Fall Season: Moving Forward

God's blood has covered all our past, so it should never dictate the steps of our future.

Cheryl Broderson reminded me that perfection is not a requirement for God's blessings, deliverance, or salvation. It is good to check ourselves, but too much introspection leads to depression. Since I tend to be a perfectionist, this thought was encouraging to hear. Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith said, "It is finished." He has the power to do that in our own lives: to finish things that need to be finished so that we can move forward in His amazing plans.

A Great Aim For Life - C.S. Lewis is a Boss

“The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”

-Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

Appreciating and Delighting in the Beautiful

The closer we are to God, the more we awaken to and appreciate all His wonders and beauty around us. Solomon had the greatest wisdom of any man who ever lived, and because of it he was a prolific scientist, poet, and architect - experiencing and displaying the marvelous attributes of God through art and discovery. God is creative and beautiful, and we come to know Him more through these things. In the same way, we can also share Him with others through beauty.
If God was cold and boring, He would have just made one kind of tree and said, "here you go, breathe it." Instead, He created a multitude of kinds of plants and flowers, which may seem so fragile and pointless to a practical mind, but give joy and delight to the childlike. He created art, various landscapes, and music - along with all five senses for us to experience Him and declare Him through. God's beauty allows us not to just hear, but to also see, taste, and feel who He is. 

"This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it."- Psalm 118:24. 

Check out Joy Loewen's awesome blog post on beauty:

http://joyloewen.blogspot.com/2014/05/awakening-to-beautiful.html

God Is Not Dead

I am so thankful that I was able to be present at this conference last weekend, though clearly the most under-qualified of all the presenters. The experience was a blessing and I hope to be part of another one in the future.

 "The Religious Turn: Secular and Sacred Engagements with Literature and Theory."

Check out the article by John Wilson:
http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/webexclusives/2014/may/religious-turn.html?paging=off

This conference encouraged me that Jesus can be glorified in all that we do - even homework (an Eng 123 paper)! Although there were many different perspectives at this conference - it was exciting to be part of a dialogue about faith and literature. It was a blessing to see how we can learn from and challenge each other to more boldly, lovingly, and truthfully engage the secular with the sacred through literature.