Two Things

1) Brooke Fraser is pretty awesome. I got to see her at the HighLine Ballroom last night, and not only is her New Zealand accent incredible, she has a glorious sense of humor as well.

And she's pretty.

2) Below is one of the coolest, geekiest videos you'll see. I personally think it's awesome, especially because I just happened to listen to 'Nude' this morning on the way to work.




If you've never heard the original, here it is:

Seriously?

Robert Mugabe has reminded me of something: virtually every problem humans experience on this earth is the direct result of someone taking themselves either too seriously, or not seriously enough. In Mr. Mugabe's case, it's clearly the former.

I think that this is one of the few major roots that keep so many of us tied down from who and what we could be, from everything that we could potentially accomplish, from being things to others that we should always be daring to be.

And this is also another reason why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so beautiful to me, for in it I see the absolute best response to the problem above. Clearly, the solution must lie somewhere in between the two extremes: we must avoid taking ourselves too seriously, while at the same time holding firmly to our very real significance. The Gospel helps us to do both, to steer clear between the two evils, and to regain our true glory.

It reminds us that we are absolutely nothing, that we are unable to do for ourselves the only thing that matters. It also reminds us that we are worth so much that our salvation demands (and receives) the highest price, paid on our behalf.

Or, as Tim Keller puts it:

And here is the source of true kindness. The salvation of Jesus humbles us profoundly – we are so lost that he had to die for us. But it exalts and assures us mightily — we are so valued that he was glad to die for us. Because we are sinners totally accepted by grace, we have both the humility and the boldness necessary to serve others for their sake, not ours.

And:

Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sins and receive you as Savior. Amen.

Paul Pierce And Kevin Garnett Talk Title

"Man, man man..."

"You ever go to school,and you had a bully mess with you every day? I know everybody ain't no tough guy here. It's like that bully that you go to school every day [with] and you know when you get out of your mom's or dad's car, you know you're going to see him as soon as you walk through the doors, he's sitting there waiting to pat your pockets and mess with you. Then one day you say, 'This is going to stop today!' You walk in and as soon as the bully pats your pockets you lay his ass out and you see the expression on his face. You're sorta shook because you know what, you just knocked the bully out and you don't know how he's going to come back. The next morning when you come in and he's not there, it's like a sigh of relief. It's like getting rid of the bully. It's like I knocked the bully's ass out! I knocked his ass clean out. That's what it feels like. For all y'all who ain't been bullied, y'all got no idea what I'm talking about. But for y'all who have, you understand my story."

"I got my own."

Congratulations to the 2007-08 Boston Celtics

'Man vs. Wild' Wisdom

I was watching an episode of Man vs. Wild last week, and Bear Grylls was about to scale down a fairly sheer mountain wall. He said: "Downclimbing is so often more dangerous and difficult then climbing up, just because it's much less natural."

I thought that was a potentially profound statement.

The Commander of the Lord's Army

Joshua 5:
13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

John Gill:
Verse 13. ...and said unto him, [art] thou for us, or for our adversaries? by his appearing in this warlike posture, he concluded it was to take on one side or the other, either on the side of Israel, or of the Canaanites; and he seemed to suspect that it was on the side of the latter, and that he was one that was come to defy the armies of Israel, as Goliath afterwards did, 1 Samuel 17:8; and to engage in a single combat with Joshua their general, and so decide the war; in which, had this been the case, Joshua was ready to fight with him.

Verse 14. And he said, nay,.... Not for or on the side of their adversaries was he come, as Joshua suspected at the first sight of him...

but [as] Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come; of the host of the Lord both in heaven and in earth, angels and men, and particularly of the people of Israel, called the armies and host of the Lord, Exodus 7:4; so that though Joshua was general, Christ was Generalissimo; and so Joshua understood him, and therefore showed a readiness to do whatsoever he should command him; the spiritual Israel of God, the church, is in a militant state, and has many enemies to combat with, sin, Satan, the world, and false teachers; Christ is their Leader and Commander, the Captain of their salvation, and has all necessary qualifications or wisdom, courage, and might, for such an office; see Isaiah 55:4;

and Joshua fell on his face to the earth; in reverence of this divine and illustrious Person, whom he perceived to be what he was:

and did worship; gave him religious worship and adoration, which had he been a created angel he would not have given to him, nor would such an one have received it, Revelation 19:10;

and said unto him, what saith my Lord unto his servant? that is, what commands had he to lay upon him, and he was ready to execute them? he was heartily willing to be subject to him as the chief general of the Israelitish forces, and to consider himself, and behave, as an officer under him, and to obey all orders that should be given.

Verse 15. And the Captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua,.... As a trial and proof of his obedience to him:

loose thy shoe from off thy foot; which is to be understood literally, as when the like was commanded Moses at Horeb, Exodus 3:5; though some interpret it figuratively; as Abarbinel, "remove from thee such thoughts that thou shall take this city by strength:"

for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy; because of the presence of this Person, and as long as he was there, though afterwards was as another place; the Jewish commentator, last mentioned, thinks this intimates that the city, and all in it (and all round about it), should be "cherem," devoted, and so be holy to the Lord:

and Joshua did so; loosed his shoe from his foot, in obedience to the Captain of the Lord's host, thereby giving proof of his readiness, willingness, and alacrity to serve under him.

Brooke Fraser - Shadowfeet (Concert on 6/25)

Brooke Fraser
Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008 8:00 PM (6:00 PM Doors) at HighLine Ballroom (NYC)
$15.00 per ticket (general admission)

(yes, she has a tongue ring.)

If you want to come, let me know.

Paucity

Everything and everyone in this world is more valuable when they are made scarce. While paucity is never desired when it comes to good things, the value and worth of those good things increases as they become more rare. Natural resources, money, people...they all increase in value when they become harder to attain. So, in a strange way, we should desire these good things to remain somewhat scarce, or else they might lose their goodness.

So, why does God make himself infinitely available to us?

If he starved us for him, for his blessings, for his presence, wouldn't so many of his people yearn for him with far more fervency than they do now? Wouldn't his name be sweeter on our lips if we were not allowed to utter it with such flippancy, and sometimes even with malice? Wouldn't his words be more beautiful to our minds' eyes, more indelible to our hearts if we did not have such easy access to them? Wouldn't free fellowship with him be vastly more desirable if our freedom to do so was only offered us for tiny windows of time every month?

Sometimes I think that loving God is harder when he grants us so much peace around our respective territories, when he makes himself so available to us. His blessings almost become burdens, in more ways than one. His availability to me almost becomes suffocating, and I near the point of tears when I realize how little of him I truly access each day.

This is where I have been lately. I am struggling with God's blessings, even his grace towards me. They become burdensome to me sometimes, partly because they are so undeserved, partly because I am too feeble and sullied to fully appreciate their profound worth.

I hate the fact that my love for him seems to be alloyed with every signpost of heaven he plants on my path.