Stark Contrast

I've been getting into the great habit of working out in the mornings after class, either running my bacon off, or throwing some plates around. The downside of all this is that I don't shower before class, which for my classmates, is a little much, but I sit in the corner and keep my arms by my side.

The gym is a part of North Park and it's only a couple of months old, so all the equipment is brand new and the treadmills still work. Plus they have about 5 flat-panels in front of the equipment with everything from the Food Network-- my personal favorite-- to VH1-- which I've decided has the dirtiest programming allowed on television. And if you're down in the weight room, you have to deal with 103.5 KISS FM being blasted at volumes to make the most hearing impaired ask you to turn it down. I typically have my iPod with me loaded up with great music; right now it's The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and David Gray. But because I download more podcasts than a college students does keg stands, I typically listen to the latest sermon from Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, or John Piper.

As you've probably already gathered, there is a stark contrast between what I have going on in my headphones and what is out there for the rest to hear. This became very clear to me as I was listening to Piper's latest sermon series on marriage. Right now he has about 4 sermons the beauty of marriage drawn up by God and how it mirrors Christ and the Church. How Jesus laid down his life for her and what that means today. As he was expounding on this great truth, when leaking in from the speakers came smack that, all on the floor, smack that, give me some more, smack that, till you get sore, smack that, o-o-o-o-oh.

As Christians, how different is our picture of sex and relationships than what the world has to offer? Immensely different. We are called to live in such a way that honors God, not ourselves. Ultimate fulfillment will not come in smacking it, but knowing that God has designed marriage to be the ultimate reflection of the relationship between Christ and his bride. This deep intimate knowledge, where we are not ashamed of who we are or how we look before one another, but we know the forgiveness that Christ has laid out for us on the cross and how that brings about forgiveness and understanding in our marriages.

Ditka

Finally, a post with substance...


RBK Football

If it's not working you can find it here.

Photo Friday

Vintage Foxy

For Pastors

I caught this on Ryan Crawley's blog. Great photos as well.

John Piper on pastoral influence.

I was talking to my friend Emily while I was in Colorado last week and we were talking about what is different about pastors than the rest of the congregation and how do we keep them from falling like Haggard, especially when we're fallen too. The difference lies in our boundaries and our accountability. We need to have stricter lines drawn than those of the world. Anyone that knows me knows I have a television, so I don't restrict myself as much as Piper does, but we need to be well aware of what we are letting into our minds.

Photo Friday

A little road trip. A little Birthday Cake. Please enjoy responsibly.

Photo Friday

This first one is of a boy I saw on the EL.

The second one is from the Chicago Music Exchange.

Tuesdays' Grace

Tuesdays, by far, are going to be the best and the worst day of my week this semester. My first class is at 8:00 am and the last one ends at 9:30 pm. It's a long day to go. To add to the length of the day, I also have both my worst and best classes on Tuesdays-- in that order, mind you. So I will definitely need a lot of grace to be able to get me through the Tues-day.

Klyne Snodgrass, my professor of Romans, said "Grace is the perimeter within which Christians live." As Christians, we are called to live lives that are within God's grace (not that it runs out), and that we fully rely on His grace on our lives. I can say it is pertinent that I remember this as I continue to work out my faith, as a baby begins to walk. It's not that we stay down after we've fallen (read: "sinned"), but that we have the courage to stand back up again. God doesn't stop loving us because we've sinned, but continues to pour out His grace on us, so that we can get back up and walk.

Tim Keller puts it this way, "God loves us, because he loves us." God doesn't love us because of what we've done, or who we are, He loves us, because He loves us. There's a circularity in that and there's no way around it. But it continues to show that we have not earned his love, nor can we earn his love, nor can we lose his love because we didn't do right. God lavishes his love and his grace on us because. And those of us who call ourselves Christians are called to live in that grace and extend it to those around us.

Have Some Class

A new semester of Seminary has started again. So far, I've only had one class and it's been good. It's the professor's second semester here at North Park, so no one's really sure what to expect, but I've only heard good things. Plus he's really interesting to listen to; he's Scottish. And other than him not wearing a kilt, nor having read hair, it's kinda like have a Bible class taught by Grounds Keeper Willie. I'm looking forward to him getting really excited about something.

For the record my classes this semester are as follows: New Testament 2; Heaven, Hell and New Creation; Pastoral Care and Counseling; and Romans. All should be at least beneficial. I've never had a class with the Pastoral Care professor, but I know we stand on opposite sides of the proverbial aisle--so pray for that. "Hell" should be interesting. The professor I had last semester for Worship is teaching it, but with its name and the fact that it's at 8 in the morning, you should be praying for me. Romans is a class that I've been looking forward to since I got here and I'm finally in it. It's a thick book and the professor's probably the best here, so it'll probably kick my butt--again pray for that.

Why don't you just pray for me in general? That'd be nice. I definitely need it.

Grace and Peace.

Photo Phriday

Here's my contribution. I got a D80 a few days ago. Just been shooting and shooting and shooting. This is a thermostat. That's all I got.

Just when you thought...

...it couldn't get any worse.

Make sure you don't miss that last line.
It puts it all into perspective.