Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The First Job

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 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 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; harder- in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a wild bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn 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....

This is the whole of Christianity. There is nothing else. It is so east to get muddled about that. It is east to think that the Church has a lot of different objects- education,. building, missions, holding services. Just as it is easy to think the State has a lot of different objects- military, political, economic, and what not. But in a way things are much simpler than that. The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden- that is what the State is there for...

In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.

Clive Staples Lewis.

Monday, October 12, 2009

He Holds My Hand

The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

Psalm 37:23-24

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Hello Atlanta

Change. It is here. In full force. My sister wrote a blog yesterday and it made me realize I haven't written a blog in a while... and a lot has happened.

I am now a resident of Atlanta! Man that's weird to think about. Moving to Atlanta is something I wanted to do for a while now and finally I am here. I feel the Lord is going to do great things. I can't say that I had absolute clear direction to come here. I prayed, surrendered, and followed a desire. I have no idea what God is going to do. I may have made a huge mistake and end up back in Birmingham before anyone knows I am missing. But I would never know if I didn't try. So here I am! Trying! I am waiting to hear back from a few retail jobs. I am so thankful to have a good group of friends here... I don't do well by myself :) I do miss home. A lot. I miss my family the most. And my friends too of course :) It's a little scary to have the future be uncertain... but, in all reality, even when we think it is certain... it really isn't. For we don't know what tomorrow will bring... even if we think we do.

So yeah thats my big change as of right now. I'll make sure and update as life unfolds here.

Now for a few random thoughts:

Friends Gag Reels are the best. Period.

Chris Tomlin's Christmas Album came out this week. You should buy it.

I am so tired of painting... I've been "painting" my room for 2 weeks nows. I. give. up.

I bought a t.v. I haven't owned a tv in like 5 years.

I think I might starts wearing brown again. Might is the key word here.

I really want a Great Dane. Really bad. It's name would be Jake. Or Oliver.

I really like the name Audrey.

That's all folks.