tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-365732412012-02-16T07:22:38.172-06:00looking to a mountain range from the distance it can be difficult to discern which peak is highest. a small mountain may loom large simply because it is closer to you than a higher peak.beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-57599063781521904112008-06-30T02:02:00.011-05:002008-06-30T02:57:26.392-05:00

We attribute to God rather obvious and cliche identity markers, making faith and belief appear easy and automatic-- like separating socks from underwear. I used to think that I could pick God out of a line-up, that recognizing Him should be clear and straight-forward like spotting a celebrity in the supermarket.The Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) gives it’s reader a strikingly anthropomorphic

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-21031633245526442292008-04-02T15:15:00.006-05:002008-04-04T01:43:29.818-05:00

We have trouble expressing how God works in our lives. When the job of explanation gets difficult we like to simply chalk it all up toGod told me...God gave me... God led me...But there is great ambiguity in these type of statements and the language we employ when speaking of God’s work in our lives is open to more than one interpretation. Commonly, our descriptions are unclear and inexact

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-27552370625278019302008-03-28T10:50:00.010-05:002008-03-28T11:32:00.094-05:00

We have a very limited understanding of faith. We think we know the how, when, and why of where faith begins and we think we know how to reproduce the experience, but we don't: Listen, he’s read the Bible, we raised him in church, he knows the truth--but apparently he’s decided to reject it. What else can be done? He needs to make a decision. Many a evangelistic tragedies begin here, assuming

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-53925437865567056252008-01-11T17:15:00.001-06:002008-02-25T01:24:42.850-06:00

Every time I see a prominent Christian figure interviewed in the media I cringe, because every time, without fail, it is the same questions: Will the Muslim be in heaven? Will the Jew be saved? Will this sin or that be pardoned? Will the atheist, apathetic, or abortionist be shown grace?But it is not the question of which I am afraid. Rather, I’m afraid that Steven Superpastor might attempt an

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-75581261643171857702007-12-18T16:40:00.000-06:002008-01-02T12:13:39.923-06:00

What are we proving?A couple of years ago I met a guy who’d undergone a massive life transformation. Now understand that sometimes people talk about change in pennies--a better attitude, a new home, hair color, or job--but this guy’s change was massive. His was severe. From a life of drug selling, dealing and using; from a life of rich material emptiness and short-lived pleasures, he’d become

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-82169058096032227192007-09-16T17:33:00.001-05:002007-10-15T21:13:06.150-05:00

I don’t how we are to do it, but me must. We must unlearn the lessons we’ve learned; We must undo the doings of rationalization, of justification; We must take a long second look in the mind’s dark mirror; peer humbly in hindsight down the hall of history; We must divest in conventional wisdom and our blind reliance on it; We must--it is absolutely crucial--revisit, and consider reconsidering

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-56396278591125370132007-09-16T03:13:00.000-05:002008-01-15T16:46:04.081-06:00

We could talk about Jesus here. We could talk about him in the past tense and how he was back then. And there’d be so much to say. Interesting things. We could start by talking about how he took a beating. And we could talk all day of it. On more than one occasion He took a really bad beating, quietly and uncombatively. Say things we could about how he took these beatings and how he

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-71694675563473405022007-08-29T07:46:00.000-05:002007-09-12T01:38:40.610-05:00

From an eight by eight slab of concrete peering off in the distance, shaded from the sun by a massive residential housing development, my eyes afix on a small island of trees. Inhale. Long exhale. I focus on the individual leaves softly glimmering, turning in the wind; a momentary flight from self, from my surroundings. Sensory perception interrupts without permission: menacing noises of an

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-13814500351597509632007-07-29T11:09:00.000-05:002007-08-02T08:08:10.550-05:00

Do we care too much? Somewhere under my bed, in a shoebox, is an old leather wallet that for years I carried around with me. Inside the wallet is a mess of business cards, in all about as thick as a deck of cards, that I began compiling in middle school and continued collecting and adding to until college. Represented there is a curious vocational conglomerate of DJ's, business(wo)men,

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-46389100984439765922007-06-27T15:53:00.000-05:002007-06-27T16:26:16.157-05:00

At that time I entered a period of deep introspection—probably too much—thinking about my decisions, my fear, who I am now, who I was, and would become.I wondered what it was like the day Adam first knelt down over the water for a drink and discovered his own reflection. I wondered what he thought about in that moment. Did he recognize the figure or think there was someone there, imitating his

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-81570516889090236582007-06-17T14:49:00.000-05:002007-07-11T13:11:01.551-05:00

the vow of voluntary homelessness In Luke—a doctor’s scribble scratch—the writer records Jesus’ odd clarification of His posture. They [Jesus and disciples] meet an eager recruit who says, ‘Hey, where you’re going, I’ll follow. I’m into your work.’ And Jesus responds with this: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head. " Now I

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-39559335651109356152007-06-17T14:42:00.000-05:002007-06-20T00:53:16.832-05:00

a revolt of conspicuous consumptionIn many ways it feels like we’ve never before been more conscious of the needs of the world. And in those ways it appears that we can really make a difference. There are rock concerts for poverty, books and weekly emails with calls to action; there are thousands of charity organizations, political watchdogs, human rights groups, and the social justice of

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-8638124571130269772007-06-01T21:54:00.000-05:002007-06-19T13:25:16.037-05:00

War of the Worlds I usually don’t read forwarded emails, mostly because I never get them anymore since asking the mother-ship a couple of years ago to stop passing them along. But it’s not that I wasn’t grateful for them—oh I was—and it’s not that I wasn’t enjoying and learning from them—I was doing that also. It was more the fact that I could no longer manage all the benefits and riches

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1162922813309903112007-06-01T12:04:00.000-05:002007-06-01T13:32:39.809-05:00

faith as a first-person narrativeLast year on my birthday, my mom and I were out to eat and she asked me, "How old do you feel? Do you feel a year older?" And I was happy to give her the same answer I've always given... I said, "I feel the same." And I do, always. I think certain subtleties have changed, but all along its been so quiet, that I hardly detect the movement.It's like that person

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-91007948424752978652007-03-21T13:00:00.000-05:002007-04-24T12:22:56.809-05:00

Sometimes a move forward may be disguised as a step backward.I'm no scholar on the subject, but I've got to think that many a wise, good-willed, and learned men must have been extremely frustrated at Martin Luther King Jr's strategy for freedom. Images of police beatings, crooked court rulings, and blatant racial abuses are being transposed on televisions across the country and this guy is

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-24602394782884665282007-02-21T21:41:00.001-06:002007-03-15T15:03:18.282-05:00

Cliche as it might be, I've begun numerous conversations over the past few days about how the recent thaw has brought new life to my week. And everyone- I mean everyone- seems to agree. Something is happening. Something new. We're moving forward.So I breathed deeply and walked extra slow on my thirty second jaunt to the car this morning, and hunched over the wheel just enough to let the

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-80904138094450958762007-02-08T12:18:00.001-06:002007-04-22T20:41:09.692-05:00

Some things have changed, but have they?Many times when I read the Bible, I'm struck by how differently things went down back then. There are these crazy occurrences, like a God who speaks audibly through burning bushes, from a cloud, or through an angel. There is this Jesus pulling wine from water like rabbits from hats, and feeding thousands with a meal for two. There are His students following

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-82149020211620421562007-02-06T18:17:00.000-06:002007-04-23T10:57:07.921-05:00

There are some questions in life that simply must be asked, but they don’t necessarily need to be answered.I was watching TV recently as a well known presidential candidate was being interviewed. You've seen it; one of those split-screen political numbers, where one man is extremely positive and plastic and the other’s holding a stare and comb-over combination serious enough to hold down both

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-4476529771049641272007-01-11T10:21:00.000-06:002007-08-13T23:16:28.250-05:00

"This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life, but a state of mind, a temper of the will; a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease." -R Kennedy“When the Greeks said, ‘Whom the Gods love, die young’ they probably meant, as Lord Sankey suggested, that those favored by the gods, stay young until the day

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-53922774033175058922007-01-10T13:26:00.001-06:002007-04-22T20:47:10.671-05:00

I came to understand boundaries and limits at a young age.Positioned between my childhood home and our neighbor’s house was a tiny, knee-high fence, separating our yards. The fence ran from the sidewalk, through the front, along the side yard, where it eventually connected with a larger red fence in back behind our homes.I was used to the little fence, comforted by the familiarity of it, and

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-13754212652393863532007-01-03T17:00:00.000-06:002007-04-22T20:41:44.484-05:00

“It was a curious thing. Robert had filled the bathtub and put the fish in the tub, so he could clean their tank. After he’d scrubbed the film from the small walls of their make-believe deep, he went to retrieve them. He was astonished to find that, though they had the entire tub to swim in, they were huddled in a small area the size of their tank. There was nothing containing them, nothing

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-725599818634422472006-12-21T13:35:00.000-06:002007-04-22T20:39:55.503-05:00

"...Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such a woman should be stoned. But what do you say?'""...But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1162411910139484802006-12-14T13:15:00.000-06:002007-01-23T00:24:00.645-06:00

Isn't it strange?Some of the deepest wounds we endure in our lives come at the hands of those we love, and who love us most. Contrary to the notion that there might be two categories of relationships: those that help, and those that hurt, experience teaches us that intimacy inevitably invites injury.Could this be true?We act surprised to find the heinous crimes in the news not to be

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-578076070689783862006-12-12T08:54:00.000-06:002007-01-22T23:58:58.926-06:00

The other day I got a forwarded email with the explicit warning that God was being thrown out of America. The writer(s) spoke of movements bent on removing the Ten Commandments from courthouses, the words "in God we trust" from our money, and the phrase "(one nation) under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.Have you heard this stuff?And then, I was watching a news program as a well-known host

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1165386946418239552006-12-06T00:26:00.000-06:002007-01-23T21:51:23.125-06:00

Everyday on his drive home from work a man would pass by a block of dumpsters where a group of children rummage and scavenge for scraps of food. At first it was a real shock. His heart would race and his eyes widen, looking on their bony frames and dirty faces. But in time, the man grew tired of the emotional roller coaster, seeing them everyday after work. He was upset at the fact that he didn’t

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1165191013749448032006-12-03T17:40:00.000-06:002007-01-23T00:02:41.557-06:00

ReflectionEach time I see the Upside-Down ManStanding in the water,I look at him and start to laugh,Although I shouldn't oughtter.For maybe in another worldAnother timeAnother town,Maybe HE is right side upAnd I am upside down.-shel silversteinA study came out recently noting that the overwhelming majority of victimized families who witness the guilty being put to death, do not experience a sense

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1162793653569396492006-11-06T00:08:00.000-06:002007-04-22T20:59:10.830-05:00

About a year ago, I was talking with a friend about life, our journeys, and the bits of wisdom we've gathered along the way- And he made this comment that hasn't left my mind since:So many things in the Bible happen along the road.Think about all the people whose accounts and encounters with God begin with the seemingly insignificant mention that either they were, or Jesus was: in the boat on the

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1162319262539322162006-10-31T11:28:00.000-06:002007-03-21T11:02:13.536-05:00

Emotions run wild, don't they?I have a friend who is enduring some hard times these days. I'll hang out with her and it's obvious that, in her mind, everything in the world is stacked up against her. She'll make these statements about how she feels and it's clear that her feelings are in charge of everything. Like, you'll invite her to do something fun later in the week and her answer will be,

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36573241.post-1161799878954341822006-10-25T12:59:00.000-05:002007-04-22T20:54:58.091-05:00

This morning as I picked the newspaper up off the front steps, I saw the bold word IRAQ peering at me from the front page. And immediately I thought, "Why wouldn't I, or someone, make habit of reading the articles and praying over the involved individuals/groups?"Closing the door to the cold and heading for the living room chair, my question was quickly answered with the comforting realization

beyondimensionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12250626946108162677noreply@blogger.com0