I have been revving up to do a Bible Study through the Early Days. I love the history of creation that we find in the Bible. Period.
It is so EASY for me to believe it. Just to believe it. That adam was a man. That methuselah lived 969 years and died just before the flood.
That the ark's on Ararat.
That Leviathan was a thing that breathed fire... that Rahab was a serpent of the sea...
that Mizraim was Egypt, and Nimrod was a hunk.
I believe the stuff.
Waaaaaay more than I believe Carl Sagan and Cosmos, or Leonard Nimoy as Spock. ...uh, whatever...
So I'm getting ready to unleash a Saturday Morning hourlong at the Sidewinder... details pending...
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
What a day/week
Sitting down for a moment at Sitwell's in clifton. Waiting for Seth's school to let out. Full-on parenting. Working in skatepark consulting. Starting a board company. And the JOY of living life in the Church.
Since I left staff-style church and put it all into LOVING with Jesus, I have so few regrets.
Sunday meetings are now just about as big asnthe house permits, with this
Great "undertow" of the noise of kids. I love meetings with all of you, my family in God.
I love my work within the skateboarding industry. And I love the amazing people I get to be around. Father has made no two alike. You are all stars.
Well. Now it's time to go. More soon.
-- Post From My iPhone
Since I left staff-style church and put it all into LOVING with Jesus, I have so few regrets.
Sunday meetings are now just about as big asnthe house permits, with this
Great "undertow" of the noise of kids. I love meetings with all of you, my family in God.
I love my work within the skateboarding industry. And I love the amazing people I get to be around. Father has made no two alike. You are all stars.
Well. Now it's time to go. More soon.
-- Post From My iPhone
Welcome Addilyn!!!
Congrats to Charlie and Crystal, and hearty thanks to our heavenly Father.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
Friday, January 9, 2009
I been looking at porn stars on the internet.
Every week, at least, I go down to my sponsoring skate shop, The Galaxie Skateshop. I chill down there with my good friend and skateboarding industry colleague, Andrew Martin. I can't tell you how good it is to be on the brobrah with such chill folks. I give thanks!
So The Galaxie (The best skateshop in Cincinnati: conveniently located in Newport, KY) is located on Monmouth, just down from 7th st. Do you know that block? That is the block that has the Brass Bull, The Brass Donkey (Ass), and some stores that sell stripper fashion clothes...
When I'm in there, it isn't that rare to see ladies walking by on their way in to work at the Brasses... The Galaxie Skateshop itself is named in honor of a former strip club of some renown that was located nearby... So you can see that "strip culture" is a part of my life (sphere of dailies), like it or not.
One time (a couple of times) one of these dear ladies comes in to put money down on some stuff for her kid... dude it is such an honor to be near people who, when they show up in the Bible, God just LOVES them!!! Forget about it! He just LOVES them... he has like, NO BAD NEWS for them... outside what they already are knowing... God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
So this dear lady comes in, and she's putting money down, and she had that look. Not that fashion look of a stripper. There was that, yes. But she had THAT look:
Meth.
Skin, Teeth... hollow eye sockets... do you know what it looks like? Meth melts out your teeth and drops your eyes back in your head by about a half-inch. I'm not kidding. you look like a zombie. And this dear one loves her son sooooo much and is putting layaway (Galaxie has a strict no-layaway/no credit policy) down on a board for her son (all of Andrew's strict disappears when it comes to this kind of thing). She still had a handsome physique, but she was all dried up. It wouldn't be long before... before she gets the boot... or worse.
it wasn't 4 months later when there was another murder in the parking lot just 2 doors down from Galaxie, at the Ass. I'm serious. This stuff (human appetite gone wild) is death-laden.
The clip I loaded in this post is from a site I kinda hate. And I kinda hate on craig and the boys sometimes. sorry dudes. I just have a gut reaction to not seeming to keep it real with the difficulties that Jesus poses... but you know what? I'm a jerk sometimes and you gotta judge what I say by the Scriptures. .
But Look at how the appetites of basically just men with money... look at how those appetites created this market for human flesh. Look at how the broken down boundaries of a person in that lifestyle allow them to burden down with debt and get leveraged into an industry that's going to give them "prestige" for their effing lifeblood... these are people who die alone... They get diseases. They get attacked. They live in isolation, emotionally. They are on the outside with their families (some). Listen to these stories...
what happens to the "Lion's share" of these people in this industry when they get old? Do you honestly think they are okay in their fifties? Some may be... but i can SEE, in real life, that this isn't good. period. that's that.
am i really going to listen to some young twenty-year old tell me what's good? shut up. you don't know anything. I'm going to believe what the old people say. Don't hurt yourself by the choices you make. You are not as strong as you think you are... Pay attention to God while you're young. You won't be sorry. Don't be rebellious against the ancient paths! What?
For some people, even listening to stories like these 2 ladies' can take them to a bad place. But here it is... God is saying, "Don't do that, brah." and we're like, "no, I can do that." but you can't. Seriously...
so here they are.
So The Galaxie (The best skateshop in Cincinnati: conveniently located in Newport, KY) is located on Monmouth, just down from 7th st. Do you know that block? That is the block that has the Brass Bull, The Brass Donkey (Ass), and some stores that sell stripper fashion clothes...
When I'm in there, it isn't that rare to see ladies walking by on their way in to work at the Brasses... The Galaxie Skateshop itself is named in honor of a former strip club of some renown that was located nearby... So you can see that "strip culture" is a part of my life (sphere of dailies), like it or not.
One time (a couple of times) one of these dear ladies comes in to put money down on some stuff for her kid... dude it is such an honor to be near people who, when they show up in the Bible, God just LOVES them!!! Forget about it! He just LOVES them... he has like, NO BAD NEWS for them... outside what they already are knowing... God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
So this dear lady comes in, and she's putting money down, and she had that look. Not that fashion look of a stripper. There was that, yes. But she had THAT look:
Meth.
Skin, Teeth... hollow eye sockets... do you know what it looks like? Meth melts out your teeth and drops your eyes back in your head by about a half-inch. I'm not kidding. you look like a zombie. And this dear one loves her son sooooo much and is putting layaway (Galaxie has a strict no-layaway/no credit policy) down on a board for her son (all of Andrew's strict disappears when it comes to this kind of thing). She still had a handsome physique, but she was all dried up. It wouldn't be long before... before she gets the boot... or worse.
it wasn't 4 months later when there was another murder in the parking lot just 2 doors down from Galaxie, at the Ass. I'm serious. This stuff (human appetite gone wild) is death-laden.
The clip I loaded in this post is from a site I kinda hate. And I kinda hate on craig and the boys sometimes. sorry dudes. I just have a gut reaction to not seeming to keep it real with the difficulties that Jesus poses... but you know what? I'm a jerk sometimes and you gotta judge what I say by the Scriptures. .
But Look at how the appetites of basically just men with money... look at how those appetites created this market for human flesh. Look at how the broken down boundaries of a person in that lifestyle allow them to burden down with debt and get leveraged into an industry that's going to give them "prestige" for their effing lifeblood... these are people who die alone... They get diseases. They get attacked. They live in isolation, emotionally. They are on the outside with their families (some). Listen to these stories...
what happens to the "Lion's share" of these people in this industry when they get old? Do you honestly think they are okay in their fifties? Some may be... but i can SEE, in real life, that this isn't good. period. that's that.
am i really going to listen to some young twenty-year old tell me what's good? shut up. you don't know anything. I'm going to believe what the old people say. Don't hurt yourself by the choices you make. You are not as strong as you think you are... Pay attention to God while you're young. You won't be sorry. Don't be rebellious against the ancient paths! What?
For some people, even listening to stories like these 2 ladies' can take them to a bad place. But here it is... God is saying, "Don't do that, brah." and we're like, "no, I can do that." but you can't. Seriously...
so here they are.
read the dang scriptures...
here's the deal today.
don't let the fact that God loves us throw you off from reading the scriptures.
What?
Yeah.
don't get lazy. Keep listening to who God is through the solid voice of the Scriptures... and live in awe of who he really is.
You see, the problem with Jesus is that He is the very image and essence of the God of Joshua and Moses, who presided over the slaughter of the ten nations and the failed ethnic cleansing of the territories of Canaan.
yep. I said that. because they were... In fact He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom Isaac was the nicest, Abraham was the coolest, and Jacob was the son-of-a-bitchiest. basically all of them were touched with the rat-bastard-ness of human life, and all were the man (not the Man).
Don't forget Joseph and the patriarchs, with Reuben and Judah--oh my god, these guys were the gnarliest! I mean READ about it...
It's gonna really perplex you. How is it again that God's love is the message of this book? Get in there and dig it out. Kill your tv. I am serious. If you are a christian and you're putting down serious tv time, but don't read this stuff--shut it off and get digging in the writ!
seriously, there are plenty of people who just don't do it. they go on with religious lives, but slide off the sure footing... you guys can pray that not be me...
but badk to the problem with Jesus...
you see, being the God of Joshua and Moses and abraham and the dudes kind of makes God look bad. I mean it makes him look kind of hateful and judgmental. Hmm... and does that gel with the image you're trying to absorbe about our sweet Jesus. Mmmm. Maybe there isn't a problem with Abe and Mose at all. Maybe our problem is with the possibility,nay the reality, that God is untamed and horribly dangerous.
How could you call God "horribly dangeous"? Ask the dead. Ask those who stand before him after a life of ignoring Jesus on purpose. Ask the wicked people who live their lives fat and happy for the appetites of their bellies and nethers. Ask those who oppress their neighbors and waste the welfare of the widow... hey, God is the judge, remember?
aaah. you DON'T remember, because you don't read! you don't read because you don't agree with it! You don't agree with it because you're taking the good news about Jesus and spinning it into a "god is so nice" campaign, instead of falling at the feet of the Son of Man and being amazed that such a consuming fire, holy God has loved you enough to go to the cross for you...
and the amazement of grace is extinguished as we re-imagine Jesus in softer terms... well the real Jesus, that Scripture describes with both historical accuracy and faithful authority, that real Jesus is a dangerous man, indeed.
the real Jesus is a dangerous man, indeed. That's why Psalm 2 says, "Kiss the Son, lest he become angry, and you perish in the way."
Hey, I'm serious. Believe the Scriptures! Not just read them. Allow the realities they speak of to undo you.
some salt...
don't let the fact that God loves us throw you off from reading the scriptures.
What?
Yeah.
don't get lazy. Keep listening to who God is through the solid voice of the Scriptures... and live in awe of who he really is.
You see, the problem with Jesus is that He is the very image and essence of the God of Joshua and Moses, who presided over the slaughter of the ten nations and the failed ethnic cleansing of the territories of Canaan.
yep. I said that. because they were... In fact He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom Isaac was the nicest, Abraham was the coolest, and Jacob was the son-of-a-bitchiest. basically all of them were touched with the rat-bastard-ness of human life, and all were the man (not the Man).
Don't forget Joseph and the patriarchs, with Reuben and Judah--oh my god, these guys were the gnarliest! I mean READ about it...
It's gonna really perplex you. How is it again that God's love is the message of this book? Get in there and dig it out. Kill your tv. I am serious. If you are a christian and you're putting down serious tv time, but don't read this stuff--shut it off and get digging in the writ!
seriously, there are plenty of people who just don't do it. they go on with religious lives, but slide off the sure footing... you guys can pray that not be me...
but badk to the problem with Jesus...
you see, being the God of Joshua and Moses and abraham and the dudes kind of makes God look bad. I mean it makes him look kind of hateful and judgmental. Hmm... and does that gel with the image you're trying to absorbe about our sweet Jesus. Mmmm. Maybe there isn't a problem with Abe and Mose at all. Maybe our problem is with the possibility,nay the reality, that God is untamed and horribly dangerous.
How could you call God "horribly dangeous"? Ask the dead. Ask those who stand before him after a life of ignoring Jesus on purpose. Ask the wicked people who live their lives fat and happy for the appetites of their bellies and nethers. Ask those who oppress their neighbors and waste the welfare of the widow... hey, God is the judge, remember?
aaah. you DON'T remember, because you don't read! you don't read because you don't agree with it! You don't agree with it because you're taking the good news about Jesus and spinning it into a "god is so nice" campaign, instead of falling at the feet of the Son of Man and being amazed that such a consuming fire, holy God has loved you enough to go to the cross for you...
and the amazement of grace is extinguished as we re-imagine Jesus in softer terms... well the real Jesus, that Scripture describes with both historical accuracy and faithful authority, that real Jesus is a dangerous man, indeed.
the real Jesus is a dangerous man, indeed. That's why Psalm 2 says, "Kiss the Son, lest he become angry, and you perish in the way."
Hey, I'm serious. Believe the Scriptures! Not just read them. Allow the realities they speak of to undo you.
some salt...
Shifting...
an admission:
i have "quit" reading scripture.
I say "quit" because it has mostly felt like that, not really been that... what i mean is, technically i still do read the scriptures, pretty much daily. I open them at some time or other and bam, reading done.
but i used to really read. I used to get up early and spend 2 hours just soaking the old noggin in holy writ...
And I loved Jesus. Nothing I did wasn't inscribed with His name. You could see it written on my forehead and my right hand that i was a servant of Jesus... you could see it a mile away and hear it within the first sentence when you met me. I even burrowed into professional religious communities and jobs because of my knowledge and devotion...
a lot of things have ended in regards to that... I get sick at the thought of offering good news for money, but my friends help us live here with their gifts. Jesus has become more precious to me than I could have imagined, but my "expert" life has fallen to pieces. I have decided to live from who I really am, loved by God, as a person-being-rescued-by-Jesus, and that has made all the difference...
So instead of reading a lot of scripture over the last year, I've been remembering a lot of it. Sometimes it overwhelms me. It comes in waves, every day, like when I wake up. And it is amazing...
I quote a lot of it.
I contemplate it...
and my earthly days get more and more invested in non-religious directions (like my involvement with the skateboarding industry), yet more and more full of JESUS, Himself...
i don't know guys. i still love to read the scriptures, and i still really urge christians to do it a LOT (o god please help your kids get their heads right). But the fallout of all that scripture reading for me is that Jesus has brought us good news: God really really does love us. He really does.
And that amazes me...
i have "quit" reading scripture.
I say "quit" because it has mostly felt like that, not really been that... what i mean is, technically i still do read the scriptures, pretty much daily. I open them at some time or other and bam, reading done.
but i used to really read. I used to get up early and spend 2 hours just soaking the old noggin in holy writ...
And I loved Jesus. Nothing I did wasn't inscribed with His name. You could see it written on my forehead and my right hand that i was a servant of Jesus... you could see it a mile away and hear it within the first sentence when you met me. I even burrowed into professional religious communities and jobs because of my knowledge and devotion...
a lot of things have ended in regards to that... I get sick at the thought of offering good news for money, but my friends help us live here with their gifts. Jesus has become more precious to me than I could have imagined, but my "expert" life has fallen to pieces. I have decided to live from who I really am, loved by God, as a person-being-rescued-by-Jesus, and that has made all the difference...
So instead of reading a lot of scripture over the last year, I've been remembering a lot of it. Sometimes it overwhelms me. It comes in waves, every day, like when I wake up. And it is amazing...
I quote a lot of it.
I contemplate it...
and my earthly days get more and more invested in non-religious directions (like my involvement with the skateboarding industry), yet more and more full of JESUS, Himself...
i don't know guys. i still love to read the scriptures, and i still really urge christians to do it a LOT (o god please help your kids get their heads right). But the fallout of all that scripture reading for me is that Jesus has brought us good news: God really really does love us. He really does.
And that amazes me...
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