out from ordinary

Mrs. Craver pointed out this bush, saying how pretty it looked, with the snow piled on some areas. It is in front of the house, and we see this plant all the time. I think it's a Juniper. It releases a subtle, but sweet fragrance when you brush up against it.

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More and more, I am learning to appreciate what goes into picture-taking. Boy, some people just seem to have an eye for it; don't they? I carry my camera with me all the time now, trying to stay alert, deliberately looking for contrast, light, angles, etc. I'm not seeing anything new, but I'm taking the time to observe, savoring these ordinary sights in a fresh way.

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"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

-Henry David Thoreau

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Last year, I tried (and failed) reading through the whole Bible in the calendar year. This year, rather than try to do the same thing, I am going to switch things up and just try to be a more careful observer, taking my sweet time as I go.

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On the drive to work this morning, I enjoyed some memorization from Psalms. I repeated the verses aloud. Then I experimented, emphasizing different parts and using different tones of voice, trying to imagine what it might sound like coming from King David (if he could speak English).

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I don't expect to get through the whole Bible this year, but that's okay. I'll take my sweet time every day with God's word, burrowing deeper, and being careful to notice and savor it. There won't be anything new that I read, but I'll bet that I see some things in a different way!

new year's ignition

My wish for the new year is that God would ignite fresh life into His people.

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There is no "resolution" per se for 2008. I don't usually do those kinds of things anyway, though I wonder each year, whether this time I should think of a new year's resolution. The thing is, if I have something that I felt I needed to do, like lose weight, or more exercise, why wait until the next calendar year? If it is a worthwhile venture, why not begin right away?

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This weekend, while hearing/singing the words "Don't let my love grow cold. I'm calling out; light the fire again. Don't let my vision die. I'm calling out; light the fire again." it came to me, that the change I want is not one that is put on by me in an external way. My desire is to be changed from within. At first glance, it looks like we are simply talking about motivation, but it's more than that.

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I want to be more consistent about Scripture reading, pray harder, forgive better, etc. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings these changes about. And He is God, not an it.

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Let me put it this way, if this were a car race, my emphasis is not about trying harder to push to the finish line, it's more about making sure that God is in the driver's seat for 2008.

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Light the Fire Again by Brian Doerksen © 1997 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing

happy new year

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If someone stopped you right now and asked, “ON AVERAGE, how often do you read your Bible?” How frequent would you LIKE your average to be? What about your immediate family? Your churchmates? Your denomination? Your country?

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I saw an old survey printed in the pages of Living By the Book by Hendricks & Hendricks. It gave some depressing statistics on Bible reading averages. Who is in the Book more frequently? Men or women? Baptists or Pentecostals? Etcetera, etcetera.

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Maybe those stats don’t amount to much more than a barking contest, but at the time, I considered what my honest answer would have to be, and I knew that it did not fairly represent what I say I believe about the Bible.

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I know one lady who reads through the Bible TWICE every year. As for me, I have gone cover-to-cover (in one year) only once. Shrugging off any past failures, I am committing to do a one-year Bible read-through in 2007. And I invite anyone else who is going to commit to do it to let me know, that we might encourage each other.

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Also, aside from homework or lesson preparation, how frequently are you doing personal Bible reading? That’s rhetorical; don’t answer me. I just want you to see if you’re satisfied with your commitment to the Word.

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In the final analysis, it is not going to impress God that I am in the Word every day, or whether I make a complete read-through in the calendar-year. What matters, is that God is speaking, so I will listen to Him!