after the "hall of fame" section (12:14-29), I found that the writer here made some interesting parallels with the way God interacted with people pre -Jesus and how that translates into our lives today.   ------------------  "See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.  Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit his blessing, he was rejected.  He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears." - Hebrews 12:16-17 If you recall this story (Genesis 25:27-34), Esau came in from hunting one day and was pretty hungry.  Jacob his younger brother (by a few seconds) was cooking some stew and Esau, being hungry, asked for some of it.  Jacob, being the shrewd negotiator that he was, told him that he'd give him some of that stew in exchange for his birt...

Read this from my QT this morning.  Good stuff :-) "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."  - Hebrews 11:13-16

One of my favorite new worship songs being sung today is "God of this City" - it's a song that I have sung and prayed over my own city, the cities of Estonia, and cities that I love that I've visited.  I was looking through YouTube today and saw this story, and was inspired.  It's about 4 minutes long... take some time to listen. God is huge... and man, I love it when He opens up doors like this :-). There is no one like our God. Truly. And believe me, if God could spark a revolution in a place like Ephesus in Roman times (which may have even been more seedy than this place), then He can spark a revolution in cities in Thailand, in San Francisco, in Tartu, in New York, in Sevilla, in Austin, in H-Town, in Atlanta... I don't believe that He's finished loving us and reaching out to us.  Can we believe that He really wants to do something great in our city?  Pray for it!   And, in case you haven't heard the song... this was a great deal with Kris Allen ...

What would you do, if you know that today was the only day you had?

At the risk of losing my man card, I am going to admit to the blogging world that on my way back from Estonia (and once with our students while in Tartu), I saw a number of movies that would either loosely or accurately be portrayed as "chick flicks."  I'm not sure what would officially get a man card revoked, but admitting to enjoy romantic comedies without having a romantic relationship would probably fit that.  But, that said, having watched a few I thought I would give them the "male review" in case any of you guys have a date planned and are wondering what to expect when you walk into the theater (or Blockbuster) for any of these.   Ghosts of Girlfriends Past About 90% of all these movies starring Matthew McConaughey follow just about the same plot.  This one is no different.  a.) Guy who is a jerk/immature/etc. but is also really good with women has a tragic flaw that keeps him from love, b.) Someone comes into "fix" him, c.) He resists because h...