Part 1: Their is Work to be Done Here
I took a bit of a hiatus on the old blog world. It was first prompted by this complete revamping of the site design. When I first launched this thing back in 2005, I was in a C++ computer programming course and designed the previous layout while code was running through my brain. Then come this past December, I got the itch to get creative again and do something way different, and this is the result! A couple friends helped guide me through the process of course, from graphic design experts to internet web masters. They provided the proof reading and dotting of i's (and hurdles that needed to be overcome, like getting that background image up!
The background image was taken by myself at this location in Detroit. It shows what use to be a whole church mission there on Rosa Parks and Elmhurst. There was a main church across the street, and then there was a soup kitchen and much more.
In the picture to the right, there was a plea to build up the youth of Detroit. In Christ, all things are possible, and the possibility of developing the youth of Detroit with a Christ like love is exciting. Seeing the dilapidated buildings was not disheartening to me. With the contrast of the decay and vacancy of the church itself shouting to present further evidence of a lost and hopeless city, I saw a call out for our city. The ambition that these followers had, and hopefully still have, demonstrates the absurdity of the hope we have in Christ. That somehow the kids of Detroit can cut through, or maybe dig deeper into their surroundings, however one would look at it. Instead of loving the youth in a way which is trying to get them to escape (kinda like the gospel message that centers around yearning to get out of this world as fast as possible just so we can bask in the riches of heaven), the youth need to be loved in a way that the Spirit leads them to dig deeper into their environment and be that light in the darkness. The hope that exists by the presence of this message written by those who have been inspired by the greatest hope themselves is something that permeates the city of Detroit, it is swelling at this very hour.
Part 2: A Bit Later...
And then a blog entry itself formed as a result of the 6 month pause. The site redesign has been finished for over 3 months now. The hesitation to write has come from a number of areas, mostly a so called busyness. I think the actual reason is because the busyness led to tired, resulting in giving myself no reason to write garbage if I couldn't even think straight without having to type it out.
But an even more staggering reason was because I think I became dried up spiritually. At least at a point of hallucination. Things have not been the same since I took on an internship and got intense with school. Somehow, in the cliche way of saying it, I was putting God last. However this differed slightly in that it was not a conscious act of placing God to the side but instead a deadly passivity. Instead of dealing with situations where before I had been enlightened to the fact that God is everywhere, that in every situation His presence is so announced that it really did not make sense to me how people did not see Him moving and acting and relating to us, that all that was now a complete wash. I had felt nothing and had internally believed all at the same time. But I was not interacting. I was not relating Christ to His creation and His Kingdom like I had been before.
It is just like the spouse who says to their lover, 'I don't know you anymore.' It's not that they don't know their favorite dinner, or hobby's and interest, like some bullet point grocery list created by a 3rd party analyst. No, they don't know them because they have become indifferent. Relationship is intentional, and I have truly discovered why the language of a 'personal relationship with God' has formed. It is because it is true. And if relationships are hard to begin with, then the relationship we have with our heavenly Father will be the most dynamic one we choose to have. I am sifting through right now and I think I am being watered, but there is much to do.
My silence was a statement of how little words really mean, but instead how truly important the Living Word is, practiced moment by moment.
I took a bit of a hiatus on the old blog world. It was first prompted by this complete revamping of the site design. When I first launched this thing back in 2005, I was in a C++ computer programming course and designed the previous layout while code was running through my brain. Then come this past December, I got the itch to get creative again and do something way different, and this is the result! A couple friends helped guide me through the process of course, from graphic design experts to internet web masters. They provided the proof reading and dotting of i's (and hurdles that needed to be overcome, like getting that background image up!
In the picture to the right, there was a plea to build up the youth of Detroit. In Christ, all things are possible, and the possibility of developing the youth of Detroit with a Christ like love is exciting. Seeing the dilapidated buildings was not disheartening to me. With the contrast of the decay and vacancy of the church itself shouting to present further evidence of a lost and hopeless city, I saw a call out for our city. The ambition that these followers had, and hopefully still have, demonstrates the absurdity of the hope we have in Christ. That somehow the kids of Detroit can cut through, or maybe dig deeper into their surroundings, however one would look at it. Instead of loving the youth in a way which is trying to get them to escape (kinda like the gospel message that centers around yearning to get out of this world as fast as possible just so we can bask in the riches of heaven), the youth need to be loved in a way that the Spirit leads them to dig deeper into their environment and be that light in the darkness. The hope that exists by the presence of this message written by those who have been inspired by the greatest hope themselves is something that permeates the city of Detroit, it is swelling at this very hour.
Part 2: A Bit Later...
And then a blog entry itself formed as a result of the 6 month pause. The site redesign has been finished for over 3 months now. The hesitation to write has come from a number of areas, mostly a so called busyness. I think the actual reason is because the busyness led to tired, resulting in giving myself no reason to write garbage if I couldn't even think straight without having to type it out.
But an even more staggering reason was because I think I became dried up spiritually. At least at a point of hallucination. Things have not been the same since I took on an internship and got intense with school. Somehow, in the cliche way of saying it, I was putting God last. However this differed slightly in that it was not a conscious act of placing God to the side but instead a deadly passivity. Instead of dealing with situations where before I had been enlightened to the fact that God is everywhere, that in every situation His presence is so announced that it really did not make sense to me how people did not see Him moving and acting and relating to us, that all that was now a complete wash. I had felt nothing and had internally believed all at the same time. But I was not interacting. I was not relating Christ to His creation and His Kingdom like I had been before.
It is just like the spouse who says to their lover, 'I don't know you anymore.' It's not that they don't know their favorite dinner, or hobby's and interest, like some bullet point grocery list created by a 3rd party analyst. No, they don't know them because they have become indifferent. Relationship is intentional, and I have truly discovered why the language of a 'personal relationship with God' has formed. It is because it is true. And if relationships are hard to begin with, then the relationship we have with our heavenly Father will be the most dynamic one we choose to have. I am sifting through right now and I think I am being watered, but there is much to do.
My silence was a statement of how little words really mean, but instead how truly important the Living Word is, practiced moment by moment.
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