New pics of Baby Noah

noah samuel pierce

Isn't my new nephew gorgeous?

Here's the whole fam

cs lewis: on infection and the Trinity

"And that, by the way, is perhaps the most important difference between Christianity and all other religions: that in Christianity God is not a static thing-not even a person-but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance."



"And now, what does it all matter? It matters more than anything in the world. The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three Personal life is to be played out in each one of us: or (putting it the other way around) each one of us has got to enter that pattern, take his place in that dance. There is no other way to the happiness for which we were made. Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry. Once a man is united to God how could he not live forever? Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?" CS LEWIS, Mere Christianity



The past year or so I have felt like I have been withering. And all of my own accord, I have to admit. It is I who needs to walk into the spray of the fountain. I found a letter I wrote to myself several years ago, 6 things to never forget. It reminded me of time when I was so close to the Heat source I was on FIRE. And yet close to the Fountain I was dripping wet. I guess Amy Grant knew what she was talking about when she sang about not always being able to be on the mountain top. I used to sit in my room with my 8 track player and sing along with her at the top of my lungs not having a clue really what she was saying.



It is a conscious decision to move closer. A crisis point that seems to come repeatedly in our lives as we forget sometimes what it takes to maintain a relationship with Him, or what it feels like to be moved by Him. Or what it's like when things are done in His power instead of our own. We read about the Israelites in the Wilderness and see and how quickly they forget. I saw Prince Caspian and saw how quickly the children dismissed their history with Aslan. We see such things and have a tendency to say what are they THINKING?? And yet I do the same thing over and over in my life. I couldn't even love Him if He didn't love me first. I couldn't even desire to know Him unless he placed it in my heart. The desire is definitely there, but is the discipline? There has to be a willingness to turn off the TV or the radio and listen for Him, communicate with Him. I have been trying to take advantage of those moments again, attempting to get close enough to the Source of everything I long to know and desire to be. I can feel Him blessing my efforts when I take those steps, when I willingly move into the dance...

Journey-Don't Stop Believing (ZOO BAND)

Ok, Journey has hired a new lead singer. Who knew a guy from the Philipines could channel Steve Perry?

mere christianity

Let's just start by saying CS Lewis was a genius. That being said, I have been reading his Mere Christianity. It should have been a requirement in college for any of my basic christian beliefs classes. Except it wasn't. Don't even get me started on that.

Here is one thing I have been chewing on this past week or so:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

That's deep. Thoughts?

home

PC?

Last Sunday Pastor Steve started a sermon series on the Tough Questions of Life and Faith. He made a comment that cracked me up, but no one else seemed to catch it. He was talking about Faith and being "politically correct" in America and he said "Today it isn't kosher to ask somebody about their religion".

Can anybody tell me what's wrong with that statement?? :)

war

Jason Statham and Jet Li in a movie together?

Yes please.

you're going somewhere

This past Friday night we had Desperate at Scott and Cheryl's house. Desperate is a time to get together as His Church and really seek God through worship, prayer, prophesy, and LISTENING. While I enjoyed the time, and was able to pray and seek God, I also struggled with focus. I had so much going through my head, so many concerns, that when it came time to pray for one another I didn't even know what to ask for. So I didn't ask for anything.

Sunday morning Susie, our associate pastor's wife, walked up to our friend Derek and started talking to him close by to where I was sitting. I heard him say "yeah, I think that's Shawna". She came over and said that she had been praying for our time together that Friday night and the Lord had given her a message for someone. Derek had felt I needed prayer that night but hadn't said anything. Once Susie talked to him, he realized he was right.

The first words Susie said were "You're going somewhere under God's Authority". She said that God had told her that it was not under the heavy hand of duty or obligation, but under His hand of love. I would not be forced to go, but that I would be passionate about going. Derek confirmed he was hearing the word passion and felt God's saying it was going to be restored. I knew right then that God was speaking to me because for the past few months I have started thinking about pursuing ministry again and moving to Michigan. In June I signed a shorter lease on my apartment. Several of the obstacles "holding me back" like a reliable car and some personal debt are both going to be taken care of soon. I began to see it as an open door to start stepping out in faith and believing that it was really going to happen this time.

There has been a myriad of emotions on this journey. Excitement, passion, doubt, fear, complacency... everything from "Am I ever going to get there?" to "Do I really have to go?" I have known my whole life I have a calling on my life but it's gets tougher as I get older to believe it will truly come to fruition.

In all honesty the most important part of God's word for me was

YOU ARE GOING SOMEWHERE.

Just hearing that gave me hope. It confirmed to me that I wasn't crazy or misinformed or mistaken. I had heard Him right, and I needed to trust His timing. But the blessing of knowing that I will be going under His Authority and in His Love is also important, because why else would I bother going?? It would be a waste of time.

God is good. Not always safe, but good. A friend of mine recently sent me an email about the recent transition in his life and said

"I was overwhelmed by His love and He left me with no wiggle room."

That's exactly what it's like. There comes a point when it's so obvious that He knows what's best that you just can't argue with Him or deny Him anymore. I can't deny how He feels about me, how much He loves me, or that He knows what is best for me. I am compelled to do what He leads me to do because of His love for me, and mine for Him. It is overwhelming, but not suffocating. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Thriller hits the Phillipines

Dudes, that's a dude in that halter top. Some Phillipino Prison Warden has sick sense of humor. But at least I am entertained...