Altared Perception

The Bible is God's Word.  And it's chock full 'o stories about God and people.  These stories take place over the course of thousands of years.  They were written by different people for different people.  Some were written in times of famine, others in times of feast. So, with all these different stories, what holds them together?  There must be some theme that flows through them, right? Bible scholars have spent countless hours pouring over the Bible, trying to find its unifying theme.  Many different themes have been proposed, some making more sense than others.  But there's one theme that seems to come back again and again--one that I believe holds everything from Genesis to Revelation together. Here it is: God dwelling with his people. Think about it.  God walked with Adam and Eve in the Bible ( Gen. 2 ).  When they sinned against him, they were separated from him by being kicked out of the garden ( Gen. 3 ).  Ever since the...

So about a year ago I started hanging out with a pretty cool guy.  His name is Lyman, and he's 93.  Ever couple Thursdays we hang out at his pad (an assisted living facility) and talk about life and stuff.  How did I meet this guy?  Well, Lyman grew up in my hometown and ended up in Grand Rapids.  My dad knew his brother really well, so he visits Lyman every time he's in town.  Dad encouraged me to drop by and spend some time with this fascinating man.  So I took my dad's challenge.  And I'm glad I did. I'm part of the Millennial generation, and we value a lot of cool things.  We really push for inter-generational dialogue, and--I have to admit--the prospect of hanging out with a 93 year-old was kind of cool!  I mean, can you imagine sitting at the feet of someone who has lived almost four times as long as you?  Think about all the hidden gems of wisdom I can glean from.  Talking to someone who's lived that long, gosh, that...

Recently I've been talking to some friends in eV--my church group--about embarking on the journey of blogging together.  Some people have questions.  "How do I blog? What do I blog? Where do I start?"  A couple people suggested blogging about how to blog.  That's what this post is all about.  It will lay a foundation for anyone looking to launch into the blogosphere with confidence and direction. Content (what to say): Stick with your passions -- The biggest hurdle to starting a blog: "what should I write about? Where do I begin?"  The answer is this: stick with your passions!  Write about something you would like to read about.  Whether you blog about relationships , Christian issues , everyday life , or a conglomeration of everything , what matters is that it matters to you. Find your niche -- Eventually you will want to answer this question: "what is my niche? What do I add to the blogosphere that is unique?"  When this dawns on y...

So I grew up Baptist.  If you know anything about Baptist stereotypes, you know we're known for our long list of "No's": Don't smoke, don't drink, don't chew, nor go with girls who do.  It's easy to make a list of Don'ts.  But how often do we stress the Do's? There's this verse in the Bible that commands us to embrace Do's.  You find it in the last chapter of Philippians (4:8), and it is worth quoting: " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just , whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise --think about these things ." How good of a job do we do at thinking about these good, pure things?  I mean, it's easy to get negative and critical and focus on all the things that aren't right in the world.  What about thinking about the things that are ? Well, I'd like to share some things that I t...

So I've been wanting to post for almost 3 weeks now, and I haven't.  Why?  Chaos.  Life has been chaotic. How do I know life has been chaotic?  I looked around at my "space" at home, and it's a mess.  Papers not organized.  Clothes not put away.  Dishes piled up.  I realized my space is a reflection of how I'm doing.  When I am focused, when I'm proactive, when I'm doing "life" well, everything around me is in order.  When life gets thrown at me, when I haven't had a chance to rest, when I'm too busy to organize, things pile up.  You might say it like this: the space around me is a reflection of me. I can tell when I'm thinking clearly, setting goals, and managing my time well: clean room. I can also tell when my brain is foggy, I'm feeling stressed out, and my life is disorganized: messy room.  My space is a litmus test of how I'm doing in general. But here's the good news.  Tonight I became proactive.  I cle...