the Way, the Truth, and the Life

But I refuse to breathe the breath of the failure!!!! - The Chariot, 'Teach' That line has been with me for a while now. Ever since hearing it, the power coming from the lead singer's screaming lungs has upped the ante. Interpretations of this line could be numerous, that is the beauty of music and art. But here is my interpretation. He is shouting out that he refuses to breathe in the destruction of the Great Failure, aka Satan. I had been hearing a lot recently about the Breath of God. A couple sermons, a dialogue with a friend, and then this. There is something about breathing. God breathed life into us, in fact breath and spirit are the same in the Greek translations of the bible. Our spirit is the breath of God in us, and the Holy Spirit is His Breath. The word spirit won out more or less in the English translations cause it sounds better, I mean think of the concept when Jesus breaths his "Breath" upon the disciples. Kinda awkward soundin...

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General Motors is now officially in bankruptcy, and with all the news channel viewing I just did one channel really brought this story to the level that will most likely be overlooked in the media for awhile. The loss of blue collar, assembly plant jobs. Much of the talk had been about the whole thing in general. The large implication that the company is basically changing and starting new, and what this means on a corporate , long term level. Which is key mind you, because without a company to hire people, people can't work. But it is the affect of the bankruptcy with all the job losses that are going to happen, here in Detroit especially, that continue pushing people down and out. The ripple affect will be a wave crashing onto shore, not a mere pebble dropping in an ocean. People will leave and more resources will be stripped away from this region. For those who remain, what hope can be found? Our incomes are so important, our standard of living is indispensable ! Hope i...

When I was forced off of I-94 heading north from Detroit due to the crazy rush hour traffic, I chose my logical substitute, M-3, a.k.a. Gratiot. I have traveled this before a few times, a straight shot from the 94 Detroit Gratiot exit all the way to the family abode. This time it was different though, I had my urban planning goggles on this time, and Christ's mercy. The trench freeways in Detroit that I have been educated so much about really do a great job of masking the truth. I have heard in class, even in my undergrad courses, that the design of the freeway system was to target the worst neighborhoods and clear them out, called urban renewal. Also, in my point of view, the freeways avoid the visual mess of surface streets and neighborhoods. It was clear seeing all the struggling people, the collapsing homes and buildings, the garbage and debris, that Gratiot in Detroit was not a pleasing site. The freeways are underground to allow for a pleasant commute between downtown a...

I need to change up the style of these entries. Realizing that I write every now and then, and more so discussing massive theological breakdowns that need to be chapters, if not books on their own, I want to shorten up my writing and write about a lot more. Everyday life may enter in, massive theological breakdowns still may have a place, but I am certain that American Idol will not appear here. Like in the last sentence. Besides, my blogging sort of started with everyday observations. Writing down, or at least keeping mental notes of significant events in life would keep me fresh and aware of what God was doing in my life. I have written a lot about how the mundane or day in day out activities are not wasted gaps in our lives in between the giant choir concert or the overseas mission trip. Every moment has something to do with Jesus, and He just wants us to acknowledge that plain truth with His Spirit. When I skip over this is when life will truly become mundane, tedious. So, m...

Understanding godly freedom is a bit of a challenge for me. First, freedom has become a bit of a buzz word of sorts, like faith, grace, and the like. What comes to mind is listening to a person at church use freedom in a way that suggests that they are free even from God's commands. When I hear that, alarms go off in my head. They are not saying this directly of course, but certainly implying it, if not acting it out. This gets to my point on freedom. I struggle much thinking that we have been freed by God through Jesus. All I hear are things like: obey my commands; stop living for the self; death comes through these actions; life comes through these. What exactly are we freed from? The question is answered better by asking why we are freed. We are freed to use our freedom creatively, moving with the Spirit of God. I do not have to pull out a map anymore. With this specific action at this specific time I only need to keep two things in mind. First, Love God (do not hurt...

Lately I have been contemplating what it means to keep changing. The stress is in the word 'keep'. Realizing that God calls us to a radically different life then what we see in the world, a one and done event is never enough, God wants to keep molding us into a beautiful creation, allowing for us not to stay the same. If spiritual maturity has been reached in some fashion, then of course that is a wonderful praise filled change in our life. If we only take it as something that happened once however, we are subject to great difficulties later down the road. This happens because we feel, rightly so, that God has changed us for the better, yet we don't know what to do when new circumstances occur because we were changed under older ones, past ones. What I'm leading to is that although we may have come to God and He has pressed upon us a new way of life, this is the wonderful creative God who says I can be more than I think I am because He will give me the ability to b...