One Body, one day..

It seems like the most powerful emotions come from the things that are not safe. For a long time, I believed that the Bible was a boxed in list of formulas for me to follow, if I wanted to be a good Christian. But a lot happened this summer, and at school, and my experiences have led me to believe otherwise.
Acts, at least to me, is the most adventurous book in the bible. The apostles were constantly on the move, serving, teaching, creating, testing, rebuking, encouraging… it is all one big learning process to what we call the “first church.” Nothing was set in stone, except for the words of Christ. But our culture’s church appears to have all the rules in place. Where did these rules come from? Sure, the apostles gave guidelines, and some of them were very strict, but look at the way we worship, only on Sunday mornings.. is that the way the apostles approached worship? They were constantly singing and praising God, and I don’t even believe there was a set day of the week for them to do it.
Americans often view Christianity as a religion, when it should be a lifestyle. It is assumed, at least in Bryant, that you have had some kind of run in with religion, most likely Christianity, so there isn’t a way to tell each other apart. We separate ourselves into denominations, making sure we don’t associate with each other. Oh, how I long for a day when we are united! Where Christ is all that matters, and we could test each other with Christ’s word in peaceful unity, because of His grace!
Maybe the church was like that at first, but arguments over interpreting Christ’s words made people break away and create different “kinds” of Christianity. I believe there is a movement among our generation to rebuild, because people are kingdom thinking instead of church thinking.

Watch the storm from safety

I see pain in just about everyone's eyes, including mine. They are happy momentarily with that new girlfriend, but the minute they break up it is crushing; the worldly happiness is so much fun, then so much pain. It is wears away. The pleasure is useless. It is fading.
Like dust. (you heard me right, brett).
In the movie "hildago," a man and his horse race across the Sahara Desert, and a story of strong friendship between man and animal unfolds. I recall the final scene, in which a huge sandstorm chases them, but the horse rides fast enough to get the man behind an abandoned building for safety. Quite unrealistic, but beautiful when compared to my spirituality.
Jesus has picked me up, carrying me away from the storm I call my life. The dust, bones of old age and pleasure rot sweep right past me, the world trouble a joke.
Because I made it to the building. The building of God, and Jesus carried me there. And it wasn't just a last minute grace thing. The horse would not have sacrificed everything to save the rider if he didn't have some kind of relationship with him.
"Step out from time, see the dust of nations.. Saturn will not sleep until the dust has made us clean" --thrice
O commentary, and the things I wonder. The beautiful mystery captivates me, and I can't stop questioning! Testing, probing (see the book ' velvet Elvis'), Wrestling!

Listening...

(note: this is an entry in my journal from a long time ago, so I will update to recent stuff later)