the long & short of it

For whatever reason, many disagree with that statement.  Some outright, some by lifestyle.  

If you’re not sure whether you do or not, ask this question:  Do I find it necessary to share my opinion on things I’ve never done or been a part of?

If you answered “yes”, then you disagree with the statement.

And if you answered “yes”, then you may want to ask yourself this question:  Why is it so important to share my opinion?

The answer to that question will either mark your life for understanding, or it will mark your life for arrogance.  It’s up to you what you do with it.

Allow me to introduce you to San Juan. This is just one of the pics from my recent backpacking trip with Wes, Brandon, & Ian to the San Juan Mountains near Lake City. It was RIDICULOUSLY beautiful.

There are more pics if you scroll down to my sidebar flickr pics and click there.

Do you really even have a right to your own opinion?

You see the more and more I do and live, and the more I study successful people, the more I believe that I don’t have the right to my own opinion about anything that I haven’t personally experienced or run hard after.

If you seriously think about it, the opinion of an observer carries almost no weight when placed against the person who has experienced, who has risked and dared and discovered first hand. Oh my God, there are so many examples of folks and types who have screwed others up all throughout history for exalting their valueless opinion over those who have really lived the life. Whether you take a look at punks who talk about being tough and have never been in a fight vs. ‘nam vets or anyone who has actually fought in combat, or whether you look at the vast array of theologians parading their human understanding vs. the man or woman who has spent countless hours hidden in their closet with God, or the Pharisees, or the Catholic church in the 1400’s on through the 1600’s, or 100’s of other scenarious - one of these opinions doesn’t really count for crap.

Why so much heat on the issue? Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to take a break from the blog world.  Thanks to all of you who have been reading for a while now.  I’m sure I’ll start back up, just not sure when.

I went to a private school growing up. We had to wear uniforms for 4 years. Aayck. We had 3 colors, red, white, and blue. Yes, very patriotic. And we had to wear khaki or blue pants. We were given reasons like, “we’re to be set apart”….

So why don’t all believers have uniforms? Read the rest of this entry »

Do you ever feel like you’ve lost yourself? …like the part of you that was once so wild and used to get in trouble all the time has become… domesticated or tamed?

I do.

I don’t know how it is for girls, but for guys, it’s just in the blood to push the limits, to see how far we can go before we break. …the only thing is that I hardly feel that anymore, it is mostly a distant memory and that cliff is looking less and less inviting these days… Read the rest of this entry »

I’m tellin you, God is complex! I was reading in 2 Samuel this morning and read that God was angry with Israel, so He incited David against them…! Well, you’re probably saying, so what, God has incited lots of nations against other nations (mainly Israel), but here’s the twist: He incited David against Israel by having him take a census of the fighting men, which was a sin!

What’s more? God then required that David choose between three different paths of destruction for Israel, and repent of his sins. The result: 70,000 people die in 3 days.

The really crazy part? David had 3 options; 3 years of famine, 3 months of being pursued by Israel’s enemies, or 3 days of plague, and he chose 3 days of plague with this response, “…let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great…”? (God’s gonna kill us, let’s fall into his hands?) Then check this out, God’s heart was actually grieved as He saw the angel of death nearing Jerusalem because of the calamity, and He commanded the angel to stop!

This whole scenario is crazy to me, but the part the amazes me the most is the fact that God’s heart was so grieved by the calamity, that He didn’t finish out the destruction. I am absolutely amazed that God is so affected by man, that He has made himself so vulnerable to the human race. He’s God, and the idea that His emotions are subject to us is so contradictory to natural thinking, and it is absolutely an incredible revelation of how personal He is and how His heart moves.  David apparently knew well that God is this way.

I rarely connect intercession with intimacy.

It’s not that I can’t connect the dots, it’s that I don’t connect the dots in my heart when I’m praying. It’s so easy, too easy, for me to disconnect prayer from knowing God’s heart in a relational way. Moments pass, and I find myself striving in my own strength; and we all know that this is a horrible place to be.

Often when I intercede, I end up feeling like a distant citizen casting my lot in a heavenly poll. Read the rest of this entry »