Back from the Beach & A Few Quotes

Michael - August 22, 2010

Greeeetings!  We just returned today from a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with Michael.  It was really nice because we saw some dolphins, dive-bombing pelicans and sea gulls along with jumping fish.  I've seen dolphins in the ocean before, but it was later in the year when the ocean didn't have so many people in it. But this time Andrew and Michael were jumping over, getting smashed and tossed (Michael) and riding (Andrew) waves when we saw them.  Then yesterday we saw the jumping fish which was pretty neat. At one point about twenty of them jumped at once!  I was wondering if a shark spooked them. 

One night we walked along the beach and saw the moon reflecting off the ocean. I love that! Michael would run ahead and draw Sponge Bob cartoon characters in the sand.

It's good to be home and unpacked. I can now catch up a bit on reading some of the posts I missed while gone. 

Michael enjoyed the Lazy River

These are just a few quotes from Primal by Mark Batterson. I copied them a few weeks ago and had them saved in drafts.

"Lack of faith is not a failure of logic. It's a failure of imagination.  Lack of faith is the inability or unwillingness to entertain thoughts of a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine."  (pg. 112)

I love how young children imagine!  They imagine themselves able to grow up to be superheroes, dog catchers, firefighters and doctors all at the same time.  Michael used to think the children of heaven were watching his life as if he were a character in a story or video game.  He would sometimes tell them Bible stories at night. I wish sometimes I could hold onto some of my ability to imagine. Maybe God meant for us to be more imaginative than we are. Maybe logic is from the enemy.  :)

What are some things you imagine or remember imagining when you were a child?  Or what things do your children imagine that make you smile?  Do you think some people's lack of faith is simply a lack of the ability to imagine Someone or some Thing is out there bigger than us?  Do you think imagination too childish whereas logic is more "adultish"?

"Nonconformity invites criticism, but that is the only option if you're following in the footsteps of the quintessential nonconformist, Jesus."  (pg. 114)

Do you tend to be a nonconformist or a rule-keeper?  Do you agree that Jesus was a nonconformist? In what ways? Can you think of examples of how he kept rules and/or didn't?  For the most part I think I keep rules pretty well, but in some aspects I think I'm more of a nonconformist than people would like me to be.  If for instance they had the ideal Susanne in mind, they would change a few things about me. But I guess that's true for all of us.

"Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, 'Go.' So why do we operate with a red-light mentality? It seems like many of us are waiting for the green light we've already been given.  As Christ followers we need to take a why not approach to life. It dares to dream. It's bent towards action.  And it's not looking for excuses not to do something."  (pg. 139)

I just liked this.

Any thoughts?

Unfulfilled Desires & Relationships

Can you relate to any of this?  Agree, disagree, have something to add?

Perhaps our deep unfulfilled desires can help show us that we were made for something no earthly thing can satisfy.  Just as children tire of their Christmas toys shortly after they've received them, so as adults our latest purchases or home renovations or business deals leave us looking for that elusive something. If we live in a fallen world, alienated from God, this is no wonder. God has "set eternity in the hearts" of us all (Eccles. 3:11) so that we will be satisfied with nothing less than God alone. In the psalmist's words:

Whom have I in heaven but you?
              And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
              but God is the strength of my heart
                 and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:25-26

Perhaps our deepest desires have been placed within us by God because we are meant for a loving relationship with him. The secular pursuit of the 'ulitmate experience' will disappoint us because all our desires are properly ordered when God is central in our lives.

pg. 18, "That's Just YOUR Interpretation" by Paul Copan

Can we quit acting as if we have God all figured out? You can know God, but to think that you can know God in the fullest sense of the word would be laughable if it weren't so detrimental. Because of the accumulation of and access to knowledge, our generation knows so much. Yet in the timeless scheme of things, we know so little.  What would happen if we had the intellectual courage to admit our ignorance?


Maybe it's time to admit that we don't know all the answers. But we know the One who does.  Maybe we've been offering the wrong thing.  We offer answers.  God offers a relationship through Jesus Christ.  His answers to our questions isn't knowledge. It's a relationship.

pg.106, Primal by Mark Batterson

Learning by Listening

"We're so busy arguing with one another that we don't have any energy left to love our neighbors. What would happen if we spent less energy defending ourselves and more energy learning from one another?"  

(Primal by Mark Batterson pg. 105)

 

I love this quote.  It reminds me of the wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) people I've met online the last few years.  I went to school with people very much like myself so it's been nice to meet others from different walks of life.  Of course I find myself in the defensive mode at times. I actually enjoy a bit of debate and sharing views and defending mine (especially as this causes me to know why I believe what I say I do.)  But I also have found what a treasure it is to stop arguing, to stop yakking about my own position on issues and to ask questions, sit back and listen.  What an exciting way to learn!  

To all who have contributed to my learning-by-the-internet adventure, 

 

thank you!

Attitude, High View of God, Learning & Questioning

I love people who have a good attitude about nearly everything. Whether they are going through wonderful times or dealing with annoying situations (such as car trouble or the phone company getting the bill all wrong) or going through times of heartache, they just seem able to take to heart Paul's instruction to give thanks in everything.   I get the impression Paul just had a high view of God and to him our earthly problems paled in comparison.  

I suppose this quote goes along with that:

"A low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils.  A high view of God is the solution to ten thousand temporal problems."    -- A.W. Tozer

If only I could remember these problems are temporary. But don't they seem overwhelming when we are going through them? Don't they just gnaw at our souls and make us feel uneasy?

Recently I read Primal and author Mark Batterson told of this positive outlook on life.  I really liked it and wanted to make it my own.  Attitude greatly influences how we go through life, doesn't it?  We choose to allow hard times to make us bitter or unthankful or blue.  But can't we also choose a grateful attitude? One that guards against resentment, bitterness and even crippling sadness? 

Hey, you don't have to tell me that that's not so easy.  I am an emotional person.  Quite melancholic, in fact.  So I recognize the struggle with choosing the thankful, joyful outlook in life.  I don't get a flat tire on the car and start shouting hallelujah.  My family can attest to how irritated, bitter and sad I can get.  But why choose to live this way when I don't have to?  

I liked this.

If you approach every person, every challenge, every situation with humble curiosity, it transforms each of them into a learning opportunity.  The outcome is no longer seen as success or failure, good or bad, positive or negative. The only measuring stick is this:  what did you learn from it? ...  I'm less afraid of failing, because I know it's the best form of education.  I'm less focused on getting out of situations and more focused on what I can get out of those situations. I'm less concerned with what I'm experiencing and more concerned with what I'm learning. Everyone and everything becomes part of my education.  God redeems them and uses them to shape me into the person He wants me to become.  And the learning process never ends.  (pg. 107)

Mark also wrote this which reminded me of some of you, my lovely questioning-and-learning friends.   :)

"The New Testament Greek word translated as 'disciple' comes from a root that means 'learner.'  By definition, a disciple is someone who never stops learning.  A true disciple makes the most of the hundred billion brain cells God has put on loan to him. A true disciple loves more because she knows more.  A true disciple is consumed with holy curiosity that doesn't take yes for an answer. The disciple keeps asking and seeking and knocking. And the quest is never over because the questions never end."  (pg. 107)

What are you currently questioning, seeking to learn, learning?  What things do you question most? What subjects do you enjoy learning about the most?  Do you tend to have a "what can I learn from this?" attitude when facing hard times?  How important is attitude in facing challenges in life?  Do you agree that a high view of God should help us during hard times?  Do you let it or do you tend to forget how big He is because your problems loom large? Do you agree with Tozer about a low view of God causing hundreds of lesser evils?

And in case you've not noticed, I do, in fact, enjoy learning from you.  And asking questions is often how I do that.   :-)

Are you okay with this?

United Nations health and food organizations calculate that twenty-five thousand people throughout the developing world die every day from starving and malnutrition. Are you okay with this?

There are a hundred thirty thousand children up for adoption at any given time in the United States, and millions more worldwide are without families. Are you okay with this?

A child dies from drinking contaminated water every twenty-three seconds.  Are you okay with this?

That question can be and must be asked of all suffering and every injustice. Are you okay with this?

 

Most of us are okay with it.  And we're okay with it simply because it's an issue without a name or a face.  We've never held someone who is starving to death.  No one in our family has needlessly died from contaminated water. We don't know anybody who has been kidnapped and sold into slavery.  And none of our family members sleeps on the streets.  But once the issue has a name and a face, it changes everything, doesn't it?  God knows each of those names.

 

God knows each of those faces. And it breaks His heart.

If you are in Christ and Christ is in you, you cannot be okay with suffering or injustice or starvation. Why? Because His heart is in you. And His heart beats for the suffering, the victim, the poor, and the needy. If you are a Christ follower, then you have been drafted into an army of compassion that knows no enemy but those things that break the heart of God. And it's not okay to not do something about them.

---------------------------------------------------------

On a personal note, I can attest to how knowing a face and having a name makes these issues more personal.  I used to hear about Muslims in our media - and granted, few who call themselves Muslims have done horrible things - however, can I hate all Muslims, be suspicious of all who follow Islam because of the actions of a few?  Can I dismiss, call as enemies* or simply be apathetic towards all Muslims, all Arabs after having met kindhearted, welcoming people like my blogging friends Lat, Shell, Wafa' and Suroor and those such as Louai, Samer, Amer and others whom I met in Syria?  It's easier to dismiss a group of nameless, faceless people than a group that consists of these dear ones.

This also happened to me when I met Martin, Salvador, Pedro and other Latinos in town. I stopped seeing them all as illegals out to take jobs from Americans and started seeing them as people whom God loves.  Kind of special that this happened after I prayed for God to let me see others through His eyes, eh? It's amazing how His heart of love can change your outlook on others. Give it a try. 

Can anyone relate with an example of her own?


except for my personal note comment, all of the above is quoted  from pg. 20, Primal by Mark Batterson

*  Besides if they are my enemies, I am supposed to love them unless Jesus was just joking about such things. See Matthew 5:44.

Good Links & July Books

The Sad

Carol who blogs as American Bedu is undergoing aggressive treatment for breast cancer that has returned.  Several of her friends have started a project to bring home her cats.  That is from Saudi Arabia to the United States!  If you want to read more about this project, please visit this post.  When she and her husband left Saudi Arabia over a year ago, they never imagined that they would not return together. Instead her husband returned in February in order to die in his homeland while Carol was unable to leave the US due to her cancer treatments.  I remember this post being heartbreaking as well as this one.


The Silly

Dad Life -- someone posted this short video on her blog and it just struck me funny especially the part about yardwork. Andrew and I laughed and laughed. 

The Informative

TED talk on The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives -- I got this from Sarah's blog


The Books I Finished This Month

Screen Play by Chris Coppernell -- a lighthearted fiction book featuring Harper, a struggling actresses who lands a starring role in a Broadway play and her meeting Luke on an online dating site and their meeting up in California.  I found this in the new book section of the local library.




Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them by Liz Curtis Higgs -- in her humorous way the author discusses ten women such as Eve, Michal, Potiphar's and Lot's wives, Rahab, Sapphira, the woman at the well and the woman who washed Jesus' feet.  My favorite was the woman at the well while the author said her favorite was the woman who washed Jesus' feet. I like that one too.  The story of Sapphira stepped on my toes some.  The degree of badness of these women varied.  Some were former bad girls while others were "good girls" who just did a bad thing that's recorded in the Bible. In conclusion the author says the "common denominator" between good and bad girls is this:  "Good Girls and Bad Girls both need a Savior.  The goodness of your present life can't open the doors of heaven for you.  The badness of your past life can't keep you out either. Not if you truly desire the forgiveness and freedom Christ offers."  (pg. 237)




From Stone to Living Word by Debbie Blue -- "Letting the Bible Live Again"   -- got this book at the library...see previous posts on this book

"'The Word became flesh' is God acting, God reaching. It reveals the lengths God is willing to go in pursuit of humanity, and it reveals an intimate, passionate, and vulnerable pursuit.  The Word enters the darkness in order to bring light...It was not God who created distance: it was humanity; it was sin.  And in Jesus Christ, the distance is overcome.  Jesus Christ isn't God standing back ... in Jesus we see God entering the paltry ruckus of life as we know it.  It looks foolish. But it reveals, perhaps, something about how God feels about us.  It was always in God's heart to give up glory and power in order to achieve union."  (pg. 113,114)




Original Sinners: A New Interpretation of Genesis by John R. Coats -- see book review here




Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin -- great library book which takes place around 1920 as Harriet tells the story of her greatgrandmother's anti-slavery work in PA, her grandmother, Bebe and her grandfather, Horatio and their lives during prohibition times and working for women's right to vote.  Really interesting story which is a fun way to learn some things about American history.

"We can't expect other people to meet all of our needs, all of the time. Only Christ can do that perfectly. That's why I know that if you turn to Him, you'll find contentment."  (pg. 165)

Another lesson from this book - trust God, life is like a river, always changing and we have to change too

and "It isn't our calling as Christians to write laws that force people to live moral lives. ... We can make stricter laws, ...but people will just figure out a way around them if their hearts are hardened.... We've had the Ten Commandments since Moses' time, and people still murder and steal every day.  Only God can change people."  (pg. 425)



Primal by Mark Batterson -- rediscovering the essence of Christianity (see introductory post)

 "Minds often remained closed to the truth until hearts have been opened by compassion. There is certainly a place for logical, left-brained explanations of faith. But compassion is the ultimate apologetic. There is no defense against it."  (pg.17)

"Nothing is as disarming as discovering the suffering or sorrow in another person's past."  (pg. 22)

"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries."  (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) -- pg.59

soul -- living in wonder -- everything is a miracle

"Too many of us try to understand truth in the static state. We want to understand it without doing anything about it, but it doesn't work that way. You want to understand it?  Then obey it."  (pg.80)

"The goal of knowing the Bible is knowing God. Anything less is bibliolatry. One of the greatest mistakes we've made in Christendom is equating spiritual maturity with knowledge acquisition, but head knowledge never has been and never will be the litmus test. The truth is that most of us are already educated way beyond the level of our obedience. We learn more and do less, thinking all the while that we're growing spiritually."

James tells us to be doers of the Word...not merely hearers.   "You don't get credit for auditing Scripture. You've got to put it into practice."  (pg. 83)

Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson -- I really love the work this man and his organization are doing in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this book he explains that he wants to go places where NGOs rarely go, therefore, his work takes him to remote places some of which are cut off from the rest of the world for seven months at a time due to snow!   He requires some things of the community - a donated piece of land and workers for starters. And also that girls make up a huge percentage of those allowed to attend.  I read Three Cups of Tea last year and enjoyed it so much.  (see review here)  And this book continues with more wonderful stories and lessons. I love the stories of how Greg and his friends travel, people they meet, local customs, unique characters and even how his board members - made up of men from a variety of backgrounds - get along with each other.   I enjoyed the stories that community leaders told -- such as their experiences fighting the Soviets and Taliban. It's a good way for me to learn some of the background of this place often in the news.  I found it interesting that this one region used to be a well-traveled area, but was effectively cut off and made into a remote place when the Soviet Union was formalized and when the Communists cut off China to people passing through. I found it fascinating how Greg would try to blend into a place with such a mixture of ethnicities that it wasn't unusual to find green-eyed people with Caucasian features.  Really, really enjoyed this!  The stories of the 11 year old orphan, Abdul, who worked as a mechanic and the 14 year old who was looking forward to going to school for the first time in his life...only to have his life cut short due to a landmine exploding -- stories such as these as well as the heartbreaking stories from the 2005 earthquake were enough to make my eyes fill with tears.  Greg didn't tell the stories in tugging-at-heartstrings way really.  It was just sad for me realizing the struggles and sadness some people in this world endure.  I know struggles are everywhere, but as I read and visualized these things it just made it more real how many hardships some people have to overcome just to survive.

What do you think?

I read all of these in Primal. Agree?  Disagree?  Discuss if you please.

"To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary, he was too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the Lion of Judah and made Him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies."  -- Dorothy Sayers

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."  -- CS Lewis

"When God wants to initiate a new movement in history, God does not intervene directly, but sends us dreams and visions that can, if attended to, initiate the process." -- Walter Wink

Nature/People Reveal Mysteries "If you love them enough"

If you've ever been tempted to use your past, your poor family life and upbringing as an excuse for why you cannot succeed in life, consider this man.  And the power of hard work, determination and the want to succeed and better yourself and others.  What an inspiration!

 Did you know George Washington Carver was born into slavery?  Although slaves were freed soon after his birth, it wasn't an instant paradise for black people in the United States as they continued to struggle for many many years in order to have equal rights with their white counterparts.  Keep this in mind as you read this excerpt from Primal.
  

George Washington Carver is considered one of the greatest scientific minds of the twentieth century, despite an uphill academic climb. He was accepted by Highland College, then rejected by Highland College when he showed up and they discovered he was an African American. He studied art and piano at Simpson College in Iowa. Then he earned his master's degree in botany from Iowa State University.  Upon graduation, Carver accepted a position at Tuskegee University, where he taught for forty-seven years.

 Around the turn of the century, the agricultural economy of the South was suffering. The boll weevil was devastating cotton crops. And the soil was depleted of nutrients because farmers planted cotton year in and year out. It was George Washington Carver who introduced the concept of crop rotation. He encouraged farmers to plant peanuts, and they did. The strategy revived the soil, but farmers were frustrated because there was no market for peanuts.  Their abundant peanut crops rotted in warehouses. When they complained to Carver, he did what he had always done. He prayed about it.

Carver routinely got up at 4:00 a.m., walked through the woods, and asked God to reveal the mysteries of nature. He interpreted Job 12:7-8 literally:

Ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you ...

Carver literally asked God to reveal the mysteries of nature. And God did.

    I asked God, "Why did you make the universe, Lord?"
         "Ask for something more in proportion to that little mind of yours,"
     replied God.
         "Why did you make the earth, Lord?" I asked.
         "Your little mind still wants to know far too much. Ask for something
     more in proportion to that little mind of yours," replied God.
         "Why did you make man, Lord?" I asked.
         "Far too much. Far too much. Ask again," replied God.
         "Explain to me why you made plants, Lord," I asked.
         "Your little mind still wants to know far too much."
         "The peanut?" I asked meekly.
         "Yes! For your modest proportions I will grant you the mystery of the
     peanut.  Take it inside your laboratory and separate it into water, fats,
     oils, gums, resins, sugars, starches and amino acids.  Then recombine
     these under my three laws of compatibility, temperature and pressure. 
     Then you will know why I made the peanut."  (source)

On January 20, 1921, George Washington Carver testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the United Peanut Association of America. The committee chairman, Joseph Fordney of Michigan, told him he had ten minutes.  An hour and forty minutes later, the committee told George Washington Carver he could come back anytime he wanted.  Carver mesmerized the committee by demonstrating dozens of uses for the peanut. In the end, Carver discovered more than three hundred uses for the peanut.  Or maybe more accurately, the Lord revealed more than three hundred uses.  They included everything from glue to shaving cream to soup to insecticide to cosmetics to wood stains to fertilizer to linoleum ...

"To me," said Carver, "nature in its varied forms are the little windows through which God permits me to commune with him, and to see much of his glory, by simply lifting the curtain, and looking in.  I love to think of nature as wireless telegraph stations through which God speaks to us every day, every hour, and every moment of our lives." ...

"Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also -- if you love them enough." 



the above story is quoted from pgs. 127-128, Primal by Mark Batterson


"On his grave was written, He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world."  (source)

The Difficulty in Loving God for God...Nothing More or Less

"Which do you love more: your dream or God?  Do you love God for what He can do for you? Or do you love Him for who He is?  In its purest, most primal form, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is loving God for God. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else."

Arrrrrrrgh!!  Sounds so beautiful, doesn't it? But how hard it is!

How do you just love God for who He is?

Yes, I know I just read this whole book that dealt with this topic, but when Mark put this quote on one of the last few pages, I felt like throwing up my hands as I contemplated how in the world to love God for being God.

And nothing else.

Do we love anybody that way?  Is our love that primal? that pure?  Or do we love most anyone or anything mostly, partly or even teensy weensily because of either what they can do for us, how they make us feel or how they encourage, bless us, love us in return.

Is our love ever that pure?

Even with newborn babies, don't we love them somewhat because they make us feel complete, they bring us joy, they need us, look at us with trust as they hold our fingers?

Are we capable of loving God for God? Or are we only able to love Him based on things He does for us? Healing, showing mercy, demonstrating love, creating, sustaining ...  What do you think? 

And also, how do you love God?

 

quote from Primal, Mark Batterson - pg. 165

Fill Your Soul With the Wonderful One

God is not an object of knowledge as much as He is a cause of wonder. 

 

And that sanctified sense of wonder fuels a holy curiosity to keep learning more about the Creator and His creation.

We know just enough to think we know a lot. That is our greatest problem and greatest danger, intellectually.  Like teenagers who don't know how much they don't know, we're so proud of our one-dimensional knowledge of the Creator and His creation.  And we're so sure of our systematic theologies that quantify and classify the Unquantifiable and Unclassifiable One. But quantifying and classifying always lead to demystifying. And when you demystify God, you're guilty of intellectual idolatry.  You end up with a god, lowercase g, who fits into nice, neat cognitive categories. But the god who conveniently fits within the confines of your mind will never fill your soul with wonder.

pg. 91 - Primal by Mark Batterson

"Earth's crammed with heaven"

Yesterday I sat on my porch as a storm was approaching and basked in the might and glory of God's creation. The wind was tousling my hair, cooling my skin and making the trees sway. A large bird was soaring above and I watched it glide in the wind current looking so free. I stopped to enjoy the show.

I also saw a butterfly flit from blossom to blossom and a hummingbird zoom as those birds are prone to do. I enjoyed an ordinary bush outside...how I love the greenery with raindrop décor! God gives me much to enjoy. Every day. I just have to open my eyes and look past the hard times in life to recognize this fact.

"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries."
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Today marks a year since my grandparents moved up here! It was on a Saturday though. I remember when we first told Michael that Mema and Pop were moving to NC, he said matter-of-factly, "Oh, they will be glad to see me."

Traveling to the Far Side & Surviving with Faith Intact

"I would not give a fig for simplicity
on the near side of complexity."

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes,
former chief justice of the United States Supreme Court

In his book Primal, pastor Mark Batterson suggests that we have made Christianity overly-complicated whereas Jesus was able "to simplify complex spiritual truths in unforgettable and irrefutable ways." Writing with the desire that we get back to the simplicity of what Jesus taught and the "primal essence of Christianity", Mark reminds us the most important thing is not the Law, not the Prophets, not Tradition but this:

³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark12)


This book was written with this goal and I feel it's great timing since not long ago I was wondering how exactly do I love God. Remember this?

I've been wrestling with the idea of God as a force, an energy, a spirit since I have a hard time relating to loving something that is not human or not able to be seen. In my mind, I picture God a certain way even if He's just a pure white "man" covered with clouds and brightness. It's difficult thinking of him without human qualities and features! How does one love a force? How does one love the universe (if the universe is God for instance)? Does Jesus put a human face to God and this is why Jesus said, "if you've seen me, you've seen the Father"? source

Mark starts off great from the first chapter. I really liked this.

Many Christians settle for simplicity on the near side of complexity. Their faith is only mind deep. They know what they believe, but they don't know why they believe what they believe. Their faith is fragile because it has never been tested intellectually or experientially. Near-side Christians have never been in the catacombs of doubt or suffering so when they encounter questions they cannot answer or experiences they cannot explain, it causes a crisis of faith.

For far-side Christians, those who have done their time in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, unanswerable questions and unexplained experiences actually result in a heightened appreciation for the mystery and majesty of a God who does not fit within the logical constraints of the left brain. Near-side Christians, on the other hand, lose their faith before they've really found it.

Simplicity on the near side of complexity goes by another name: spiritually immaturity. And that's not the kind of simplicity I'm advocating. God calls us to simplicity on the far side of complexity. For that matter, He calls us to faith on the far side of doubt, joy on the far side of sorrow, and love on the far side of anger.

Good stuff, isn't it? Can anyone relate to how she has journeyed through the hard stuff (doubts, fears, sufferings, storms) and come out on the far side of complexity and it has strengthened her faith? Or maybe you are still on the near side and haven't had the doubts and sufferings of life so your faith hasn't been tested. Do you still only know what you believe or have you come to know why you believe it? How many have traveled to the far side only to have that "crisis of faith" Mark mentioned? How did you handle this crisis of faith? Did your faith remain intact, grow stronger, weaker or did you abandon it for another or nothing at all?


(quotes from pgs. 3-6)