The main preaching pastor for our church was on Nightline the other night talking about Jesus and our church. Here's the video.

I was reading last night before bed and I stumbled upon this passage in C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. I love, and hate, how C.S. Lewis explains things because his writing can be so cumbersome that you don't want to read anymore and at the same time so insightful that you can't put it down.

(C.S. Lewis is explaining how he came to the conclusion that God does in fact exist.)

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got the idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?

If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet.

Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too - for the argument depends on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. This in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense.

Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be a word without meaning."


Way to go C.S.!

My Mom emailed me this picture of her and my Dad today. I love it!

This is a great picture for a lot of reason (focus in on my Dad's hair please) but mostly because Mom's holding the bible I remember being in our house as a kid. I am not sure what happened to this bible but it made me happy to see it again.

Thanks Mom.

P.S. Isn't Mom a looker?

Lately the Lord has been teaching me about joy and specifically that joy in Him is sufficient and far more than I deserve. I read this verse yesterday and it stirred me up inside so much that I had to jot it down in my journal immediately.

"You have put more joy in my heart than when their grain and wine abound." Psalm 4:7

That is how I feel and how my relationship with Jesus is right now. I am so incredibly thankful for my savior that all earthly riches seem meaningless compared to the amazing gift that He has given me of salvation. I have a passion for reading my bible like I never have before and I find myself praying that the Lord would open up pockets of time in my day so I can snuggle up with His word.

The joy that I feel seems appropriate for this time of year as well. We are embarking on a new year with new possibilities. This year I find myself praying that the Lord would teach me to love people better and to weed out the selfishness and pride that so often consumes me. In fact I will declare it publicly on this blog that this is my prayer for the year (for myself) and a theme that I see in my life right now.

I have an amazing friend who seems to have a theme each year...or at least for the past couple years that I've known her. She prays all year about whatever the theme is that she sees in her life, usually an area of sin that she needs to confess to the Lord and seek growth in, and she keeps a journal throughout the year on this theme.

So in honor of my lovely lady friend, I have a theme or I feel called to pray fervently this year about loving people joyfully and serving others joyfully.....basically not being selfish, as I am so inclined to be, and to find joy in selflessness. (And not the kind of joy that is actually just pride in doing something nice for someone.....yuck I'm such a sinner.)

I am excited about where the Lord is leading me, albeit a little nervous because I don't always understand His ways, and so thankful for the joy He has put in my heart.

Here's another verse for you that keeps running through my mind and was oddly the first verse I memorized as a new christian years ago:

".....the Joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

AMEN!

"Sometimes talking to a cranky two year old is like trying to have a converstaion with a crazy person."

-Mary Weber (my sister)