voice of the day

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” – Helen Keller

Music Monday

Okay, it is Tuesday — but it feels like a Monday because of the holiday….

Here is a suggestion from my friend Chad in MN — “Jon Foreman, the frontman for the multi-platinum band, Switchfoot is returning to his indie-scene roots by releasing four solo EPs over the coming months. These EPs, individually titled Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer, evoke vivid images of each season, making the collection a likely soundtrack to the year ahead. All four EPs will be released prior to the upcoming Switchfoot release in late 2008.”

Dallas Willard thoughts

Well, this week I got to sit down with one of my heroes of the faith — Dallas Willard at USC and talk about life, ministry, church, etc. — it was an amazing time. He seemed to have all the time in the world for me, offered to connect again anytime, and even come up to Kairos in Hollywood this fall for some talks with the church. What a blessing he is.

I have been re-reading his book, Renovation of the Heart and here are some quotes that really struck me afresh…

“If spiritual formation is to be the central focus of the local congregation, the group must be possessed by the vision of apprenticeship to Jesus in kingdom living as the central reality of salvation and as the basic good news, and they must have formed the clear intention to be disciples and to make disciples, as the central project of their group” (p. 244)

“It is, I gently suggest, a serious error to make “outreach” a primary goal of the local congregation, and especially so when those who are already “with us” have not become clear-headed and devoted apprentices of Jesus, and are not, for the most part, solidly progressing along the path. Outreach is one essential task of Christ’s people, and among them there will always be those especially gifted for evangelism. But the most successful world of outreach would be the work of inreach that turns people, wherever they are, into lights in the darkened world.” (p.244)

“A simple goal for the leaders of a particular group would be to bring all those in attendance to understand clearly what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and to be solidly committed to discipleship in their whole life. That is, when asked who they are, the first words out of their mouth would be, “I am an apprentice of Jesus Christ.” This goal would have to be approached very gently and lovingly and patiently with existing groups, where the people involved have not understood this to be a part of their membership commitment.”

(p. 241-2 – These too are matters in which we are to be constantly learning how Jesus would lead our lives if he were we. He would do those things if he were we.)

Hope in the Unseen

…a scene that is at once so uplifting and so cruel it’s difficult to even convey in words

big soccer week

Well, Manchester United beat Chelsea 6-5 in penalty kicks to win the Champions League, after John Terry missed

I was not really all that excited about either team, as they both are the NY Yankees of the English Premiere League, they finished # 1 & #2 in the league standings, and then they get to the Champions league final in Moscow — ughhhh — the rich get richer in soccer. However, that being said there is nothing to compare to European soccer with the Champions league that runs concurrently with their regular national schedule, and with relegation (which would be like taking the worst 3 teams in Major League baseball, and sending them down to Triple-A ball, and taking the 3 best AAA teams & sending them to the big leagues. It makes for a great league to follow from September through May (and now we have the European Championships to follow in June).

But even wayyyyyyyyy bigger soccer news in the Larson household, is that there were about 50-60 kids who tried out for the
Marshall high school soccer team, and 23 of the guys made the team. Caleb was one of them! I am exceedingly proud of my boy, as I believe that he is the only non-Hispanic kid to make the team, as we are in soccer-central out here.

Voice of the day, our…

Voice of the day, our life long, as told you, our longing to be reunited with something and the universe from which we now feel cut off to be an inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside is now mere neurotic fancy but the truth index of our real situation. C.S. Lewis. listen

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Voice of the day, our…

Voice of the day, our life long, as told you, our longing to be reunited in the universe from which we now feel cut off. To be an inside of some door which we have always seeing from the outside is no mere neurotic fancy but the true index of our real situation. C.S. Lewis. listen

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trouble in the world

I don’t know about you, but my senses have been overloaded a little bit recently with all of the pain & suffering going on in the world. To be sure, there are always calamities, and pain — but lately, it simply seems to be more acute.

As I perused the on-line news again today, I was reminded of this suggestion by the eminent theologian Karl Barth, as told by an interviewer from a Time Magazine piece on Barth published on Friday, May 31, 1963.
“[Barth] recalls that 40 years ago he advised young theologians ‘to take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.’”

The Time article goes on to give us more of Barth’s thoughts on journalists and their place in the world:
“Newspapers, he says, are so important that ‘I always pray for the sick, the poor, journalists, authorities of the state and the church – in that order. Journalists form public opinion. They hold terribly important positions. Nevertheless, a theologian should never be formed by the world around him – either East or West. He should make his vocation to show both East and West that they can live without a clash. Where the peace of God is proclaimed, there is peace on earth is implicit. Have we forgotten the Christmas message?’”

Pray for the sick and poor today in this world who are suffering from the earthquake that devastated parts of China

…to the devastating cyclone that hit Myanmar, and now the idiot military junta is refusing to allow in outside help with.

my Hollywood neighborhood

“Some worry that a proliferation of high-end projects will bury the charm of the storied area’s golden past.”

An interesting story in today’s LA Times about the gentrification blessings & curses that are coming upon Hollywood.

Construction cranes hover over Hollywood as the movie industry’s historic home undergoes another sweeping — and sometimes wrenching — transformation. ¶ More than a dozen multimillion-dollar projects have been announced, launched or just completed that promise new shopping and restaurants, thousands of new apartments and condominiums and towers of glass and steel. ¶ Glitzy clubs dot once-sketchy street corners. Residents swim atop the former Broadway department store at Hollywood and Vine. Construction projects cuddle up to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and are popping up in the shadow of the landmark Capitol Records tower. ¶ The changes can be both impressive and alarming to those who know Hollywood best. Residents and business owners marvel at the improvements around them. Yet they prize the lingering charm of Hollywood’s golden past and fear that the place they love is slipping away.

“My worst-case scenario is that it loses the special flavor that is unique to Hollywood,” said neighborhood activist Cheryl Holland, who has lived there for almost 20 years.

Read the rest of the article here : “Building boom gives Hollywood pause”

Like_youknow

The best line from Taylor Mali

“I am just like, inviting you to join me, on the bandwagon of my own uncertainty…”