darth steevious

South Bound Cemetary

I came to a place of death early as the sun rose into the stinging cold. Warmth dawned in my heart. Around me they slept my soul awakening. Under my feet they slumbered my eyes resurected in wonder. Beauty strolled among the tombs its young spread out in her wake. Light broke though bare outstretched limbs and blinded me to the sight of soaring freedom. Life fed from deaths covering. The journey is long and hard. The world it groes cold and growns the pains of mornig awaiting warmth and renewal from the sun still coming. My heart is lifted high in praise and swells in awe and adoration. -Amen

Wood

I was watching a show about henry ford, the car guy, this weekend with my son. over one of the many fireplaces in his masive home he carved this: "if a man cuts his own wood he'll warm himself twice". i liked that.


"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." - Proverbs 4:7

Links

Just put some more links in my favs file over to the side.
-steev

vanity

i dont like many pictures of myself. not sure why. false humility? Vanity? Poor sefl-esteem? i dont dont either way i do like this picture that was taken by a friend named neil. it appeals to me, not in a vain sense but i like it artisticlly and there is somthing about it that says a lot about who i am.

man oh man

sheesh its been what like a year since i posted? man this is hard stuff. seems all my spare time has been spent trying to find spare time :)
i am working on a very detailed halloween costume at the moment and its kinda fun. all my kids are getting into it as well. it will be a family affair for sure. i will post pics.

well thats it. so much for anything meaningful or life changing here.

Silence

YES

"Tell me of a time in your life that God as spoken to you and What does it look like when He does?" that was a question someone asked me this week.
If we follow Jesus it would stand to reason he might speak to us...right? We pray and expect him to speak. Searching desperately for answers (a.k.a the quick fixes) to our queries we look, wait, wonder speculate...we do lots of things to get him to give definate answers, lead us, and devinely respond. Usually though, don't we really just want him to justify/condone our actions, desires...sin?
It dawned on me over the last few years that silence can be an answer. Seeing as God always responds with "Yes, No and Wait".
Nothing usually means "wait". For me it almost always means "hold on-patience".
Ever ask God for something then just assume a positive answer and move on? Did he really affirm my request? Did that thing you then decided to do ever just stop, fall apart, cause you heartache, pain...trouble? I find those to be "NO"s mistaken for "Yes"s
But what about "Yes". Not maybe, sorta, kinda, wait, or later but "YES!" What does that look like? What does confirmation to prayer look like?

Often its Suffering...Sacrifice...Pain...

I understand why we assume so much with God. I know why we move on without clear direction so often, why we press forward without waiting. Cause to get a "YES" from God is Hard. You see yes always involves HIS glory and thats in direct conflict with our own will more often than not.

"Yes" means his way not mine. "Yes" means "I am allowing you or asking you to do something that might benefit you , but always glorifies Me." (God speaking)

We don't often think before we pray. At least in the past I have had a bad habit of not thinking too much. If i knew what was really required of me in the outcome of these prayers, if i knew i would have to wait impatiently, if i knew i would have to sacrifice and suffer...i might rethink my requests.

Following Jesus aint easy. Hearing his voice and responding is a call to live life as it was intended and then die. To die right were you stand everyday, all your life. To ask, wait and suffer. It's not glamorous, but it's glorious.

I think the most comforting thing about it is that He knows. He relates. Our God is a god who knows. Knows what is required in the "Yes". He knew what making man would loose-sin. He knew what redeeming man would cost-the death of his son. He knows what you will endure in following him-he did it too. And that is good. That is God. It's also good to know he only gives us what we can handle. No more. No less.

I heard from God last week and it hurt. I had been crying out. I had been asking for answers. I had waited and waited and he spoke. And it hurt...deeply And it is good. It will require much but he is God.

Can you hear him? Are you waiting? Are you willing? Do you really want to know...YES!

Nerds

Bit old (MAY) but this is me and the Kids Opening Day of Star Wars Ep III. I was at the opening weekend of the first Star Wars when i was 7 years old. It was really cool to be with my twins for the last SW movie-and they are now 7 years old! My daughter demanded we be at the front of the line and made us get there really early. Pretty cool. Pretty geeky. I love my nerds!

The Gloomy Dean

Found This doig some research. I thought it was funny.

Compassion

As i watched the news this morning I found myself shaking my head at all the people from New Orleans and the surrounding areas hit by Katrina standing on their roofs as the rushing waters reached the tops of their homes. "Why did you not leave?" "What is wrong with you?" "Are you stupid?" all these comments came to my mouth in questioning disbelief. You would think that after days of warning and encouragement about the seriousness of the coming storm people would have been "smarter" and left their homes and saught shelter and safety. I was dumbfounded.

Compassion.

Where is your compassion Stephen? Why are you not weeping over that man's lost wife? Why are you not on your knees for those who have lost everything. How would you comfort them? Would you? Or are they just "dumb"?

Sometimes the Spirit troubles me at the wrong time, but making it the right time to hear.

Be Still. Listen. Learn.

Materialism

Found this article interesting. While i try to avoid the whole "left-right" banter it does share some insight and give thought especially on the whole concept of materialism in our country. Are we as Paul said content in all things? And if so were and why? Is social justice just that? Is financial inequality the real unequal in our lives? Faith, or Trust, we all have it and when we realize that its critical to ask ourselves where and in what do i place my trust. Idealism or Idols, Satisfaction or a Saviour?

Churchianity

Excerpts from George Barna's forth coming book Revolution taken from:

Post Protestant Thoughts

let’s look at the kind of
transformation that is evident in the lives of the 77 million american adults
who are churched, born-again Christians . . . contemporary Christians . .
.

• Regarding worship . . . bi-weekly attendance at worship services . . . is the only time they worship God . . . 8 out of every 10 believers do not feel they have entered into the presence of God, or experienced a connection with Him, during the worship service . . . half of all believers say they do not feel they have entered into the presence of God or experienced a genuine connection with Him during the past year . . .

• Regarding Faith-based Conversations . . . the typical churched believer will die without leading a single person to a life-saving knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ . . .

• Regarding Intentional Spiritual Growth . . . the typical believer contends that the bible is accurate in what it teaches, he or she spends less time reading the bible in a year than watching television, listening to music, reading other books and publications, or conversing about personal hobbies and leisure interests . . . what constitutes success in life, few believers define ‘success’ in spiritual terms . . . when given the opportunity to state how they want to be known by others, fewer than one out of ten believers mentioned descriptions that reflect their relationships with God . . .

• Regarding Resource Investments . . . churched Christians give away an average of about 3 percent of their income in a typical year – and feel pleased with their ‘sacrificial’ generosity . . . fewer than 1 out of every 10 churched Christians donates at least 10 percent of their income to churches and other non-profit organizations. (more than 1/3 claim to do so.) . . . most believers are unable to identify anything specific they have ever donated money to that they would describe as producing life-changing outcomes . . .

• Regarding Servathood . . . in a typical week, only 1 out of every 4 beleivers will allocate some time to serving other people. Most of that time is dedicated to volunteering in church programs that serve congregants; little effort is invested in serving needy people outside the congregation . . . the typical believer would rather give money to an organization to allow it to do good deeds in society than personally assist in alleviating the needs of disadvantaged people . . .

• Regarding Family Faith . . . majority if churched believers rely upon their church, rather than their family, to train their children to become spiritually mature . . . fewer than 1 out of every 10 churched families worships together outside of a church service . . . most Christian parents do not believe that they are doing a good job at facilitating the spiritual development of their children . . .

it's a sad day for us now. it's an
exciting day for what we can do!

Nuff Said

THUDGUARD

The Future is eLonely

Bowling (and Living) Alone

Growing Older

As i round the corner that is 35 years old i find myself thinking maybe getting older has its perks.

Food and Dribble

beautifully fearful

mustard seed

The Mustard Seed

Again (Jesus) said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what story shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

Could there be more? Ever ask yourself that? Ever stared into a childs eyes wanting to know what they will become, what they will do and who they will grow into?

Have you simply looked into the stars and seen a bunch of bright far off lights or have you pondered the the vastness of space? Sometimes the small things are only precursers to the enormous. Sometimes small things expand to become the tremendous mysteries of life.

"Never underestimate the power of a pebble"- I once read that on some guys skateboard. It made me smile years ago, it makes me really think these days.

The vastness of the Kingdom of God. The Word planted in us. The "stories" Jesus told and the stories being told in our own lives today. The smallest of things spoken into our lives, planted if you will. Mere words? A mere man? Could there be more?
What could the words of this Jesus grow into in my own life? What would this kingdom look like in me? Small Questions, HUGE implications.

Lets hold that thought and go deeper...think Larger. The Kingdom of God. That's Big isn't it? Jesus; however, compared it to a mustard seed? Could it start with the smallnes, the mustard seeds of our own lives? And if all the "small lives" of those who have chosen to Follow Jesus were to become one...to be united...to grow what would that look like? A tree perhaps? A community of like minded people resting in its branches? A KINGDOM of people living in shade of the King? Wow.

What has been planted in your life? What are you growing inside the soil of your heart? What will become of your mustard seed? Wha could your life now look like reborn? What fruit would you bear? Lush green branches full of colorfull fruit or withered, sickened, dying limbs. How much meaning would be lost...or found?

What story shall be told about our lives? What Kingdom will they say we lived in? The smallville of our own limited selves or the expansive empire of a living, growing, loving God.

-Steev

here i am

a little late to the game, but here i am.
-steevious

Quote

“Only Dead things float down stream”