The day 'miracle' was spelled with a 'y'

"The day 'miracle' was spelled with a 'y'
we drove to the beach with the windows down
reading poetry and feeling sorry for the
people spending their Sabbath at Adventure City.


The Women of Troy looked on as the Greeks and Trojans
fought on the shores of the Pacific
while a kaleidoscope of kites played
ring around the rosie in the soft blue sky.


"would you rather live in california or florida?"


on this day we realized that twenty dollars
means "we're rich!" and we also decided to
give up on broken soda machines and
never settle for anything less than perfect.


the day 'miracle' was spelled with a 'y'
the sun danced over the water looking
just like a bride's veil.
(there's going to be a wedding soon!)


it was the day the sunset in a splendor
of irradescent primrose while we warmed
our sandy toes over the smoldering embers
of our cheerful bonfire.

it was the night i went crazy
feverishly imprisoning memories
to greasy In-N-Out receipts.


the day 'miracle' was spelled with a 'y'
we tried to tell Scott that poetry (like women)
is meant to be loved, not understood.


the day was spent looking forward to the night:
the hope of heaven makes the trip to earth worth while."

Baptism

So Iggies...
My sister, brother-in-law and I are in a bit of a quandry right now. The three of us were infant baptized, and we have all come to the point where we would like to study more about baptism and make the decision whether or not to be baptized as adults or not. I grew up in a pretty staunchly Reformed environment, but we all are starting to have doubts about infant baptism.
I'm going to leave this pretty open-ended. What are your thoughts on baptism? What do you think about people who were baptized as infants? What exactly IS baptism?
We need all the help we can get-- I'm pretty much clueless, as are my brother-in-law and sister.

First the beach...then the world!

Ye men with ye Sticks, ready for the fight.

For the nations...

I had an interesting experience in chapel today. I say interesting because frankly I am a bit lacking at the moment with a word to describe what happened.
We were sitting in our groups of three, and the speaker asked for one person to abstain from communion to represent the one third of the world that was still unreached. So I joined one third of the people present in standing on the outer ring of the gym and watched as others took communion. There were so many of us along that outer ring; and it really sank in just what the reality of this present day looks like. I was allowed to feel for a moment the emptiness of watching others enter into communion with God while I could not. I was privileged to feel the environment on the other side of the looking glass.
That is when Peter brought his own communion elements to me and gave them to me. I realized anew the love of Christ, and God revealed for a moment to me the momentous act that bringing another person into communion with Christ is. I broke then. I wept and at first did not understand why. But then God placed on my heart, "this is what I feel for the nations." Needless to say, that did not halt my emotional outpour and as we worshipped together, pouring our hearts out, I was brought into a newer and more vivid understanding. Blessed be His name.
Having spent the last three days telling people about the issues of this world, how dare I not be a part of the solution.
Friends, let us run. I will see you there on those distant shores.

Blessed be His name

In Church today we sang the song "Blessed be your name."It is an old favorite, one that you are likely to hear often.I have sung it many times.
Yet before, I sang it with a clear distinction between "the land that is plentiful, where the streams of abundance flow" and "on the road marked with suffering." For me, there were two distinct time frames, or seasons, that I could easily discern and recognize. I knew there were times when things went well and there were separate times when things did not turn out so good. Yet I tried to do as the song said, and look up and still say "blessed be Your name."
Lately, I have experienced a paradox, and as such I am unable to sing this song without smiling and grinning uncontrollably. Let me tell you why.
I can no longer discern the difference between the road marked with suffering and the road of gladness. They have converged, for me, into one cohesive path. I have experienced both sorrow and joy, depths and heights. It is such a perfect new view of the road ahead that I am convinced it is the Lord's doing. It seems that my life is meant to be lived wholly, and this entails the convergence of my life's spheres. I rejoice in this, dear ones, as it allows me to not focus so much on whether things are good and bad, but rather on one thought in all things: to look to the sky and with a smile say, "Blessed be your glorious name."
May you smile and know that He is there.

The Street Guitarist

I went out with the street ministry team to Los Angeles last night. It is funny how you think that by going out there that you will be blessing people, but often enough it is you who are blessed through the experience. Last night was just such a time.
The street was slow and there were not a lot of people out because of the heavy police presence on Santa Monica Blvd. Incidentally, we were not able to talk with as many people as wel should have liked. So as we approached this little taco stand on the street, my mind began to go back to all that is going on, to my new training, my new mission, and where I needed to go to learn what I must do.
That is when I met Clay.
He was an eclectic looking gentleman in his late twenties, early thirties maybe, with a leather jacket and a story to tell. His companion at the food stand was a black guitar case. We walked over to him and started up a conversation about what he does, night club musician, and what his story was.
Somewhere along the line, we got to the question of God. He knew a lot about Him, more than I have experienced from someone that I met on the streets. The specifics of our conversation are a bit blurry to me, but he did say something that still seems burned into my mind...
"We need to love."
Of course we do. We are called to love and it is God's desire for us to love.
"No, we need to love."

That is when it hit me, the thing that I have been neglecting in my life during this time, the foundation for my new mission: We are not only called to love, we must love, we need it like we need water and food, it is integral for our souls.
So simple, and yet so profound, and I had forgotten.

Iggy wings

If a picture is worth a thousand words... then I need never speak again.

For Mickey's Sake

I grew up with Disney. Mickey was a brother to me. I memorized lady and the tramp. Things were ingrained in me that I have rediscovered in my adulthood. I loved going to Disneyland. My fondest memories were there. My heart never left.

Why then do the scoffers scoff at me? Why must they insist on taking that childhood from me. Mickey isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. You don’t know what goes on behind the scenes.

No, I don’t.

And so my family joined in the Southern Baptists and boycotted. Nothing Disney.

Yet that time passed. Does Disney still harbor the sinful? Yes. Is that why I go to Disneyland? No. I will not defend that which is not mine. But I will defend the real Disney. That organization that Walt Disney started. That magical land. These new leaders of Disney, they have perverted it. Those are not the Disney memories that fill my heart with joy and put the Mickey Mouse ears on my head. Look to the real Disneyland you, and learn.


You pretend to tell the truth about Disneyland? Truth?

The princesses: They are all the same, but they just change the hair color.

The Park: It’s pointless and ugly. Why would you go just to pay $6 for a Coke?

The People: All the movies are misleading (I grant this of the new Disney movies, but not the old.)

By this definition of “Truth”, then I only wrote this paper because my brain fired the right way. With this reasoning, falling in love is only chemicals. If we think this way, the great story of life is little more than circumstances. You, skeptic kill my dreams. Drag the sinful through the mud, but do not nuke the town to catch the crook.

Do not deny facts, but do not be reckless in the name of truth! Open your souls and repent. Do not destroy that which is too great for you to understand.

;D

Okay Ignatius...caption contest...go!!!