(Yes, if you smell something weird, it’s because there is a nearly sardonic mood here today. I snapped this photo myself last night.)
Imagine this Potential Backstory:
Are you ready for a spiritual reawakening? A kind of rebirth? A cleansing in your spirit?
NOT SO FAST. WE’LL HAVE OUR EYE ON YOU. So-WATCH your back, Slacker!
Maybe you’re thinking… “Lots of family members will arrive for a big dinner at 1:00 pm. Will there be time to do it all?”
Sometimes our praise to God falls short.
Actually , it alway does.
But, like a proud and loving parent, God delights when we love him. Through praise, worship, the devotion of our heart, and the actions that spring from this, God accepts us, where we are.
Now-When kitsch meets passion meets God you might get this:
Can you think of another one? Put your funny hat on.
No, Mr. T is not officially endorsing my program, (which is really a focused learning group) but if he knew about it, he might.
If you’re curious, and ready to be a Jedi, click the tab at the top that reads “Jedi Training – Info.”
Only 10 people will be chosen, at a time. We begin in January.
May the Schwartz be with you.
Sometimes it’s painfully obvious what a person loves. Take this guy. McDonalds is really important to him. I can’t stress this enough, and by the looks of it, neither can he. The golden arches are embedded on him–for LIFE. How’s that for a Mac Attack? How…er..um..sweet, I guess.
One of the most earth-shattering things I’ve come to comprehend spiritually is that God desires loyalty, and not perfection. For a performance-oriented person like me, this comes as a great relief. I only wish I had known this in my teens and 20s. Now, loyalty doesn’t mean you have to be devoted enough to get a fancy yellow tattoo with clouds and stars on it, but it does mean you’ve decided to hang in close, through thick and thin, for life. Loyalty is actually simple to understand, but it’s rare to find. It is really what we all hope for in true companionship from a spouse or best friend.
What would you have tattooed on you, if anything? (hypothetically)
If you have one, submit your real tattoo photo, or a great idea for one, and maybe I’ll send a nifty goodie your way.
Thanks for stopping by!
Can we know God?
The easy answer would be to come out right away and say, “Yes!”
But, I won’t. I think the more honest answer is, “Yes and no.”
For one thing we can’t even know people that well. We can live with a spouse, or family member for years, and still find out new things about them, time and again. People are deep wells of information, experiences, natures, and characters… but through time and devotion, we can get to know them…. We never know them completely. What I mean is, we become thoroughly familiar with those we’ve spent plenty of time with, but it is naive to say we know them fully.
BUT- what about God? God is SO different, right? He is UNFATHOMABLE. He created everything, and is everywhere, all-knowing, all-powerful, so says the Bible, right? How can we REALLY REALLY possibly KNOW him, right? He is beyond language. Correct? Well, the short answer is “yes, kind of.”
God made it possible for us to have an amazing book in our reach called the Bible which talks all about him. It can’t capture him fully with words, but the narrative that runs like a river through the whole council of the Bible can loosely give a good contour of the Supreme Being that is all at once Almighty God, Father, Savior, Friend, and much more. We can’t sketch a sunset with pencil, but we can get some shapes down. We can’t use words to describe what tasting coffee is truly like, but with words, we can outline a bit what the aroma is like, and how good a warm cup tastes and feels when it is drank. One can imagine well what it is REALLY like based on a word description. So too with God. The reality of him can be known, but not fully grasped. He is knowable, but not fully comprehendible. It is limited knowledge, but entirely useful.
Let us not dismiss some of our best ways to encounter God by calling them shoddy when we use and trust language for so much else. It is on the basis of language, words, and propositions, that we first encounter all our initial ideas before they are incorporated into our lives. They are a starting point, not the end all be all to knowing God. Like any complex relationship, knowing God involves invests of time and devotion, not just mere research.
Do you know God? How have you encountered him? Feel free to leave your comments.
