WhatWhatWhat?

When dumb forum posts are just begging for subtle answers... that are helpful, of course :)

http://lmgtfy.com/

BOOM, The Third Day!

Apparently Easter is a good excuse to blow things up in Florence, Italy. The Scoppio del Carro Festival literally means "Explosion of the Cart". Really? Really??

Fortunately it's just fireworks set off by a flaming mechanical dove from the cathedral, sent on a zipline to a 500 year old antique cart. Perfectly normal stuff. Yay holy fire!

So anyway, maybe I'm an odd one. I keep a Journal that will often center on thoughts regarding faith, and biblical reflection. Who does that? And really, how many people read this? Ok well today at least I have an excuse. ITS EASTER, PPL. Danke.


Easter Sunday. Yum... can't wait til dinner :D It brings back memories of Easter Egg hunts in the backyard (sometimes with snow ;-), tons of chocolate, and the usual family craziness. But how often we forget what we're celebrating. Pretty much the most amazing thing that ever happened.

Oh yeah, that.

Good friday marked the end of Jesus' life on earth. The son of God... died. Even the one who was without sin - even the one who deserved anything but the pain he endured - died a horribly painful death. He was willing to die for those who, literally, crucified him. How much are you willing to do for someone who can do you little good? Let alone those who want to kill you? (I hope that department is understaffed ;-))

Jesus didn't just die for our sin... he became sin. he took it from us. How much freakin weight does that bear, how much guilt... for one person, let alone the whole human race. The one who knew he was the son of God, knew what was going to happen...cried out on the cross asking why God has forsaken Him. Why??? Well, God is too pure to look upon evil... so spiritually, in a sense, God turned away from his own son for that time. Triumph over death, came at such a price.

An interesting fact here... is that in Matthew 27, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" is Jesus quoting Psalm 22, which describes the crucifixion, as He is fulfilling that prophecy. Psalm 22 was written 600 years before crucifixion was even invented.

So today, as we celebrate Easter, remember the price that was paid, and the amazing grace shown to us through His death and resurrection. As the curtain in the Jewish temple was torn, the curtain which sealed off the most Holy place to everyone except the high priest... so now the sin that separated man from God has been bridged! The veil between us and God was torn apart.

"So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
-Matt 27:54

The first to proclaim belief in Jesus was one who presided over and probably ordered the nails to be driven into him. The centurion was a hardened soldier who felt little remorse, or even enjoyed carrying out the execution of an innocent man, of God's own son... but is given credit throughout the ages as the first to realize the truth. God's written word shows such divine grace to even one who helped murder His son! How awesome is that grace, how awesome is such a transformation as that?

I still don't fully understand grace. But in a nutshell, God doesn't just show mercy to us, taking away punishment we deserve... we are given more instead. We are shown unmerited favor. We have the potential to fulfill His purpose for each and every one of us, if only we believe and follow Him. We strive, above all else, to be more like Christ. Christ glorified God in all that He said, an all that He did. The power of God in our lives becomes more and more apparent as we do so as well.

And so we give thanks to God's son for making this relationship with our creator possible, and our eternal salvation possible by paying our debt. Now if only He could pay off Sallie Mae for me.

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia :)

I think, it's time to party. As Peter [Pan] might say...Bangarang.

Best. Ever.

And yet somehow, Genesis is slightly more accurate ;-)

Delay of Game

For the sake of something worth the weight it carries, it might be a little while til the next post I promised. Trust wasn't exactly the word to introduce where I'm headed with this, but it's a critical thing to live with. Trust, that God is faithful. Not that He chooses to be, but that He IS.

I feel that I should actually finish reading this book before I write more. I am constantly amazed at the grace granted to us, the miracles that take place every day, and the blessings we often take for granted.

And in between, God uses the crises we go through, and the evil we face, for His purpose. Never quit.

o rly?

Trust, is a big word.

No, not like antidisestablishmentariani-... you get the idea. just weeding out the occasional peanut gallery literalist in the audience. Speaking of peanut galleries, feel free to give me a hard time any day in the comments section ;-).

I had an idea of what I wanted to say when I sat down to write this post, but as per usual random thoughts can take over. So I'll get back to that big word in a minute.

Anyone here watch House MD? Well if I watched much TV, I probably would too... if I could stand even one minute of listening to Hugh Laurie's character. It's an odd thing. Characters like House pull off the witty, cerebral, and sarcastic mix of cynical humor with brilliance. But what undoubtedly draws many viewers to this humor- subconsciously, even, is exactly what I abhor in it's execution. This brilliant style of wit is often used by House to verbally rip others apart, preying on weaknesses. Let me put it this way... as much as I personally enjoy any opportunity to be sarcastic, in many cases there's a fine line between it being merely funny, and being pointlessly harmful. House can get away with using his style while being condescending and arrogant because of the skill he possesses. It's akin to watching American Idol or Hell's Kitchen... you know the judge is telling it like it is, and you respect him for his expertise, but it often leads to, in the end, just being another arrogant asshole, for lack of a better word. ;-). All I'm getting at is that I've personally known a few people with House's style of humor... the random, uncompromisingly honest and sarcastic wit that's always on the tip of their tongue (I'm a suppressed nerd at heart, so it's 10x funnier when it pertains to something insightful/scientific... or just XKCD-ish, hehe) but it's rare to come across someone that can use this gift in a constructive way.... even if just adding to everyday socializing. House just rubbed me the wrong way because I'd LOVE the character, if only it didn't come with the dark side of the force... lol. Kinda like Boondock Saints. AWESOME... oh wait, they're murdering in the name of God. Sigh. Don't get me wrong... my examples are just fiction. But they highlight bigger things.

I think I'll leave that big word for an entry to come very soon. What do transposition, Colorado, satellites and Paul all have in common? Probably nothing. But they all play key roles in my next post ;-) I need some sleepz for now, kthxbai.