Personal Mission Statement

I found an interesting article here.  I've been scattered in my thoughts and efforts lately, and this is helping me figure out what I really think I should be focused on, with God's help. There are several other interesting articles on the site, although I haven't poked around too much!

Car Camping Notes

Always pick/pack clothes fresh for each trip

You probably could use another towel

A well-packed tiny Igloo will fit most of a seven-pound bag of ice and will stay mostly frozen for at least 27 hours

Being parked a little uphill during the day = a lot uphill while trying to sleep

Sermon Notes: A Remarkable Life

Joshua 14:6-12

Pastor Chris Castaldo
New Covenant Church
Naperville, IL

What would be said about you after your gone?  Spin vs authenticity.  How can we avoid hypocrisy and develop a life of godliness?

Only two of twelve spies thought the Israelites could defeat the giants in the land Good had led them to.  Caleb and Joshua.  What has happened in Caleb's life that helped him cultivate a spirit of faithfulness?  He probably did not suddenly become faithful when confronted with the sight of those giants.  He didn't believe the low that as a young person he had plenty of time and could think about Good when he got older.  It is easy to swim downstream, we tell our kids and it is true.  Ten said easy, Caleb said no.  He put a stake down, like Jim Eliot and decided to swim upstream.  85 years old, he was moving forward full steam ahead.  Was a little upset that he had to share the judgement of the rest of the Israelites?  Disappointment unplugs the cord of vitality.  We find it harder and harder to look past the disappointments of life.  We must be careful to not let those disappointments nor unpopular Supreme Court decisions let us forget that God is in control,  God is greater still.  On the other hand, Caleb did not think of God as his errand boy.  Confidence without presumption.  Caleb battled the holders of that land at the age of EIGHTY-FIVE and won, because God was on his side.  (Don't give up when you get older, find a new outlook, focus on the Lord, and get right back in the battle.)  Passion is a gift from God we should enjoy and use right up until the last moment of this life.  Move forward at all times, always toward God, every new moment used for His purpose.  "Living sacrifice"  Caleb would tell us it is never too late!  Pressing forward!!

Perfect day?

I don't know how it could get much better than today.  72° and slight breeze, a few puffy clouds overhead.  I had an inexpensive sandwich from a deli in Monroe, then found a $3.00 brat for a fundraiser for the Winslow Museum.  YUM!  And I just ate 1/2 of a rhubarb (and strawberry) hand pie I got earlier today for just $2.00 each at the Dane Co Farmers Market around the state capitol square in Madison.  The trick to a decent day is getting a REALLY early start.  I went to bed with the sun last night, and rose again with it.  The birds started chirping around 4:30 am and I had wisely chosen to sleep so that the dawn would help wake me up (not gonna happen tonight!)  I was in Madison just after 7 and there was no line at Short Stack Eatery.  Sweet Potato Oat pancakes with cinnamon whipped cream and strawberries.  Yum again.  It's just after 3 and I'm back in my campsite about to take a nap.  Yeah.

Ponded or Flowing

I was pleasantly surprised by something I heard on the radio (for a change).  Instead of hearing English mangled and misused, I heard a great word-phrase, really.  They were talking with a specialist about what sort of effects we might expect from the bad weather we are expecting.  He said that people should be careful driving, especially on routes they know can flood, because "ponded or flowing" water can obscure the road surface.  Very well spoken!  (Spell-check doesn't like the word ponded, but I do!)

How About a Little More Nice Girl?

(I get to give this a clever title because I can go back later and edit myself)

This morning I decided to go to McDonald's for breakfast because I was heading to a new church and running a bit behind schedule, so I hit the drive thru at 9:50.  Much later than usual for Sunday morning for me (usually about 7:20) and probably because of Father's Day there was a really big line.  I debated leaving, but didn't want a blood sugar low to interfere with my first visit to a new church.  Ordered my one item.  Pulled forward a bit and heard the girl behind me order an Egg McMuffin with no egg and extra (something I couldn't hear).  Next I heard the guy in the other lane ordering some long list of things.  Alone, in a work truck.  I was glad I didn't have to work on Sunday and also glad I wasn't behind him.  He pulled forward and clearly wanted to edge in front of me.  I pulled up a but, and he said"Aren't we supposed to take turns?"  I replied "My order was ahead of yours."  He then said "If YOU think so."  So I looked behind me and backed up so he could go ahead if me, which he did with a lurch.  A few moments later (I was fully stopped), the girl behind me beeped.  I leaned out and said "I'm having trouble with the guy ahead of me."  She then said "You almost f#&king nailed me!"  Twice.  I waited until the guy in front of me pulled forward, which he did with a smirk, then I left.  Stomach clenched, tears in my eyes.

I'm still having trouble understanding God's lesson in this for me.  I knew that guy wanted to go first, so I guess I should have let him from the first.  I did pray very hard that God would have the cashier ask him if he had ordered the single chorizo burrito.  I don't want to just be right, I want him to know it too.

I am pretty good at standing up for myself and being a little pushy when I am sure I am right.  Maybe the lesson for me is to accept my rightness in solitude and show the world more grace.  We've been taught that we shouldn't all be "nice girls" in the church, but maybe the pendulum has swung a little too far the other way?  Maybe I need to work on my nice girl attitude a bit more?

Sermon Notes June 21, 2015

Joshua 12:1-6
John Higgins
New Covenant Church, Naperville, IL

No apology for a "tough" text, all Scripture is God-Breathed!  If there is a problem with a text, the problem is on our side, for certain.

Chap 1-12 conquest as promised.
the rest is about dividing it up.  This chapter starts with a list of victories.  Why recap?  To remember and emphasize what God helped them do.  V9 is a song, likely, to help us remember it (like the Psalms).  God wants us to know He does particular little things.  The specific names, the details of location... these are meant to slow us down and tell us the specific things He does.  God forms us in specific ways with specific people.

The text also brings up people for the first and last time here.  God is always doing things that we don't see.  The challenge of "divine hiddenness".  Is it a problem or is the description wrong?  Is He subtle?  He is always doing more than we see.  He is always doing more than we see.

Demonstrate the superiority of Joshua over Moses (the passage wants us to know this).  Joshua-31. Moses-2. Why do it?  Moses had a bigger story, but Joshua was greater.  Moses' sin.  Joshua was able to complete the move into the land.  This chapter is meant to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus.

Angels are pretty rare in the Bible.  They were sent to communicate special messages.  Specific name message for Joseph (interesting illustrations made here-we might name him after David, or Abraham, or Moses, but God told Joseph to name him Jesus=Joshua)  Jesus is the other form of Joshua.  Moses' successor, but also namesake of our Lord.

31 Kings had many years to repent but didn't and so Joshua defeated them.  Sound familiar?  Ruler of the Kings of the Earth - one of Christ's titles.  Revelations 12?  Psalm 2 -- another example of kings under authority.

Jesus is The King of All Kings.  Doesn't matter if you are left or right, liberal or conservative, Jesus is Lord of all.

View from the Art Institute North Garden

I recently got back into sketching/drawing.  I went into downtown Chicago on June 6th to wander around and sketch stuff.  Here is the best of the day, and a photo of the same view.  I've been avoiding color, for the time being, to focus on line value and I've stuck to pen only in order to force myself to JUST DRAW! since I can't fiddle around with erasing and fixing.  It may be about time to add pencil (and eraser!)

Sin

God loves every one of us.

Every time I treat someone else as "less" than me, God hates that because He loves ALL of us.  He calls that sin.

Human Soup

I was recently reading a blog post by an artist I follow.  He was saying that each of us is made up of the various things we have seen/heard/read/etc.  We're a sort of soup of each of these things.  Some of them stay nearly whole and others dissolve into the background, each adding their own flavor that makes up the unique "me".

I also had a friend on Facebook ask if we should allow ourselves to watch violent television shows.  He is a fan of the Fire and Ice books, but was contemplating watching any more of the television version since there is apparently a LOT of violence, especially towards women in the HBO show; more than the books, apparently (I'm not familiar with either).

I think those two ideas are very closely linked.  What flavors do you want in your "me" soup?  What do you want others to "taste" in you?

Blessings by Laura Story

Perhaps the greatest prophetic song of the decade.  (Prophet=heart revealer)

I can't get this song out of my head.  Beyond the lovely piano and her great singing, the lyrics really burrow into my heart and mind.  I think she captures the sadness of our mistaken prayers without coming across as chiding or harping.  It has such a tender longing for us to know God better, enough to appreciate what He is already doing for us and how much more He would do if we could just align our hearts and minds more closely with the best that He wants for us.  Amazing.

     We pray for blessings, we pray for peace,
     comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
     We pray for healing, for prosperity.
     We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
     All the while, You hear each spoken need,
     Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.
     'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
     What if Your healing comes through tears?
     What if a thousand sleepless nights
     are what it takes to know you're near?
     What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

     We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear.
     We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
     We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love;
     as if every promise from Your Word is not enough.
     All the while, you hear each desperate plea,
     and long that we'd have faith to believe.
     'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
     What if Your healing comes through tears?
     What if a thousand sleepless nights
     are what it takes to know you're near?
     What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

     When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win;
     we know that pain reminds this heart
     that this is not, this is not our home.
     It's not our home.

     'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
     What if Your healing comes through tears?
     What if a thousand sleepless nights
     are what it takes to know you're near?
     What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life,
     is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?
     And what if trials of this life; the rain the storms, the hardest nights;
     are Your mercies in disguise?

Sermon notes June 14

Not just a church, but The Church.  Colossians and Ephesians were sister letters, Ephesians grander in tone and meant to be sent around to other churches as well.

As we are all followers if The One, we should all be working in unity.  As humans, of course that does not come "naturally", so we have to fight for unity.  And we should fight for that unity.  We are very self-centric in this society, in this world, do it is very easy to forget that.

We are all ministers.  Or, we SHOULD all think of ourselves as ministers.  Each believer has been given a gift, but they should all work toward the goal of ministering to the world.

Walk and Talk:
Be imitators of God.  Don't be like the unwise.  Act like a believer in all things.  Don't be that guy with the fish sticker who is driving like a jerk.  WWJD?  Bear with one another in love.
Speak the truth in love, so that the body builds itself up. Love = Truth.  Our society doesn't even believe in the existence of truth anymore.  Us, not "the pastor" should do/fix/help things/each other.  You don't have to like the people in The Church, you just have to LOVE them.

Banners : Psalm 19:1 and Revelation 4:11

Twitter?

I have to admit that I don't really get Twitter.  I've used it and I've followed some funny and clever people, but I simply do not understand what the big deal is.  I don't think there are that many funny or clever people out there.  Most content I've seen is... drivel.  The shortness of the Tweet adds to the pointlessness.  Why are there so many Tweeters and can most of them really be worth following???

Not your momma's caramel corn

Is Garrett's the only reason I go into the city?  Definitely not.  But it is right up there near the very top!  The photo may not look like much but it is popcorn heaven.