soul cravings

I know - 2 posts in 2 days... incredible!!

I've just finished reading Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus. Here are some key thoughts that stood out to me from the book (I can't give you page numbers, because McManus breaks the book up by theme (cravings, destiny and meaning), then writes as journal entries - not sure how one would reference that in an essay!):

"God calls us out of the life we have known and calls us into a life we have never imagined"

"It's important to fully live each moment, but equally important to make sure that we do not live only for this moment."

"When you give up on hope, you become paralyzed in the present and begin to live in the past"

"Spirituality is more identified with tradition and ritual than it is with a future and a hope. Too often discipleship equals standardization"

"While religions have historically tried to make us the same, Jesus calls us to be different"

"Clearly we can't know everything ... Genius might be less how much you know and more the ability to know the right things."

And finally a quote from Cheng Yi which I think sums up my blog... "To exert thought is like digging a well. At first there is only muddy water. Later on, after one has done some drawing, clear water will come out. One's thoughts are always muddy at first. After a long while they will naturally be nicely clear"

another year older... amongst other happenings

Well, once again, a number of weeks have passed, with no blogging. Ah, discipline... how you mock me...

Here's a brief overview of a couple of highlights of what's happened during this time. If you want any more info, you should leave a comment!

I bought a new camera - Panasonic FZ7 - very cool
We've run multiple "crazy" nights in our evening gatherings at RBC - been a lot of fun
In one of these (last Sunday night), I had part of my head shaved during the service
It's been really cold - and I've had 2 colds...
Watched the end of Heroes - brilliant
Prepared for the last episode of Lost (tonight, our time)
Josh and I just celebrated our 4th and 33rd birthdays last weekend.
We gave Josh a slot car set - sooo much fun (but it is his present... right?!)
I bought the new Smashing Pumpkins CD (I didn't even know they had a new one coming out) - Zeitgeist - as well as On a Clear Night (Missy Higgins) and Neon Ballroom (Silverchair). I've been wanting to get Neon Ballroom for ages, and finally found it for $10! Yeah!
I started a Facebook page - not sure why, yet... seems like the thing to do at the moment.

Obviously more than that has happened, but they're some highlights. Once Ignite (our evening service series) is over, I intend to make it a priority to blog at least once a week - you can hold me to it!

been a while...

I confess I've been pretty slack on the blogging front of late. I'm not quite sure why - I think that it's probably because blogging is a discipline, and like lots of disciplines, I'm not great at keeping them. No, it doesn't take a lot of time to log on, write a few words, and post, but actually having something useful to say (I think there's more than enough trash on the internet without me adding any) is a different matter.

It's not because I'm too busy, either. I made a vow a number of years ago to never use that as an excuse for anything. I feel there are far too many people who wear busyness as a badge of honour - trying to say "I'm the busiest person ever". To me, if you say you're too busy to do something, it's because of one of two reasons - either your time management needs work, or you can't make whatever is being discussed a priority. (I don't have an issue with people prioritising, either - it's healthy - but don't use busyness as an excuse to get out of something you don't want to do!)

The fact of the matter is, I just need to bite the bullet and take some time out more regularly to reflect more. I'm meeting with my good friend Andrew Turner this afternoon, and I'm sure this will be one of our topics of discussion...