Altared Perception

I recently posted about my friend Lyman . He recently turned 94 years old. Man...94. That’s impressive. Spending time with him over the last year has really made me look at life differently.  I mean, my default is to look through my 26-year-old optimist glasses.  It’s easy to assume that my health will always be this good, that I’ll land a job that I love, that I will settle down, marry someone, have kids, and have it all at the end of my life. But, again, that’s the 26-year-old optimism coming out. Which makes me think: what if God wanted to keep me on this earth until I was 94? I thought looking at Lyman’s life would help me answer this question.  I thought about it, and it’s sobering:  +He met countless people over the decades…but most of them have passed away.  +He gets to spend time with his wife everyday, but she has dementia and it limits what she can do. +He will never be kicked out of this assisted living facility , but his life...

Seminary is really cool.  I've learned a lot of things while I've been there.  I'm walking in the graduation ceremony in a couple days, and it's bittersweet. One one hand, I will miss the community and the conversation.  On the other, I am glad to be done with the papers and book reports! I have enjoyed my time there.  It's been worth it.  In fact, I preached my last sermon a couple weeks ago, and it was one of the most enjoyable messages I've ever given!  Want to watch it?  Check it out here: Length: 15 minutes. Passage: Luke 2:1-14 Perspective: 1st Person (from the point-of-view of Joseph, Jesus' father)

In 2010, I went hardcore.  I gave up sugar.  Yup. Ok, let me clarify.  Sugar is in virtually everything , including milk, bread, fruits and veggies.  I didn't give these up.  But I did give up artificial sugar.  No Choco Puffs.  No soda.  No dessert. Basically I continued to eat cereal in the morning, but switched to Crispix.  And instead of soda or juice? Water, all the time... (except for my cereal milk)  And how about that dessert?  I just had to say no.  (Although, I did let myself have a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk before going to bed each night... :)  I pretty much cut out all refined sugars and limited my natural sugar intake.  The first few weeks were tough, but once the middle of February hit it became much easier. So why in the world would someone want to give up sugar, especially for a year?  What could possibly possess a person to pass up pie and peach cobbler?  Easy....

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...