The Dust

Just when I thought the dust was settling...when I thought I was gaining the ability to forgive and move on....when I thought God was cleansing me of all the pain and confusion and lack of direction...God gives me reason to return and revisit, if only for two evenings.

When I said I would never set foot there again unless hell froze over, I knew there were two exceptions...a wedding or a funeral of a relative or friend. There must've been a cold front in hades, because last week I found myself there to hear Graham Cooke.

I didn't believe that even Graham would be motivation enough for me to return, but God told me to go, so I did. It wasn't easy. A good friend had to come over on Wednesday and give me a 5 hour pep talk, building up my strength.

Oh, the fear. The fear of running into people I don't want to talk to and wouldn't know what to say to. The fear of reliving the pain and the judgement. The fear of being asked unanswerable questions...where have I been, where am I going to church?

And the absolute terror when being faced with the possibility of realizing that this place is still "home".

With all the familiar faces. Even with the faces of those whom I never want to face. Even with the incredibly stale worship music. Even with the crowds and the hierarchal pastoral system and the programs and classes and the evil call to "put into practice the reality of God's favor" when the offering is passed.

So I sat and looked around and then closed my eyes and prayed. More like yelled. "Lord resuce me from this place...I don't want this, I can't do this, I am unsafe here, I am not free here, I am in pain here, I am not loved here, I am in shock here."

And the undeniable sense of peace. God has never been dishonest with me, He has always maintained that He will call me to return here. In time. In time.

And it was with ovewhelming relief that I realized He was saying, "not yet." Because I am not ready. Boy am I ever not ready.

But this was a dress rehearsal for that day, whenever it comes.

There is a shaking there that began maybe 3 years ago, maybe 5, maybe more. But it is increasing in intensity and frequency, and things are beginning to happen. When I heard that Graham Cooke was returning...well, to let you into my secret thoughts, I found myself wondering "Why does he BOTHER coming here year after year? Nothing ever changes, nothing ever happens, the system never responds to his insight and teaching. And yet here he is, for the 5th time. Why? Is he some kind of glutton for punishment?

I know Graham Cooke well enough, at least in the corporate sense, to know he most definitely has an intention and a purpose, God-given, for coming to this tightly-wound body of believers. I know he must see something I don't. He says "always speak to the potential in people", but I wonder does that potential have a limit? 'Cause I sure can't see it.

I digress.

My personal revelation had two parts. Part certainly had to do with Graham's teaching on "The Suddenlies of God"...more on that later.

The other part had to do with "the dust".

In the last month or two I have felt the dust settling. I have begun to feel peace inside, peace of forgiveness, of letting go of hurt and letting God's love and grace fill the holes that were left by the people who hurt me. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame people for hurting me, I don't harbor bitterness. We are all human and we all respond to things only to the best of our ability, sometimes this results in hurting those around us. But I will not deny that I have been hurt, though I have worked hard to release it, to look for how God is working through it, to see what He would have me learn from it.

So I was beginning to see the air in my spirit clear, beginning to feel like I can breathe again, to feel a new day approaching, rather than looking back to the dim and dusty past.

Then God had to bring me a tornado and stir it all up. I realized that I was not letting go as well as I thought I had been. Instead, I was supressing and overlooking the things I did not want to deal with. So God stirred it all back up again and told me to take another look.

Because when that dreaded day comes, when the prodigal shall return, I guess God doesn't want me to have to waste time healing...He wants me to be wholly (holy?) healed so that when I go back I can get down to whatever business He has for me there.

I sat there in the sancutary and began to think "I can do this, I can come back someday and feel safe again here. I can see this as my home."

Then when we left and I sat down in the car, I took a deep breath and discovered that the only thought in my head was...

"WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!"

More on "the dust" and the impact of Graham's teaching later.

A few more notes on Graham Cooke

My friend Pam has shared her notes with me from the second night of Graham Cooke's teaching. Here's the stuff I missed but she got.

• Frustration is critical these days. Frustration is a catalyst.
• Frustration is designed to get you in the mood to explore the next place.
• Frustration is God messing with your ease and comfort zone.
• The challenge from the Lord to the church worldwide is, “Bankrupt me if you can!”
• God does not need to explain himself to us – he expects obedience, he expects a yes from us.
• Wisdom is the capacity to know how God thinks, how he perceives, and how he likes to do things
• We are returning to our spiritual roots these days.
• Become heart people and stay heart people. It’s a heart affair with God, not a head affair.
• Wisdom is the capacity to know how God thinks, how he perceives, and how he likes to do things.
• Trust God to tell you if you going the wrong way.
• Maturity doesn’t need reassurance in every step.
• If God is saying nothing, he’s happy with you.
• God is relentless about loving you.
  

I am still processing what I learned. It sometimes takes awhile, Graham's teachings are usually really insightful and impactful (is that even a word?).

In any case, I will write when I know what to say.

If you would like to hear Graham Cooke at a speaking engagement, go to GrahamCooke.com and check out his schedule, see if he'e coming to your area. If not, check out his store for his books and some teachings on CD.

Graham Cooke - Day Two

Still processing the personal impact Graham's teachings had on me. Hope to post about it in a couple days when the dust has settled.

For now, here are my notes, part two. Again, they are disjointed. But if you are familiar with Graham you probably will get most of it. Also, not all of this is verbatim (can't write that fast). Some of it is word-for-word, some is just general ideas and impressions.

• Declaring the Season of Enlargement
• Opening a whole new territory
• Suddenlies - divine acceleration
• There is a quickening spirit on Graham - he can release it whereever he goes. Things that would take years will take months, weeks, days, hours, moments.
• A place of critical frustration. If you're dissatisfied with where you are, don't like where youve come from and are nervous about what's out there ahead of you.
• Moving on - God makes you frustrated. Should be frustrated with self and not others or church.
• Frustration gets you into the mood to move. Frustration preceeds enlargement.
• Have to have the mindset to come into enlargement.
• This season is exciting and loud.
• It's not a fair fight. 1/3 of angels fell, we still outnumber them two-to-one. We are condemned to victory.
• A place of power and supremacy. We get to magnify, but need to be careful what we magnify.
• Don't magnify the enemy, he makes you feel small. Magnify the right flippin' thing.
• It's a season of promises. Take out your prophetic words - some of them will some true this year.
• The Holy Spirit will teach us two things in this season - Sensitivity and Obedience.
• In the new thing the knowledge of the old thing won't help you. Don't look for more of what you've already seen.
• Hebrews 11:8
• Called to go to a place of inheiritance but not knowing whre you're going. God is not going to tell you.
• Only way to find out where to go is through sensitivity and obedience.
• God doesn't want your HEAD to KNOW, He wants your HEART to EXPERIENCE.
• Christinanity is to be an affair of the heart.
• God will talk to you in two ways - from His heart and from His head.
• When He speaks from His heart you have to respond from your heart. Don't respond from your head. If you do, you won't get anything else.
• You can't say "No, Lord". If you say "No" then He's not Lord.
• He won't tell you "how" until you say "Yes."
• Logic and reason close down the possibilities of the Spirit.
• Your head will talk you out of things of the Spirit.
• Ephesians 1:18
• Wisdom - Capacity to know how God thinks and how He likes to do things. Knowing how He sees.
• Pass from FAITH to KNOWLEDGE. BELIEVE --> KNOW. Know form experience, So you know in your knower.
• Your heart has a perspective that your head has to come under.
• Don't ask "Why'. Ask "What does this mean?" "What should I do?" "Why" is an invalid question. it will make you an invalid.
• God takes responsibility for telling us which way to go - but he might not tell us which way to go, He might only tell us if we are headed the wrong way.
• Enlargement - the bigness of God. Seeing how big He is for you.
• Chuch is not a community of people who define themselves by what they are AGAINST, but by what Jesus is FOR. Jesus was judged 2000 years ago. Leave judgement alone. Nobody gets saved by judgment.
• You are defined by the quality of the enemy that is against you. When faced with a giant you aren't looking failure in the face, HE IS. The Holy Spirit says "we are going to kick his ASS!"
• Isaiah 54:1-3
• Continuing to ask God for something He has promised builds confidence.
• Overview of the Season of Enlargement:
• Preparing for something enormous.
• Teaches us the wys of God
• Worship opens the affection of God. Give thanks until you become thanks.
• What you behold, you become.
• Rooted in intimacy.
• Get to be jealous for the name of God.
• It's about expansion into my inheiritance.
• The grace and the unction to take possession of my inheiritance.
• Waiting with the joy of anticipation.
• Waiting does not diminish us. We are like a pregnant woman - we are enlarged in the waiting. We don't see what is enlarging us but we feel it!
• Stretch out our place of habitation.

So that's it in a nutshell. Hope you got something out of it.

Spring in the Northwest

8:00 AM - Long jeans, short-sleeved t-shirt, tennis shoes with socks, sweatshirt.

9:45 AM - Open the sunroof of the car.

10:30 AM - Lose the sweatshirt.

Noon - Swap the tennies for flip-flops, trade the long jeans for capris.

2:00 PM - Switch to a tank top. Open the windows of the house.

3:30 PM - Kids get the water guns out.

4:45 PM - Shorts.

6:00 PM - Fire up the barbie.

7:00 PM - Back to long jeans.

8:30 PM - Add a sweatshirt. Close the house windows (except the bedroom).

10:00 PM - Go to bed with the window open.

Midnight - Close the windows.

Ahhh, spring is finally here!

Graham Cooke Day 1

These are my notes and observations of Graham Cooke's teaching last night. You will see why this is incredibly relevant and timely for me (and maybe for you). I look forward to what he has to say tonight.

Long discourse about various biblical people who experienced a sudden change in their life (the "suddenlies"). David, Hosea, Mary and Joseph to name a few. Didn't write all that down because I got the gist.

These are just my random and disjointed notes...not going to explain it all because I can't do it all justice. Also, not necessarily everything I post here is verbatim - just my impressions. To the best of my knowledge you can obtain this teaching on CD at his website...I believe it's called "The Suddenlies of God" from the "Prophets in the Wilderness Conference".

• Made a big deal about how some people will be irritated by this teaching. He says that usually he tells people that if they are irritated then it means the teaching is meant for them. But he said in this case if we were irritated, feel free to leave because it's not meant for us.
• Monologue here about the people in the bible that experienced the "suddenlies".
  
• Suddenlies will change you identity - personality - everything about you.
• You have to learn to see youreself as God sees you.
• A suddenly takes you to a place of being that is outside youre present place and you have to see yourself there.
• The Cross gives us closure so we don't have to past-focused people.
• God lives between your "actual" and your "potential".
• You are who you are right now, but you also are the you that is emerging. (Lilys note: interesting choice of words there, huh?)
• A suddenly takes you into a dimension you are not prepared for.
• God is redeeming time - a divine acceleration.
• Jesus is an enigma. We can't think we have Him all figured out. There is nothing systematic about Jesus.
• The church of the west has got it all wrong - money, headcounts, etc.
• How does God redeem time? He doesn't speed time up , he speeds YOU up. You have to learn to RUN!
• He'll give you 5 years worth of growth in 12 months.
• The Spirit of procrastination governs the church. We will put a "move of God" off until we are ready for it.
• The order of the day is He is looking for a leadership who is prepared to LIVE OUT OF CONTROL.
• Suddenlies do not respect you and they do not respect the people around you.
• Hosea wanted to marry a prostitute. He told the people around him that God told him to. These people said "God couldn't have told you. He isn't like that!". Well, He FLIPPIN' WELL IS!
• God does bizarre really well.
• Sometimes it's the hardest thing in the world to follow after God knowing you will lose people. (as in friends and relationships.)
• People who knew who you WERE won't get who you are BECOMING.
• When you say "yes" to the suddenly, you have take the anomaly it creates and know it's gonna mess with you. It will take you somewhere you hadn't planned to be. It will give you a new identity and a new sense of self.
• In your sudenly some people may not be able to "track with you". Some people may be able to accept you. You may have to move on from some relationships. You may have to accept some new relationships.
• You have to learn the discipline of "staying in the suddenly". You can't visit this place, you have to live here.
• Work with the Holy Spirit to figure out what your new direction is.
• Stop being ruled by your head, be ruled by your heart.
• Leave logic and pursue the Lord.
• In this new place you are not equipped for it, you can't understand it logically, you can only understand it with sensitivity to the Spirit.
• There is no logic to what God is doing.
• God will not be known logically...you have to know Him intuitively and instinctively.

That's the gist of it. So much of it so enraptured me that I was uable to write fast enough. So my notes are very fractured. But in a nutshell: he pretty much addressed every aspect of this place I'm in. Pretty darned much. My husband on my right and my good friend on my left kept nudging me.

In the end Graham asked everyone who thought they were in a "suddenly" season to stand up. I hesitated but my husband and my friend stood up with me and held my hands. Then Graham prayed and the one thing he said that really struck me was this:

"It's time to stop freaking out and realize that God put you here."

Part two tomorrow.

"Letter to the Editor"

This Letter to the Editor is in the April 2006 Next-Wave E-Zine. It hits the heart of what I have been personally stuggling with in the last few weeks. Still burdened by the expectations around me that I will return to church, and yet knowing in my heart that it's not that I lack "church attendance" but that my definition of church has changed dramtically. This letter sums it up well.

These are just the highlights that jumped out at me, if you're interested, go read the rest of the letter over at Next-Wave.

"Dear Next-Wave, Many sources discuss the issue of "church planting", and even though Christians are believers in Jesus Christ, and hopefully followers also, I have a different perspective on the idea of "church".After a lifetime of attending various churches, and including a house church for a couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that the real purpose for which our Creator created us humans beings is to simply live and walk in love, mercy, justice, humility, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I think the institutional church mentality is something that human beings have invented as a lack of understanding relationship with Jesus Christ. The nature of Almighty God is not about "clergy/laity" in churchianity, or even about "house church plants", it is about living life 24/7. Fellowship is the natural consequence of life and living, yet Christians have the idea that what makes them Christians, is to have a meeting. It is not organization that makes anyone a follower of Jesus Christ. There is no pattern to New Testament Christianity."
...

"The Christian world has misunderstood and misconstrued the meaning of life, by equating being Christian to organization and institutions. The real Christian life is being attached to the VINE, which is Jesus Christ, and we all are the branches. Jesus Christ ALONE is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and also the Living Waters. THERE ARE NO SUBSTITUTES! Churchianity has made a god out of religion."
...

"And lastly, I will say, that in the Old Testament system, only the Highpriest was allowed entry into the Holy of Holies. But when Jesus Christ died on the cross, entry into the Holy of Holies was made available to all human beings who become Sons of God.Therefore living in the Holy Presence of Almighty God, requires no human priest. God is our ALL SUFFICIENCY, and it is nothing more than a lack of faith, that Christians live on crutches all their lives by depending on "pastors" to do their thinking, tell them what to believe, tell them what is "truth", and confuse people endlessly with never ending divisions, confusion, denominations, and false teachings. The true goal of life is Jesus Christ, and that encompasses His nature, His character, and His Being. The goal of life is not "church". "

"Cordially, Van Robison Burnside, Kentucky, Sunday March 26 2006"

Easter and Dancing

I know I know...I'm horrible about blog consistency. Oh well. I have truly been meaning to post something...but everyone else has so many interesting things to say that I am distracted from my own blog.

I have been thinking a lot about Holy Week...it seems everyone is posting something related to Easter. I read many of these posts with great interest. I know little of Lent, Stations of the Cross, Passover, and all the other terminology I come across in blogs during this time of year. So much of it is mysterious to me, I understand the Biblical significance of these things, but I have little or no first-hand knowledge of them. I love to learn about such things that I have rarely or never experienced in my faith.

It's interesting...I remember going to church with my Catholic girlfriend in High School and having to ask her what the bowl of water and candles were for. I had never seen incense and never knelt during church. There was so much I didn't understand about Mass that she was shocked. So I had to take her to my modern charismatic church the next week, just so she could ask me what the hand-raising was about, what the "infilling of the Holy Spirit" meant, and why we didn't take Communion every Sunday (one of the many downsides of the mega-church, of course, is that it takes 30 minutes to administer Communion to thousands of people...so we had special once-a-month self-serve Communion services instead. This was unfathomable to my Catholic friend.)

I have little understanding of many traditional aspects of church...having grown up in mostly "modern" church environments where liturgy and ritual were seen as things of the past...where worship consisted primarily of choruses, where clapping and hand raising were the norm. I can't sing even one complete verse of a Hymn from memory, except "Amazing Grace".

However...here's what my "tradition" has to offer. For Easter: we have a huge theatrical production...music, drama and all. It usually has a catchy title...like "Redemption Road". We would have 9 identical services over Easter weekend, so no one has to miss out.

What I have learned from my "tradition": I can teach you about the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit like a Pro. I can sing hundreds of worship choruses from memory. I can explain the terms "slain in the spirit", "travailing prayer", and what it means to be a "prophetic sentinel". I can take concise sermon notes on a fill-in-the-blank bulletin, and I can point you toward a "class" or "program" for any pain you struggle with.

Not to say those are all good things, nor are they all bad, just that they are all parts of my religious "tradition".

Likewise...some of my "emerging" friends could contribute a number of their unique qualities to this faith of mine. I can't speak to that personally because although I align myself more with the Emerging church than any other variety of faith, I have never actually attended a church that considers itself to be "emerging" even if it does not embrace that term as a title.

I guess there are many experiences and practices of the Christian faith. All are equally valuable and we could certainly stand to be open to learning from all the facets of faith.

This brings to mind a recent post by Jamie Arpin-Ricci titled "Let's Dance: The Emerging and Established Church Together".

In this post, Jamie compares the Emerging and Established churches to the new movie "Take the Lead". What I gather from Jamie's summation: Antonia Banderas plays Pierre Dulaine, a former professional dancer who winds up teaching Ballroom Dancing to troubled High School students.

Jamie's summary of the plot:

"The clash is immediate, with Dulaine being seen as yet another uptown, wealthy person of privilege coming down to pat his own egos by offering useless charity. Further, the style of music and dance he introduced was quickly dismissed as outdated, dry and further evidence of the privileges culture. Things were not off to a good start. However, as Dulaine's commitment to them became more clear and the beauty of the dance began to demonstrate itself...

"Then a very unique and exciting thing happened. As they began to understand each others dance and music, they also a deeper connection, a shared underlying rhythm. Both shared subtle, but defining beats and patterns. What emerged was an exciting synthesis of both styles, embracing the grace and discipline of ballroom, while maintaining the edge, passion and angst of hiphop. Neither group abandon their perfered dance, but created a third option as well.

Jamie then discusses how he sees the similarities between this film and the Emerging/Established church relationships.

"...we need to begin to find ways of discovering the underlying rhythm, the shared tempo and beat that guides the unique expressions of our shared dance. We need to learn to affirm the importance and validity of each expression, willing to learn from each other. But it is not enough, however, to live and let live. Rather we need to seeks ways to create those "third options", where we can affirm that, despite our differences, we are one Church."

I think there is a profound lesson in that for all of us from any "tradition": modern or postmodern, evangelical or missional, established or emerging.

May we all learn to "dance".

Mindless entertainment

It all started with GoogleVideo...where they allow *anyone* to upload video of *anything*...up to what would probably be a PG-13 rating (sometimes cussing, violent antics, or crude humor...on occasion I've run into something that I wouldn't have watched if I had known).

There are countless free videos...amazing amateurity...then there are the paid vids...TV shows, Sports, Movies, and Music Videos. GoogleVideo has pages for Popular and Google's Picks and Random of interesting, funny or downright bizarre videos. Certainly not everything you find at GoogleVideo will be even remotely interesting. I suggest sticking to the "Popular" vids...in the "Random" you will have to weed through lots and lots of babies crawling on the floor, college kids drinking, extremely amateur sporting events and miscellaneous, ahem, "musicians", before finding anything worth laughing over. Google Has their own blog for it...the Official Google Video Blog. Downside, some of the vids they feature are paid vids.

There are many blogs and websites that use GoogleVideo as fodder for their sites...always seeking out the humorous or weird.

Google Video of the Day (a.k.a. GVOD) is my favorite and I visit several times daily just to see what entertainment they have dug up. What I like about this site: they let you know about potentially objectionable content. Therefore: no blushing surprises.

But now I've seen it all...announcing GoogleIdol (a.k.a.Gidol). This is a site that pits some of the best amateur videos against each other, openes up the voting, and waits to see what happens.

The first winners? Pomme and Kelly doing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T".

It's a mad mad mad mad world.

Been too busy to write much

In the last 6 weeks or so I have really struggled with depression. With that, I have not been cleaning my house...other than the absolutely necessary...like dishes and laundy. That is extremely out of character for me...I like to keep on top of things as much as possible so it doesn't get out of hand. But this last month has just been the absolute pits.

I am feeling much better (thank goodness) but we are having the whole family (both sides) here for my son's birthday on Monday.

Needless to say, I have been furiously cleaning the last several days and will be for the next couple days. So I just haven't had time to post anything original...see my last several posts that consist of nothing but links to other stuff.

I have several things I'm working on and hope to get something up next week.

Over-and-out

The Gospel of Judas

Well, it's all over the place..."The Lost Gospel of Judas". Forgive me for mentioning this...it is controversial to say the least. I'm generally slow to jump onto any bandwagon of belief in such documents until their authenticity and authority is proven valid. However, I have great interest in such historical documents, if authenticated, seeing them as useful in viewing the context of the real-life people and events behind our faith.

While it is not a new discovery...

"the document has been known of since the late 2nd Century. This Coptic copy of the orignal Greek document was discovered in the 70's and has been dated to around AD 300." - Stephen Shields

...there certainly is sudden and enormous buzz about it these days, likely due to an announcement made (today, I believe)

"by the National Geographic Society at a news conference in Washington. The 26-page Judas text is said to be a copy in Coptic, made around A. D. 300, of the original Gospel of Judas, written in Greek the century before." NYTimes

I have heard conflicting (ABCNEWS) reports (USAToday) about it's authenticity (CNN) and validity (ChristianityToday)...

...and being unqualified to make any assessment of my own...I will just say I will await the opinions of reputable Biblical Scholars.

However with National Geographic as one of the main organizations at the helm of this discovery...it does have far more credibility than the "James' Ossuary".

For anyone who is interested: thought I'd provide a few links from the blogosphere. These links contain varied amounts of information and varied opinions, and are listed in no particular order.

Messy Christian

Brother Maynard

Open Source Theology

Kester Brewin

Michael Spencer

[Edit] Scot McKnight seems to be doing a series on the text. Interesting discussion will ensue.

Gave up on CoComment

I tried out CoComment for about a month. Never could get it to work, so I removed it from my sidebar. I know other people are using it with success, not sure what I was doing wrong.

It's an interesting concept and I will give it another chance soon.

Oops

Not sure what happened to my font there in my last post.

Not gonna stress over it.

More Stumbleupon Fun

OK, so maybe I'm an easily entertained idiot, but I have fun with this on occasion. I understand there are other (more useful and intelligent) ways to find new sites on any given subject matter. But I love the randomness (is that a word?) of SU.

StumbleUpon - "StumbleUpon is an intelligent browsing tool for sharing and discovering great websites. As you click Stumble!, you'll get high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended (rated I like it) by friends and other SU members with similar interests. Rating these sites shares them with your friends and peers – you will automatically 'stumble upon' each others favorites sites."

Usual Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only. I'm not necessarily suggesting everything on these sites is legitimate. Therefore, I am not sugesting that I personally believe in the information contained in the sites I list. Nor am I endorsing all the content that might be found on such sites, as I have not thoroughly screened them for offensive or inappropriate content. Click at your own risk.

OneWord - "simple. you'll see one word at the top of the following page. you have sixty seconds to write about it."

Paper CD Case - "Use this website to create a PDF file which can be printed and folded to create a paper CD case. For folding directions, see the about section. To add more tracks, a mailing address, or graphics to the case, use the advanced form."

Time Travel Fund - "One day, it may be possible for people living far in the future to retrieve you from your current frame of reference (their past - your present) and bring you into the future (their present - your future.) You make a small contribution to the fund, and in a few hundred years that small amount grows to a very large amount. From that fund, moneys will be taken and used to retrieve you, perhaps seconds after you join, perhaps even moments before your recorded death, perhaps some other point in your lifetime. Further, the fund may even pay to have you "rejuvenated" medically (assuming this is scientifically possible at that time,) and support you financially for a number of years. (Note: Retrieving you just before the moment of death is just one possible scenario, but one that would avoid any Star Trek(TM) type paradoxes. There are an unlimited number of other possibilities, and we do not know what they will do, we can only make reasonably informed guesses.) Our fee is only $10, of which a percentage is placed into the fund, to grow and earn interest, and the rest is used to pay for overhead in running the website, covering legal fees, paying for your certificate, and maintaining the database of members."

Extreme Ironing - "Welcome to the home of extreme ironing - the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt."

Amazon Filler Item Finder - "Certain items at Amazon.com qualify for free shipping, but sometimes purchase fall short of the minimum $25 needed to recieve the free shipping. Enter the amount you need to get free shipping in the box above to see a list of products that will get you free shipping."

Geek Test - How G33K are you?

How to Pour Ketchup - "Are you one of those people who taps at the bottom of an inverted ketchup bottle, waiting in frustration for the sauce to pour? I am speaking of traditional ketchup bottles, not squeeze tubes, wide-mouth jars, or bottles designed to stand on their heads. Have you ever wondered if there is a right way to do it – a way that works, and makes scientific sense? Yes, folks, there is a right way to do it, and it does make sense. Here is how, and why."

Useless Office Skill # 162: Telephone Songs - "You can play music on your phone by pressing the buttons on the top (1,2,3)...and along the side (6,9,#). But don't play the 4,5,7,8,*, or 0. They sound even worse than the others."

On the Radar

Andrew Jones on his Silver "Blogiversary".

"Today marks the 25th anniversary of my journaled/blogged pilgrimage with God, and i have a few silver hairs to prove it. Thats the occasion for the party tonight. Not the hair . . the journaling, the blogging, and the faithfulness of God who has given me something to write about."

On the uniqeness of time: from Smart Mobs Blog via Mike Todd

"On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06.That won't ever happen again."

More on Matisyahu

Today, 21st Century Reformation has a more extensive post than my two (here and here) about the significance of Matisyahu on our youth.

"Matisyahu's new CD - "Youth" is an ecstatic blast of spiritual revolution. While U2 offers the airwaves a positive vibe and social consciousness, Matisyahu takes the same vibe to its ecstatic extreme."

Pop over and check out the rest of the post.

By the way - as of this moment, Matisyahu's album "Youth" is still in the iTunes Top 10.

On the Radar

Feeling boring today so I'm pointing to more interesting people.

Messy Christian - "Dealing with Gossiping" in church, business or life in general.

Jordan - "Leave your clocks alone" on Daylight Savings Time.

Emerging Grace - "An Invitation" pointing to EmergentNo's open question to all
emergent-types: "Is the written word of God, for you, in your life as a believer, the final authority in all matters of your faith and practice?"

• And Bob's response to the above question: "Yes, without hesitation. I also give creedance to reason and tradition and what I hear the Holy Spirit saying to me. But if there is ever any conflict between those, I will go with Scripture every single time. So- does that make me Sola Scriptura or not? Because, my sense is, you don't really want me to answer whether Scripture is my FINAL authority (which it is), but rather whether Scripture is my ONLY authority (which it isn't)."

Mark Riddle - "Giving up unbiblical things" via Scott Williams via Jordan
"Today I declare that I am giving up the things I do that are unBiblical. For too long I have ignored critics, shunned their warnings of adopting spiritual practices which are not found in scripture."

• Anonymous's comment on "Giving up unbiblical things": "The problem with this post is that not its on Aprils fools but its that Mark is making light of all the stuff that he sees as being "okay" but they are not okay with in Christianity."

• And Anonymous's (not the Anonymous from above) response "So, anonymous (above) I guess that you meet in people's houses instead of a church because the Bible says nothing of building a church and meeting in it. All references in the new testament seem to point to meeting in houses. Also, no piano, organ, keyboard of any kind. Get rid of the pulpit and pews as well. Oh, and I believe that the cross is an inaccurate shape compared to the true cross Jesus hung on.... (do you get the point yet?)"
  

Andrew - "Big Change" on an announcement at his upcoming virtual party.

• And Call Me Ishmael's comment on "Big Change": "Virtual people. Yep. That pretty much sums up the crowd I hang out with."

For "Ice Age" fans - "Ice Egg - An Audition Blooper" via GVOD

For those who blog - now you can "Blook" - 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize Winners

• Definition of the word "Blook": "A blook is a book with content that was developed in a significant way from material originally presented on a blog, web-comic or other website. This material includes the website's characters, themes, ideas or outline that ends up getting published as a printed book."

Look no further - Google Romance "When you think about it, love is just another search problem. And we've thought about it. A lot. Google Romance™ is our solution."

Jim Stitzel - His post "Tattoos" on my post on Tattoos.

For my LOCAL readers - Aaron Flores on his visit to P-town

Race for the Cure

I have been pretty diligent about not posting anything identifying about the people in my life, but this is important enough that I'm making an exception.

My husband is adopted. He has an amazing family who have given him a life of love and grace and opportunity. But after we had children, we both became interested in finding some of his natural relatives. The search to find them is a long story, but we owe thanks to a relatively new Oregon law allowing adoptees born in Oregon to obtain a copy of their original birth certificates, including their natual mother's name. Obtaining that information led us to 6 months of internet research. About 5 years ago we were finally able to locate a relative, but we didn't make contact until shortly after September 11th, 2001 (all the events surrounding 9-11 were instrumental in reducing my husband's discomfort with making contact).

Through this relative, we learned that his natural mother had passed away, and so we never had the honor of knowing her. However, about 4 years ago, we were so excited to make contact with his two natural sisters. We have developed relationships with them over the phone, and incidentally we are planning an long-awaited trip to finally meet them in person this summer. It's an interesting journey, something I would love to blog about more, but my husband is hesitant for me to post much about it, and I respect that.

In any case, one of my "new" sis-in-law's husbands lost his mother to breast cancer in 1994. A number of people in their family are participating in the Race for the Cure on April 22nd in Indianapolis.

"One in seven women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime. The Komen Race for the Cure® raises money to fund education, screening and treatment programs for these women and thousands of others in our own community and supports the national search for a cure."

I just wanted to share some link-love for this worthy cause, so you can visit my sis-in-law's personal Race for the Cure Site, where you read a little about how this disease has affected their family, even make a donation to their race, if you are so moved.

If you or someone you love has been affected by brest cancer, you can visit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation or find a Race for the Cure near you.

Christians and Tattoos

Well this hit me personally and I wanted to point it out.

Dan Kimball, "A very Cool Website about Tattoos" where he mentions the new site Sacred Ink, dedicated to Christians and the art of Tattoo.

Being a fan myself of ink and all things related, including the shows Miami Ink on TLC and Inked on A&E, I think it's great to really put the ink where the faith is, so to speak.

The photo here is my personal ink (sorry we really need to take a better photo)...left shoulder...about 3 inches in diameter...I got it last fall after several months of being out-of-church. I have wanted a tatt all my adult life, but my religious mindset and the company I kept in the church prohibited me from ever obtaining it. Since I left the church, the tatt certainly was an expression of freedom from religious rules and in some ways also an act of rebellion...not against the church but against my own lifetime of self-inflicted "righteousness standards".

I wanted #1 above all to never be able to forget to Whom I belong, and also as evidence to others about my faith...it's a great converstation starter...interestingly enough many people will approach someone about their tattoos before anything else, and it gives me a great excuse to share my faith and to prove that not all "christian types" are stuffy and conservative. And it's a testimony to my certainty about my faith that I would be willing to be permanently "marked" for Christ. Though my measly little ink is nothing compared to the friend of ours who has a cross tattooed the full size of his back.

It's a butterfly...it's absolutely beautiful and I adore it...symbolizing both the resurrection of Christ, and my rebirth as a follower of Christ, and also the ongoing transformation of my life...including seasons of transition. It includes the elements of fire, wind and water...for the symbolic manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. It references Psalm 104 simply because I love the thought that all creation responds to God and relates to Him, and He provides for and protects everything He has made.

I am a late bloomer, inkwise, but this is only the beginning for me. I'm a tattoo baby compared to some people I know. I do have several more ideas waiting in the wings...just a matter of finding the time and the $$ to proceed.

Anyone else (you know who you are *wink*) want to share their ink and the stories behind them? If you want you can send me photos and stories to post and I'll put them up.

On Christian Friendship

I have been following a series by Sherman Kuek on "Christian Friendship". It's been a lot of good stuff...but today his post on Grace in Christian Friendship really struck me because it's the main thing I attribute to the loss of several good friends in the last year.

This is not saying I was this model perfect friend and they completely lacked grace. I know every relationship goes two ways. Even though I see myself as a grace person, I know that in my observations of people who seem to "lack grace", I am often lacking grace in my assessment of them. Does that make any sense? In other words, when I am critical of those who seem to be lacking grace in their relationships, am I lacking grace for being critical?

Sherman says,

"It is strange how we often almost too easily assume that others are not trying hard enough, or that they simply are refusing to try to live a life that is consistent with Christian ideals. It is somehow difficult to see that, just like us, others are perhaps actually trying to live their lives in the best way they know how.

"Could it be that the imperfections we see in them exasperate us because they are so reflective of our own inadequacies (of which we hate to be reminded)? Could it be that our reluctance in offering grace is reflective of our own reluctance in acknowledging that we too actually need grace from God and our friends?

"Of course, there are those who neither feel nor acknowledge the need for grace or friendship. But friendship is not for everyone. It is for those who desire it and who know that their lives will be enriched by it.

"Many people find that friendship is a futile exercise, for it is a waste of time. Others think that they are already engaged in that which they perceive to be friendships. And yet others engage in friendships that are abusive, such that they become the abusers. Hence, friendship is not for everyone; it is not even simply for anyone who calls himself "Christian".

I could copy the rest of this post verbatim, but instead I'm gonna send y'all over to Sherman on the Mount to read the series. It's good...beginning with "Company of Friends", and continuing into "On Friendship (Prologue)" and "On Friendship" parts 1-5.

I am not certain if he is finished with the series, so be sure to check back with him on it.