Memories of Snow

Whenever it snows, memories start to flow. The quiet air reminds me of skiing in Montana. Standing on the mountain, there’s a peace that you feel. All the normal sounds are dampened, leaving you a little more alone than before. It’s great for getting lost in your thoughts.

When my dad was in college, he would drive out to Bridger Bowl each year with his friend Jeff. They stopped when they both got married, started having kids and getting really busy raising them.

But when I was old enough, they decided to start up again. I invited Travis along and the four of us headed West. I’ve probably been skiing without Travis less than 5 times in my life. We’d stay in a hotel for 4 nights, skiing for 4 days, then driving back those 1000 miles.

Our first year, we encountered a run called “Good Clean Fun”, which was nothing of the sort. I hit maybe 3 trees, and Travis ended up needing stitches after a ski to the head. His parents bought him a helmet after that.

One year, there was a huge blizzard and the mountain was closed for the first day and a half we were there. Those next few days though were the best skiing I’ve ever had. Two feet of powder everywhere! Travis took a tumble and we spent 30 minutes looking for his other ski. That’s the year we did Flippers for the first time, a real double black diamond.

More of the family started coming as time went on. My sisters both snowboarded, but Jenna didn’t like it as much as Kate. Jack is a daredevil skier, just like in everything else. Our cousin Luke came last year. This year my aunt Amy and her family will be there right before us, so we’ll take them on the hard stuff on their last day (our first). I wish our cousin Andy could make it too, but he has to work.

It’s amazing what a little snow can bring to mind.

Memories of Toothpaste

It’s funny how the little things can bring back such strong memories.

The backstory: My extended family tries to get together every year with what we call Family Camp. These days, this means folks come to my parents’ cabin on the third weekend in July, but in the past we went to random camps around MN.

So we’re at this camp, and I’m getting ready to brush my teeth. I go over to the bathrooms and squeeze out the last bit of toothpaste onto my toothbrush. Now, some folks get the brush wet before toothpaste, others do it after. I like to do both. My brush, with the last of the toothpaste, goes under the water and BAM, there goes the toothpaste. Then this stranger next to me shows me this trick he does, where you stick your tongue on the toothpaste to flatten it down before getting it wet. So now I think about that whenever my toothpaste is nearly washed away.

That is all.

A Concise Statement On Meditation

@ScottJIsAOk:

Substantial thought on a subject is most helpful if it is communicated. Individual implementation is less effective in the relational realm.

 

Making All Things New

The Fighter Verse for this week is Revelation 21:5-7. This phrase gripped me when I read it:

“Behold, I am making all things new.”

-God, Revelation 21:5

All things new. All things will be new. This desk, the trees, my cats, my hands, my body. My mind will be new. Will my thoughts be new? Will my memories be new? I’ve gotten “new” things before, will this desk be like that? But I’ve never been new, what will it be like? Will I remember the old? Will the new be like the old? Will my values be new? Should I be preparing to be new somehow? Why do I feel nervous about it?

But I do know this:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

-God, Revelation 21:3-4

And I’m comforted.

Another line that grips me:

“Is everything sad going to come untrue?”

Community: Lonely Singles

Here is a section from an article on making singleness better:

But perhaps his [Paul's] strongest response would be to the extreme loneliness many single people experience. I do not think that, in commending singleness, Paul was also commending a life without quality long-term relationships. The thought would have distressed him. A quick tour through his letters gives us every indication that he knew a lot of people, and that he knew them well; in some sense, Paul experienced our future—a multitude of great relationships with his brothers and sisters in Christ from every nation, people and tribe. Paul was not married, but neither was he lonely. I think he would see this epidemic of loneliness as a major moral failure of the church to be the church, and, perhaps, more particularly, a moral failure of families to treat those not in their family as family. The church is a family, and we are to treat those in the church as family—not by lowering the standard with which we treat our family, but by raising the standard with which we treat others. For this ideal to become a reality, I suggest that our thinking and action proceed along two lines—firstly, in the habits of families and secondly, in the structure and design of our churches.

It’s old, but I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

I’m Really Busy

Someone commented how I never post anymore, hence the short one about the Vikings/Packers game. The reason I haven’t been posting isn’t that I’m running out of things to say, I’m just so busy! Here’s what I’ve been up to:

• Learning Greek – I started taking Greek 1 through TBI and I love it! Who would have thought case endings could be so thrilling!
• Teaching at Wednesday Connection – The curriculum is Rejoicing in Gods Design: a study of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. I haven’t actually started teaching yet, but that will come soon. I need to prepare for lessons, plus the leaders are reading a book along side the class curriculum, so it’s a big commitment!
• Co-leading a Small Group – …with Dieudonne and Stephanie! It’s a blast and I love our group. It is so encouraging to do life with folks who are striving for Christ every day.
• Filling Up My House – Buying a house is just the beginning. Then you have to buy furniture, a vacuum cleaner, a shoe rack, etc. It’s a ton of work (and money).
• Having a Housewarming Party – You’re invited! I decided that October 17th would be a great day to have everyone I know come over. Even if I don’t know you, I’d love to change that, so please come!
• So many other little things – having people over for dinner, practicing to play for a wedding this Saturday, getting work done, spending time with my family, spending time with old and new friends, etc. The days go by so fast!

So thanks for the grace you’ve given me, sticking around. I hope that what I write blesses you in some way.

Hanging On To Green

As the sun was flashing between the trees, it’s light making shapes on the road, the cold [!!] air made everything seem so clear. The trees were hanging onto green, and I was struck by what was said by Pastor John in the Q&A at the DG natcon.

Romans 1:18-20

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

What a grace that day was, that God would reveal Himself to us and withhold His righteous wrath.

Vikings Versus Packers

Just watching the game. Vikings are winning

Discipleship

Some thoughts about discipleship from an interview with Josh Harris. The idea that you need to approach it with humility and not only as a consumer, but with the intention to invest in others (2 Tim. 2:2).

Adrian
What advice would you give to people who are not currently being discipled? I urge people to do anything they can to position themselves in the right place—to enable them to have such an experience. Would you agree? Do you have any other advice?

Josh
I do agree. I think that the starting point is an attitude of humility (and I don’t pretend to be a model for this by any means) that acknowledges that you need help. I think my relationship with C. J. can sound very glamorous from a distance. The reality is that being mentored requires that you believe and embrace the reality that you don’t know everything, that you need to learn. Let’s be honest, our pride, our sin, opposes this. My question for a person who desires to be mentored would be, “How are you learning from those God has already placed in your life? Are you humbly asking them questions? Are you studying people you respect?” And then, are you gleaning what you can from them, even if you don’t have an “official” mentoring relationship with them? I wish I could clone C. J. so that 5,000 young guys like me could have their own private Mahaney mentor. But it’s not possible. What is possible is to read his books. Start with Humility: True Greatness. And today, with the web, you can listen to dozens of his sermons. And hopefully, if I can convince him, C. J. will have his own blog so his influence can be more frequent. There are many godly older men like C. J. from whom we can learn and benefit. In some cases, that will be in a close relationship; at other times it will be from a distance.

Next, it’s vital that you be in a strong local church headed by men that you want to emulate. Whether or not you feel called to ministry, you should be in a place where there are men whose character and teaching, whose life and doctrine, provide you with a compelling example. A church led by such men should be well-stocked with godly men, many of whom are not pastors, who can mentor and disciple.

Finally, I’d encourage men to cry out to God for this good gift. And even if that prayer isn’t answered in the fashion or time that you’d like, don’t forget how important this is. Because one day you’re going to be the older generation that can invest in others. I think a big part of the reason C. J. has been so faithful in training younger men like me is because he never had that benefit in his own life. So much of what he learned he had to learn through books and through trial and error. He wanted a mentor, but though he learned from different older men, he never truly had that. I think it spurred him to be that mentor so that men like me could have what he missed.

One Legged Man

I saw a man with one leg today
He hopped along on his crutches
He moved with a purpose belying his status
of injured, disabled or helpless

The man didn’t waiver from staying his course
the crosswalk where the light was blinking
As quick as I saw him he soon had departed
Off to the place he was heading