Doogie and I have been spending a lot of time together. He sleeps in my bed with me at night, and he eats his bones with me in my room. We got a little bored of the house so we went outside. He kept tripping in the snow and he got so cold he refused to move, just kept shaking his little paws and bobbing his head, so I dragged him on inside.
I've had a lot of time to just sit down, relax, and contemplate. Some of my contemplating today took a tour de force into a two hour power snooze. But that's beside the point. I've always considered myself a very contemplative guy. No matter where I am or what I'm doing my mind is always spinning complex webs of ideas and theories and conversations with myself. That last part might be a little too weird for blog. A lot of the contemplating has turned to the wide and mysterious realm of what does it really mean to follow Jesus?
So many people have different views on what this really means. I have been exploring this over the last few months, really, through reading books, the Bible, worship and prayer, and conversations with friends who have a lot of ideas and advice on this subject, such as Jeff, Mike and Doug.
I am reading a book called Following Jesus, and am reading the book of Matthew, with lots of emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount. I hope to discover what following Jesus is really all about, and live it out at home, work, at school, with friends and strangers.
I've had a lot of time to just sit down, relax, and contemplate. Some of my contemplating today took a tour de force into a two hour power snooze. But that's beside the point. I've always considered myself a very contemplative guy. No matter where I am or what I'm doing my mind is always spinning complex webs of ideas and theories and conversations with myself. That last part might be a little too weird for blog. A lot of the contemplating has turned to the wide and mysterious realm of what does it really mean to follow Jesus?
So many people have different views on what this really means. I have been exploring this over the last few months, really, through reading books, the Bible, worship and prayer, and conversations with friends who have a lot of ideas and advice on this subject, such as Jeff, Mike and Doug.
I am reading a book called Following Jesus, and am reading the book of Matthew, with lots of emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount. I hope to discover what following Jesus is really all about, and live it out at home, work, at school, with friends and strangers.
2 comments:
Man, i hope you enjoy that book, I know that I did. As far as my take on "following Jesus:" study how he interacted with people. listen to the words he used and the compassion he showed. Watch his careful study of situations and planning of strategic moves. It isn't about rules & regulations, not about a list of do's and don'ts. It is about authentically caring for people, because they matter to God. Regardless of our prejudices and hesitations, God loves us all, and we should show that love to others. You don't show love by saying it. You show love by doing it.
I hope you have a great holiday.
Thanks so much, man. Yes, the book is very good. I love it. Yesterday I was kind of contemplating this, since I was bored out of my mind waiting to leave to Kentucky for the holidays, and I remembered Jesus' words: "Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself." He went on to say, in slightly different terms, "This is the bottom line." And I thank that anything else that has to do with following Jesus, the bottom line is love. You can't follow Jesus if you don't love God; it's impossible. And as Rob Bell said in his Nooma video "Bullhorn," the way you love people is the way you love God. They're interconnected. Love, then, is the bottom line, the foundation - not a foundation of sand, but a foundation of rock.
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