Get ready for Super Tuesday!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Jon Foreman - White as Snow
Have mercy on me, oh God
According to your unfailing love
According to your great compassion
Blot out my transgressions
Have mercy on me, oh God
According to your unfailing love
According to your great compassion
Blot out my transgressions
Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of your salvation
Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of your salvation
The sacrifices of our God
Are a broken and a contrite heart
Against you and you alone have I sinned
The sacrifices of our God
Are a broken and a contrite heart
Against you and you alone have I sinned
Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of your salvation
Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of my salvation
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow
Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of your salvation
Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God
Restore in me the joy of your salvation
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Morning
Every morning I will put to silence
all the wicked in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer
from the city of the LORD.
"That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.
We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas. When He said, 'Be perfect,' He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder -- in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
- C.S. Lewis
As I prayed this morning, I asked God to make Christ's blood seep deeply into me completely, to stain me, to dye me, to my very core, leaving nothing untouched, and that by his Spirit, every word I speak, every action I take, every object and person I touch would also be stained. It would usually be easy for my stubborn brain to take this prayer apart and make me feel sheepish for saying such high-and-mighty Christian jargon, but it did not. To my surprise, and my genuine joy, I prayed this prayer earnestly, and without restraint.
However, as I reflected on that prayer tonight, I realized that I am always being stained and dyed by other things; I am ever allowing, and even inviting other things to seep deeply into me.
While my mornings spent with the Lord have been sweet and refreshing, I now desire to make them more fierce with the deliberate intention of putting every other voice to silence, cutting them off from me, in order to let God have at the right part of me.
For only blood can wipe out blood,
And only tears can heal:
And the crimson stain that was of Cain
Became Christ's snow-white seal.
- from The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde
"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." - C.S. Lewis
all the wicked in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer
from the city of the LORD.
- Psalm 101:8
"That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.
We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas. When He said, 'Be perfect,' He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder -- in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
- C.S. Lewis
As I prayed this morning, I asked God to make Christ's blood seep deeply into me completely, to stain me, to dye me, to my very core, leaving nothing untouched, and that by his Spirit, every word I speak, every action I take, every object and person I touch would also be stained. It would usually be easy for my stubborn brain to take this prayer apart and make me feel sheepish for saying such high-and-mighty Christian jargon, but it did not. To my surprise, and my genuine joy, I prayed this prayer earnestly, and without restraint.
However, as I reflected on that prayer tonight, I realized that I am always being stained and dyed by other things; I am ever allowing, and even inviting other things to seep deeply into me.
While my mornings spent with the Lord have been sweet and refreshing, I now desire to make them more fierce with the deliberate intention of putting every other voice to silence, cutting them off from me, in order to let God have at the right part of me.
For only blood can wipe out blood,
And only tears can heal:
And the crimson stain that was of Cain
Became Christ's snow-white seal.
- from The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde
"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." - C.S. Lewis
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
It is finished...for now
I'm putting on my happy face tonight...
...because I just finished applying to the three graduate programs that I want to be considered for: Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern. If you aren't aware, I am aiming to get a master's degree in journalism.
Though I feel like I can finally let out a sigh of relief, I still have to prepare to take Columbia's proprietary test (or, what I call the "We-need-to-separate-ourselves-from-everyone-else-because-we're-so-damned-superior" test) on Saturday, January 19th. Here's a practice test from 2003.
I can't wait.
In other news, I think I'm actually starting to get interested in the realm of American politics. I always tried to stay away from it because it seemed so overwhelming to keep up with, and because I was a bit repulsed by all the bickering and contemptible characters. (I also feared that a genuine interest in politics was equivalent to becoming a true adult, something that I wanted to avoid at all costs.) But after attempting to keep up with 'Election 2008,' I'm starting to find all this hubbub a tad engaging.
Tim Keller once said (approximately) that the media always thinks religion is about politics, when in reality politics is really about religion. At first, I thought this statement sounded cool, but I didn't really get it. Now I do, and politics is more interesting and relevant because of this realization that the foundation of it all is the desire to steer this country, and the world, towards truth. This is a very spiritual undertaking indeed, no matter how hard it is to see it.
I'm tempted to go on about the candidates and more, but I'll save that for another day...or never.
Now it's off to end this warm January night with some New Hampshire action, The Wall Street Journal, C.S. Lewis, the Bible, prayer, and some other odds and ends.
I bid thee adieu, fair reader.
(The use of Hillary's smile above does not mean that I support her, or that I don't.)
...because I just finished applying to the three graduate programs that I want to be considered for: Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern. If you aren't aware, I am aiming to get a master's degree in journalism.
Though I feel like I can finally let out a sigh of relief, I still have to prepare to take Columbia's proprietary test (or, what I call the "We-need-to-separate-ourselves-from-everyone-else-because-we're-so-damned-superior" test) on Saturday, January 19th. Here's a practice test from 2003.
I can't wait.
In other news, I think I'm actually starting to get interested in the realm of American politics. I always tried to stay away from it because it seemed so overwhelming to keep up with, and because I was a bit repulsed by all the bickering and contemptible characters. (I also feared that a genuine interest in politics was equivalent to becoming a true adult, something that I wanted to avoid at all costs.) But after attempting to keep up with 'Election 2008,' I'm starting to find all this hubbub a tad engaging.
Tim Keller once said (approximately) that the media always thinks religion is about politics, when in reality politics is really about religion. At first, I thought this statement sounded cool, but I didn't really get it. Now I do, and politics is more interesting and relevant because of this realization that the foundation of it all is the desire to steer this country, and the world, towards truth. This is a very spiritual undertaking indeed, no matter how hard it is to see it.
I'm tempted to go on about the candidates and more, but I'll save that for another day...or never.
Now it's off to end this warm January night with some New Hampshire action, The Wall Street Journal, C.S. Lewis, the Bible, prayer, and some other odds and ends.
I bid thee adieu, fair reader.
(The use of Hillary's smile above does not mean that I support her, or that I don't.)
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