Visiting Mt. Kassioun with Amer

Apparently one of my Arab friends was looking at my Syrian pictures on Facebook last night because he commented that he should have been in this picture. Unfortunately Amer was in a car accident about two weeks prior to our trip and was not able to hang out with us due to torn ligaments in his ankle. We did visit him at his house, but he missed all other adventures.

I commented that maybe we'll have to draw him in the picture so today he sent me this. Apparently he photoshopped himself so it appears that he visited Mt. Kassioun with us.



See him there on the left? I thought this was pretty cute and wanted to share it here. Glad you could join us, Amer! :-) You can see the original picture here.

The Eds, Logos, Altars, Zacchaeus

January 3, 2010
Dressed: colorfully* & warmly since it was so stinkin' cold today!
Enjoyed: discussing life in Africa with my mom and grandmother
Squeezed: my adorable nephew - and not just once!
Annoyed: that I still can't get my brother on his cell phone
Joked: with my grandfather about my being a spy*
Wondered: if Jesus being the Logos (Word) and thus revealing the mind of God is for the benefit of our logic ... Logos and logic seem awfully close ... the things that make ya go "hmmmm"



* I had on my black "Cat in the Hat" hat, a black coat, long red scarf, royal blue gloves and my sunglasses when I left my grandparents' house today.


Notes to ponder from Wild Goose Chase ...

"Where have I gotten too comfortable as a Christ follower? ... If I let routine rule my life, I'll never get where the Wild Goose wants me to go." (pg. 44) quotes except I changed the pronouns from you and your to I and me to personalize it

Am I stuck in the rut of routine?

Remember times in the Bible when altars were built? "Altars help us remember what God doesn't want us to forget. They give us a sacred place to go back to." Do we "feel spiritually lost because we don't have any milestones that help us find our way back to God"?

"We need altars that renew our faith by reminding us of the faithfulness of God. And every once in a while, we need to go back to those sacred places to repent of our sin, renew our covenant with God, and celebrate what God has done." (pg. 48)

"Celebrate what God has done" - I like that. I need to built more altars so I can remember God's faithfulness at times when life seems out of sorts.

Mark then wonders about certain Bible characters and places where their lives were changed. I liked these a lot! Here is one favorite, "Did Zacchaeus ever take his grandchildren back to climb the sycamore tree where he caught his first glimpse of Jesus?" Wow, what a thought!

Hope for the New Year!

"We wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)


In reading a brief article by Ann Vande Zande, I came across a statement about the Enemy's attack centering on "annihilating hope." I can relate. Can you?

Sometimes it seems I want to just give up and become a cynic because life seems boring and purposeless or this or that situation just never gets rectified. Maybe you are too busy to have those moments, but perhaps there is something in your life, some circumstance you push aside and try not to think about or maybe it's something you can't help but think about because it is so blaringly obvious and fills your thoughts all.day.long. And that place or situation makes you feel sad and depressed because most days there seems to be NO HOPE.

What a discouraging place to be!

The author suggests "speaking the Creator's thoughts out loud can bring clarity [because it is] not some clever message we summoned from within, but divine truth accessed by reading the Living Word." Then she adds this which is what captured my attention the most:

"The Logos reveals the mind of God and releases hope."

The Logos, The Word -- Jesus!

Yes, we can find great hope in Jesus!

I encourage you to find some of your favorite promises of God and speak them, pray them and find hope. Many months ago I asked some friends to share some of their favorite verses and added them to a page I called Victory Verses. I haven't been to this site in a long time and it seems it's a bit off from how I remember it. Google might have done some updating which messed up the pages, however, you can still read these verses if you wish. Or find your own verses.

Wishing you much HOPE in this new year!

The Eds

I got this idea from Rachel, and who knows if I'll keep it up. She's calling it The Daily Eds because of something about things she does and being in past tense and all that. Maybe I'll do The Weekly Eds if I remember. For now I'll borrow her idea because I found it cute. :)

January 1, 2010
Consumed: some yummy dark chocolate
Watched: FSU's game against WV; Florida's win over Cinci -- you'd think I were a Florida resident, eh?
Cleaned: toilets & floors (vacuumed which is its own "ed")
Exercised: Walked outside before the big freeze w/ breeze settled on us
Loved: Being productive
Pondered: The Wild Goose

January 2, 2010
Endured: writing out checks for fourth quarter estimated taxes
Blogged: about the Holy Spirit
Organized: Andrew's clothes closet
Tallied: 2009 work receipts
Loved: That I finally heard from Samer
Cried: about that S word *sigh*


What noteworthy "-eds" have you done since 2010 began? :)

Who is the Holy Spirit?

"What is the Holy Spirit?And how important is the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of God blown into Jesus?"

Within the last few days I've been talking a bit about the Trinity. After finding this Thought, Word, Deed analogy on the Internet and sharing it for your feedback, I was asked to explain more about the Holy Spirit. A brief part of the post says this:

"The three Persons appear in a logical, causal order. The Father is the unseen, omnipresent Source of all being, revealed in and by the Son, experienced in and by the Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit from the Son. With reference to God's creation, the Father is the Thought behind it, the Son is the Word calling it forth, and the Spirit is the Deed making it a reality."

I'm not positive this is a great illustration, but that's one reason I posted it. To see what others thought. Anyway, I can understand the Thought and Word pretty well. As I wrote in the comments section of the above-mentioned post:

If one read the Bible and accepted that Jesus is God, to me, being The Word would mean the "Thought" was being expressed. I can have many thoughts in my mind, but until it is revealed through word or action, it's unshared. . . . If we take this imperfect analogy and say God is Thought then His revealing His Word is God sharing Himself with us. (What a gift to make His thoughts known to humankind!) And, of course, I believe He did this through Jesus and is why Jesus told Philip in John 14, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." Also remember the prophet Isaiah talked about Emmanuel and then when Matthew wrote his book for his Jewish people, he hearkened back hundreds of years to Isaiah's words and said *Jesus* was Emmanuel ("God with us."). Also note how often Jesus says He does nothing of himself, but does what the Father wants Him to do. (If Word = Thought expressed this makes some sense to me.)

But what about this Deed thing? Who is the Holy Spirit? Throughout the Old Testament the Spirit of God would visit individuals to guide them, but as far as I can recollect, He did not live with them daily. This all changed once Jesus came to earth, fulfilled His mission and went back to the Father. After washing their feet in a demonstration of how we must serve others, Jesus was speaking with His disciples in John 13 and had just told them He would be soon leaving them. After three years of following Him, the disciples were puzzled and questioning, "Lord, where are you going? ... Why can't I follow you now?" Jesus assured them that He was going back to the Father, but they should not have troubled hearts. He even told them a Comforter (or Helper, Counselor) would come live with them -- and be in them! (See John 14:17)

So why is this important? Jesus called the Holy Spirit, "the spirit of truth" and He said,

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Jesus said it was advantageous that He leave and the Holy Spirit come. Not only would the Spirit of God convict the world of sin, but there were hard things that Jesus didn't tell His followers because of their inability to bear them at the time, yet He promised that the Spirit would guide them into all truth. (See John 16:12-15)

This post is quite lengthy so I will stop talking of the Holy Spirit for now. However, I hope to address the way the Spirit is helpful to us at another time.

One of the greatest examples for me is comparing the disciples of Christ before and after the arrival of the Holy Spirit of God. Recall how most of the disciples fled and Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times when He was arrested and on trial. Then Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection and He soon returned to His Father. Then Acts records the coming of the Holy Spirit and the boldness of Jesus' followers. Although their Teacher had left, they had new-found bravery and fervor for spreading His message. The promised Helper had come!

What questions do you still have regarding the Holy Spirit? What things written above are unclear to you? Any other thoughts or comments?

For some thoughts on the Eastern perspective of the Trinity according to Karen Armstrong, please check out Wrestling With Religion's insightful post.

Broke My New Year's Resolution Already!

Happy New Year and all that good stuff! Hope 01.01.10 has been a good one for ya. Mine started a bit rough, but ended up pretty well, thankfully. I cleaned toilets and vacuumed the house and got a lot of stuff done for my workplace that needs doing in January. Aaaaaaaaand I watched some of the Florida State football game (that's American football with the brown ball, helmets, tackles) and was happy to see them win. This was their eighty-year-old coach's last game and I wanted to see Bobby Bowden go out with a win. So, yay for beating the West Virginia Mountaineers!

Since it's supposed to get bone-chillingly cold here for the next week, I decided today I needed to walk outdoors and get some fresh air, bask in the sunshine and just enjoy the mid-forties temperature. And while doing so I was looking skyward and noticed a hawk gliding in the breeze so majestically. I kept watching it as I walked and the thought came to mind of "the Wild Goose."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, this is a hawk, not a goose. Plus I said I wasn't going to read books that encourage me to chase the Wild Goose this year. I even told Andrew that a few weeks ago and reiterated it on my blog just days ago! I get frustrated when I read them with high hopes and then settle back into my ordinary, purposeless life.

Here's what I wrote:

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I didn't make any resolutions really. I do recall now that I wanted to live by faith, not fear, and I think I did better than some years, PTL! Next year...I won't read any books that urge me to chase the Wild Goose.



And what do you know! I made ONE resolution I thought I'd have little trouble keeping. Yet . . .

I already broke it.


*ahem*

Didn't even last a day!


Wellllllllllllllll, when I saw that majestic bird, I was reminded of the Wild Goose and then, then I remembered, "Ah, it's about the Holy Spirit" and what do you know? just yesterday I said I would soon write about the Holy Spirit here.

Hmmm


Have you ever just felt lead to read something or watch or do something? Like you get an impression that you should just do it despite what resolution you made?

The other resolution I made to myself today is to see how long I can avoid dwelling on or mentioning the "S" word. I'm sure Andrew is ready for me to move on so I think I'll see how many days I can go without talking about it.

Re: the Wild Goose -- If you are wondering what I'm talking about and are interested, here are posts I wrote last year when I read about the Wild Goose. They are in reverse order, but if you click HERE and then read from the bottom up, you will get the idea. I just felt I needed to read it again and why not start on the first day of the new year? Resolutions are made for breaking, right? It's part of American tradition. :-)

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Notes to ponder from chapters 1 & 2

Have I settled for inverted Christianity? Instead of following the Spirit have I "invited" him to follow me? Instead of serving God's purposes have I demanded God serve mine? Result of this "inverted relationship with God is not just a self-absorbed spirituality that leaves us feeling empty, it's also the difference between spiritual boredom and spiritual adventure." (pg. 4)

"Jesus speaks to that deep-seated longing for adventure by challenging us to come out of the cage. But coming out of the cage means giving up the very thing in which we find our security and identity outside of Christ." For the rich young ruler this cage was financial security. (pg. 9)

"When God puts a passion in your heart ... that God-ordained passion becomes your responsibility." (pg. 20)

What kind of God-ordained passion has been conceived in your spirit? (pg. 25)

Reminders:

Christianity was never intended to a noun. It should be an action verb. Think: Book of Acts (not Thoughts or Sayings or Theories) (pg. 29)

Most often in the Bible, signs follow faith (pg. 32). If you have signs first, faith isn't really required.

Pray for the favor of God (pg. 34)

When you can't figure out how to get from where you are to where you want to be, "be the best cupbearer you can be." (Nehemiah -- pg. 37)

Last Day of the Year Stuff

Happy last day of the year! Another year has come and is nearly gone. I don't know about you, but whenever the newscasts have those "In Memory" segments where they show all the famous people who died the previous year, I get kind of teary. There are so many people much dearer to me and you that die every year and they aren't publicly recognized. I'm not griping about that though - I know those people aren't famous in the world's eyes. My point is, even seeing these people it just makes you realize how short life is. There's Michael Jackson or Ted Kennedy or Patrick Swayze full of life, full of purpose and then they are no more on this planet. Death plays no favorites.

Boy, do I sound grim!

I checked my calendar from last December and realized we got our visas to Syria exactly one year ago today. I can't help but feel a bit of a let down this year when compared to the excitement of preparing for that trip. Although, to be honest, I hated packing and preparing so I don't miss that part. I just miss being there!

I finished Christine Mallouhi's book this morning and the last couple of chapters really spoke to my heart. Maybe one day I'll post about those things. For sure, I need to reread this book because it has some great stuff for someone like me.

Here's a quote I came across is a magazine recently. The article dealt with people who were not looking for Jesus. In fact they hated Christians and Christianity and wanted nothing to do with either. Yet Jesus "found" them. The quote: "Believers aren't people who have answered every question about Jesus. They are people who have met Him." I really liked that for some reason.

I was asked on a previous post about the Holy Spirit and who he is. So I'm going to work on a post about what or who the Holy Spirit is to me. I think that's a great question!

One last thing, I was reading just now in Matthew and wanted to share this passage. Maybe your year was full of burdens and struggles. Perhaps it was mostly great, but you still feel something is weighing you down. Maybe life is great for you now, but you will need help in coming days. Regardless, I hope you are encouraged as you read - and respond to - these words from Jesus.

²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."


Ooooh, I just read this post about "holy anticipation" from one of my favorite encouraging bloggers. I wanted to record it here. I needed that.