C.S. Lewis-- The Root and Result of Praise

“I have never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it.” “as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it...I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.” (p. 94-95).

“It is along these lines that I find it easiest to understand the Christian doctrine that “Heaven” is a state in which angels now, and men hereafter, are perpetually employed in praising God.” (p.96).

“Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.” (p.97).

Reflections on the Psalms (Harvest Book)By C.S. Lew

You love me again today, Lord?
Where do you find this love?
Is there no depth to the well that is you?
There is no depth to the well of need that is me.
So I come again and again and again and again
Fresh water pours over me, washes me, and restores
the battered places.
Battered b the choices I have made
And the roles that I have played
I worship you
Fount of never ending love
God of this outrageous love
I worship you
--Shelia Walsh

jesus fortold

A Child has been born to us; God has given a son to us. He will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace. Power and peace will be in his kingdom and will continue to grow forever. The Lord All-Powerful will do this because of his strong love for his people.

--Isaiah 9:6-7--

happy birthday Jesus!

i love babies!

little host bro--Mugambe Isaiah Murungi

shine!...

Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you lightbearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open the house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
--Matthew 5, the message

...all beauty is God's beauty; all truth is God's truth.

I wanna be a tour guide

from Velvet Elvis:Repainting the Christian Faith by: Rob Bell

...something can be labeled (by society) "Christian" and not be true, something can be labeled true and not be labeled Christian. Paul quotes Cretan prophets and Greek poets. He is interested in whether or not what they said is true. Now to be able to quote these prophets and poets, Paul obviously had to read them. And study them. And analyze them. And I am sure he came across all kinds of things in their writings that he didn’t agree with. So he sifts and sorts and separates the light from the dark and then claims and quotes the parts of them that are true.

Truth is available to everyone. Even if they aren’t Christian. Sometimes we have the idea that if it’s not "Christian" it’s not true or that there is no truth outside the Bible. But the idea of a ‘limited truth’ puts us in a dilemma: truth we see in the world or the Christian faith. Or one may feel it’s a decision between intellectual honesty or Jesus.

But it doesn’t have to be this way because Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." If you come across truth in any form, it isn’t outside your faith as a Christian. You faith just got bigger. To be a Christian is to claim truth wherever you find it. To live this way is to believe in a big Jesus.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is called ‘the word’. The word Word here in Greek is the word logos, which is where we get the English word logic.
Logic, intelligence, design. The blueprint of creation.
My friend, Tom, loves math (which I have trouble relating to), but he tells me that the more he studies math, he is marveled by God. Math eludes to a creator, a design, an ingenious maker.

Paul gets this. He is a spiritual tour guide and is talking to his readers through their world, pointing out the true and the good wherever he sees it. Notice what he does in the book of Acts. He visits the city of Lystra, which hasn’t heard of Jesus or the God Paul believes in, and he tries to figure out how to explain his Christian world view to them. He tells them, "[God] has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

Paul essentially asks his audience: Have you had enough food? Who do you think it comes from? Has it rained so your crops could grow? Who do you think did that? Have you ever laughed? Who do you think made that possible?

Missions is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there. It is almost as if being a good missionary means having really good eyesight. Or maybe it means teaching people to use their eyes to see things that have always been there; they just didn’t realize it. You see God where others don’t. And then you point him out.

Perhaps we ought to replace the word missionary with tour guide, because we can not show people something that we haven’t seen...the issue isn’t so much taking Jesus (cause carrying God seems really heavy, labourious, and difficult) to people who don’t have him, but going to a place and pointing out to the people there the creative, life-giving God who is already present in their midst. It is searching for the things they have already affirmed as real and beautiful and true and then telling them who you believe is the source of all that. "I am here to tell you where I think it comes from..."

Tour guides are people who see depth, texture, history and connection where others don’t. That is why the best teachers are masters of the obvious. They see the same thing that we do, but they are aware of so much more. And when they point it out, it changes the way we see everything.


~~~God give me amazing depth perception, an insightful gaze, and an open heart to receive all your beauty around me.

Marvelous Mombasa

*** I had a really great weekend with four girls from my program. We went to Mombasa for a mini-vacation after completing our classroom phase and before going to our rural internships. This was our little friend, "crabby" who took a very hot bath before being pulled apart by Ashley and I. To tell you the truth, it was kinda grotesque. I prefer to not see the before- this kind of ignorance is preferable. As you can see the beach was gorgeous. It was so refreshing, compared to the "haraka-haraka" (hurry-hurry) and pollution of Nairobi.

Mount Longnaut

Beautiful Kenya Sunset

God's Kindness

This past year I have been reading the book, "The Narrow Road" co-authored by Jars of Clay and a missionary named Brother Andrew. His stories of delivering Bibles to soviet countries are so exciting and moving that I savor every page and pace myself. Unfortunately, before leaving the US I hadn't finished the book and was so sad, because I couldn't justify carrying it in my suitcase across the world for the 30 pages that I had left to read. So I just thought it would have to wait. While in Amsterdam a wonderful family opened their home to us and took us around some of the outlying towns. Over dinner one night they extended the invitation to stay another night and come to church with them. They casually mentioned that a man named Brother Andrew would be speaking and doing a question and answer session afterwards. I think my fork and jaw dropped simultaneously. I asked, "Brother Andrew! The Brother Andrew of Open Doors (his ministry working with the persecuted church)?" And they replied, "Yes, Brother Andrew comes to our church often. You know him?" I said, "Do I know him?! His faith has blessed me and his testimony left a scearing mark so deep that when God gave me the opportunity to visit the persecuted church in East Asia, I jumped!" They giggled at my celebrity like reaction and it was official that we would stay another day to go to church. So I met him, and learned even more about how God is using him in the middle east. He meets with government officials, and leaders as an ambassador for peace and Jesus! So yeah, God just blessed my socks off with the opportunity to meet him and learn more. I was floored, to say the least.
BUT the story doesn't end there...remember how I told you I didn't even finish reading his book, well I was perusing in our MSID (Study Abroad Program thru the University of Minnesota) Library here in Kenya when I stumbled across a copy of(you guessed it)"The Narrow Road". Now can I emphasis that this is NOT even remotely a Christian program (many of the participates distain the faith) and there are only about a hundred books in this library and most of them are on Development, policy, poverty, and aid programs- not Christian missionaries. SO I was extatic! And I took it and finished the book with a heart beeming with joy!