If you read my post 12 in 12 you will see that I did not set any new goals this year. This was by design
Most of the time we have great intentions and goals for ourselves but we never get there. As humans we have a tendency to not change much.
I am not seeking fundemental change in my life when I will most likely to repeat similar scenerios as 2011. I am not giving up on change. I am choosing to repeat the same scenerios in a much better way.
This year for me is not about seeking to find God, happiness, meaning in life, relationships etc. in places I have never been before. This year is about finding those things in the midst of the life I already have.
12 in 12
For 2012 my hope is to accomplish fewer goals. That's right I said fewer goals. My hope is to create more healthy and ongoing patterns. Continual renewal. Cycles of self-improvement. Constant reinvention. Developing vs. Developed
Here is the list of patterns I hope to establish in 2012.
New Patterns for 2012
1. Spend more time with other people I care about.
2. Have more purpose-full conversations.
3. Remember I have friends and relationships I want to continue building.
4. Participate in my faith rather than simply contemplating it.
5. Become more pragmatic in business and less pragmatic with the people that surround it.
6. Become more humble, vulnerable, and comfortable with doubt
7. Write more blogs. Make more videos.
8. Read a book every week.
9. Fish more. Teach someone to fish.
10. Convince my friends to do something great together.
11. Visit Nashville.
12. Breathe mountain air.
Here is the list of patterns I hope to establish in 2012.
New Patterns for 2012
1. Spend more time with other people I care about.
2. Have more purpose-full conversations.
3. Remember I have friends and relationships I want to continue building.
4. Participate in my faith rather than simply contemplating it.
5. Become more pragmatic in business and less pragmatic with the people that surround it.
6. Become more humble, vulnerable, and comfortable with doubt
7. Write more blogs. Make more videos.
8. Read a book every week.
9. Fish more. Teach someone to fish.
10. Convince my friends to do something great together.
11. Visit Nashville.
12. Breathe mountain air.
a not so free will
Thoughts on Freewill
There is this idea that freewill gives us a freedom to choose anything for ourselves. This all makes perfect sense in theory, but it doesn't work quite so well in practice. Once freewill steps off the pages of philosophy and into reality it looses its freedom and becomes binding.
To choose anything one thing is to reject all other things. Every choice limits the vast options previously available. Even in choosing apathy one has rejected everything but nothing itself.
To admire freewill is not to appreciate infinite choice, but recognize the beauty in such limit
ed choice. It is the limited nature of freewill that brings meaning and definition to anything earthly. An artist may claim to want freedom of expression, but it is only in his lack of freedom that he creates a masterpiece. He cannot create beautiful music without notes, or paint a tiger without stripes. If he does he has succeeded in creating neither.
Freewill is not the blessing of infinite choice but the curse of it.
Freedom from will only comes with the complete surrender of will itself, and this itself is a choice.
In the book of Romans, Paul talks about this idea of freedom in Christ through enslavement to Him.
Christ loved us so much he gave us freedom from choice.
God is not defined by what our will wants him to be. As a musician cannot create music without notes, a man cannot define the infinite.
In choosing Jesus we loose our own definition in the infinite will of God.
There is this idea that freewill gives us a freedom to choose anything for ourselves. This all makes perfect sense in theory, but it doesn't work quite so well in practice. Once freewill steps off the pages of philosophy and into reality it looses its freedom and becomes binding.
To choose anything one thing is to reject all other things. Every choice limits the vast options previously available. Even in choosing apathy one has rejected everything but nothing itself.
To admire freewill is not to appreciate infinite choice, but recognize the beauty in such limit
ed choice. It is the limited nature of freewill that brings meaning and definition to anything earthly. An artist may claim to want freedom of expression, but it is only in his lack of freedom that he creates a masterpiece. He cannot create beautiful music without notes, or paint a tiger without stripes. If he does he has succeeded in creating neither.
Freewill is not the blessing of infinite choice but the curse of it.
Freedom from will only comes with the complete surrender of will itself, and this itself is a choice.
In the book of Romans, Paul talks about this idea of freedom in Christ through enslavement to Him.
Christ loved us so much he gave us freedom from choice.
God is not defined by what our will wants him to be. As a musician cannot create music without notes, a man cannot define the infinite.
In choosing Jesus we loose our own definition in the infinite will of God.
Discovering my Heresy as Orthodoxy
A young man bored and dissatisfied by the place he grew up in set out on an adventure to find something new. Leaving the port of New Orleans he sailed for days southward in the direction of Cape Horn, Chile. His quest was to find something new, joyful, and meaningful other than the drafty old town which he left. After weeks at sea a large hurricane came along and bashed him about tearing his small craft to pieces. Lost and confused the young man clung to a piece of wood and waited for the tide to bring him ashore. By the time the man drifted in he was dehydrated and disoriented. The locals found him, cared for him, and restored his health. The man loved Cape Horn. The people were wonderful, the cuisine exquisite, and the culture like none other he had ever experienced. He strangely left at home in this foreign land. One afternoon after being there for months he decided to walk down to the local pub but was stopped by the traffic of a large and wild parade. So he asked one of the locals, "What is the meaning of this?" The local replied, "Haven't you ever been to Mardi Gras before?"
______________________________________________________________
There is this idea out there that we can somehow convince people that Christianity is the truth. If this were true why does every generation have to rediscover faith for themselves?
I speak from personal experience. But often times it is when we have abandoned these ideas we were taught about God that find ourselves in the very place where we can experience him. A lot of times we go to church with these profound doubts we are afraid to tell anyone about. We allow the pastors and church staff believe with certainty that which we cannot. Our minds are convinced but our souls are not.
Perhaps when we escape that certainty and enter a place of complete doubt and unknowing we will find the truth of what we heard in church. It is in abandoning our learned notions of God that we find ourselves open to a place where we can experience God in our lives.
It was not in my intellectual understanding of the message of Jesus first that I believed. But in my experience with Jesus that his message made sense intellectually.
I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy. - G.K. Chesterton
______________________________________________________________
There is this idea out there that we can somehow convince people that Christianity is the truth. If this were true why does every generation have to rediscover faith for themselves?
I speak from personal experience. But often times it is when we have abandoned these ideas we were taught about God that find ourselves in the very place where we can experience him. A lot of times we go to church with these profound doubts we are afraid to tell anyone about. We allow the pastors and church staff believe with certainty that which we cannot. Our minds are convinced but our souls are not.
Perhaps when we escape that certainty and enter a place of complete doubt and unknowing we will find the truth of what we heard in church. It is in abandoning our learned notions of God that we find ourselves open to a place where we can experience God in our lives.
It was not in my intellectual understanding of the message of Jesus first that I believed. But in my experience with Jesus that his message made sense intellectually.
I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy. - G.K. Chesterton
Beauty in a Postmodern World
Occasionally lighting strikes and the whole forest is burned. The light from the sun shines down on the burnt earth. Out of the ashes new life springs forth and the forest recreates itself in a beautiful new fashion. This new forest is not perfect. In fact it has as many flaws as the previous stagnant forest that needed burning in order for new life to arise. But it is the light of the sun that reveals all that is glorious in the new forest. It was the sun that allowed the appropriate weather systems necessary for lighting to strike. One day this new forest will to become stagnant and need to be burned. All the forests old, new, and yet to come only experience life and grow in the light of the never ceasing sun.
Commentary
Of course humanity won't get it all right this time. The 'new' postmodern argument is as infinitely circular and lives in a world as finitely small as the last. It should be understood and held as lightly as the modern.
Ecclesiastes 1: 13-14......I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I like these verses because they exclude everything under the sun from meaning. The only thing not excluded from meaning is the sun itself. But to stare into the sun itself is to cause blindness and utter confusion. Its power can not be comprehended by the naked eye. Yet it is so humble. It shares its light so the everything under it which is meaningless can experience meaning.
Meaning is not found in proof of the empirical. Significance is something you experience. It is so subjective. To experience meaning is to benefit from the light. Meaning is not found in our understanding of the world but in our experience of the light.
It is in this present forest that we experience life. And it is the sun that gives us light to enjoy, interpret, and understand the forest. Why would we spend time complaining that the old forest was better when the light makes it possible to experience the new forest around us? Whatever the forest we tend to spend a lot of time proving it's existence rather than living in the light.
Commentary
Of course humanity won't get it all right this time. The 'new' postmodern argument is as infinitely circular and lives in a world as finitely small as the last. It should be understood and held as lightly as the modern.
Ecclesiastes 1: 13-14......I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I like these verses because they exclude everything under the sun from meaning. The only thing not excluded from meaning is the sun itself. But to stare into the sun itself is to cause blindness and utter confusion. Its power can not be comprehended by the naked eye. Yet it is so humble. It shares its light so the everything under it which is meaningless can experience meaning.
Meaning is not found in proof of the empirical. Significance is something you experience. It is so subjective. To experience meaning is to benefit from the light. Meaning is not found in our understanding of the world but in our experience of the light.
It is in this present forest that we experience life. And it is the sun that gives us light to enjoy, interpret, and understand the forest. Why would we spend time complaining that the old forest was better when the light makes it possible to experience the new forest around us? Whatever the forest we tend to spend a lot of time proving it's existence rather than living in the light.
Can we make God an idol?
The Man and his Jesus Car
There was this guy who really wanted this car named Jesus. It was a beautiful new top of line sport car. So he went to the dealership and gave the man his money. In return he received his brand new shiny Jesus car. However after he had driven the car for a few months he was became tired of it. The thing he once desired no longer brought him happiness. So he return to the dealership and had a new stereo put in his Jesus car. This worked well for awhile but he soon became complacent again. So he decided he needed to add some new rims to his Jesus car. The cycle continued and for a long time the man continued to return to the dealership for upgrades. The worst part for this guy was he had to pretend that he still enjoyed his Jesus car that no longer gave him satisfaction. Because many of his friend also owned Jesus cars, and they seemed to treasure the car.
Are you going to Christianity in pursuit of happiness? Are you looking to gain something from Jesus?
Could Christianity be the freedom from the pursuit of happiness? What if Christianity means gain only through the loss of everything? I believe they do but if heaven and hell don't exist is it still worth following Jesus on this earth?
Are you embracing God as an escape from reality or finding God in the midst of relationships and the world around you?
There was this guy who really wanted this car named Jesus. It was a beautiful new top of line sport car. So he went to the dealership and gave the man his money. In return he received his brand new shiny Jesus car. However after he had driven the car for a few months he was became tired of it. The thing he once desired no longer brought him happiness. So he return to the dealership and had a new stereo put in his Jesus car. This worked well for awhile but he soon became complacent again. So he decided he needed to add some new rims to his Jesus car. The cycle continued and for a long time the man continued to return to the dealership for upgrades. The worst part for this guy was he had to pretend that he still enjoyed his Jesus car that no longer gave him satisfaction. Because many of his friend also owned Jesus cars, and they seemed to treasure the car.
Are you going to Christianity in pursuit of happiness? Are you looking to gain something from Jesus?
Could Christianity be the freedom from the pursuit of happiness? What if Christianity means gain only through the loss of everything? I believe they do but if heaven and hell don't exist is it still worth following Jesus on this earth?
Are you embracing God as an escape from reality or finding God in the midst of relationships and the world around you?
I hope Heaven is...
We spend a lot of time discussing our ideas on heaven. What for? It is outside of our reach. It is past our present reality. We only have promises for an afterlife. We have little to no tangible proof of its existence. The search to define heaven seems to be distracting from what needs to be done here on earth. Yet, I agree it still needs to be discussed.
I heard growing up that heaven is supposed to be this place where we know all the answers.Where we understand how God works. The never ending universe will be explained. Science will be in perfect harmony with Christian thought. There will be no theories. Just facts. Everything will make sense. We will finally be at peace because there will be nothing left to argue about.
If this is true I will just hang outside the gate and talk to people before they come in while they still have an useful imagination.
What I like about heaven is that is beyond our understanding. It is mysterious. Science was meant to explain this life and not the anything past that. So I hope heaven stays unexplainable once we get there. What fun would God's presence be if we could completely understand it? If God's infinite nature becomes logical it is no longer exciting. Send me back to earth where I can continue to be awestruck.
My hope is that we can spend eternity exploring layer after layer of who God is and never understand Him. Heaven does not exist for God to become comprehensible to me, but for me to see just how incomprehensible God really is.
I hope my questions don't get answered in Heaven. I hope my answers become greater questions.
I heard growing up that heaven is supposed to be this place where we know all the answers.Where we understand how God works. The never ending universe will be explained. Science will be in perfect harmony with Christian thought. There will be no theories. Just facts. Everything will make sense. We will finally be at peace because there will be nothing left to argue about.
If this is true I will just hang outside the gate and talk to people before they come in while they still have an useful imagination.
What I like about heaven is that is beyond our understanding. It is mysterious. Science was meant to explain this life and not the anything past that. So I hope heaven stays unexplainable once we get there. What fun would God's presence be if we could completely understand it? If God's infinite nature becomes logical it is no longer exciting. Send me back to earth where I can continue to be awestruck.
My hope is that we can spend eternity exploring layer after layer of who God is and never understand Him. Heaven does not exist for God to become comprehensible to me, but for me to see just how incomprehensible God really is.
I hope my questions don't get answered in Heaven. I hope my answers become greater questions.
John Piper Interviews Rick Warren on Doctrine
John Piper Interviews Rick Warren on Doctrine
If you question the motives of John Piper or Rick Warren take the time to watch this video. You will have new respect for both men. No shortcuts. Watch the whole thing.
If you question the motives of John Piper or Rick Warren take the time to watch this video. You will have new respect for both men. No shortcuts. Watch the whole thing.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)