kingdom travelin'

I just visited a rehab center where a young man of 16 (today is his birthday) is recovering from a stroke. When I saw him last he was in the hospital and was not able to do or say much. The stroke was a serious one (the jury is still out on what happened and why this occured) and there were some very dark days for the mom and dad.

But today, just three weeks later, the change was just amazing. One of the hospital folks early on had used the word vegetable, but today I saw this young man in therapy, he is regaining control of his limbs to the point where he can walk a bit!

His intellignece level has gone from that of a 6 year old to that of a 22 year old (this rating is a relative thing). His mom and dad are praising God.

But they are praising God not just for the wonderful development of their son but for being there and getting them through the dark days they have been through… God is with us through it all. I’m glad to be His…

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
(-Numbars 6:24-26, ESV)
What a wonder benediction… look inside this and see the Gospel, especially the last word… peace!
May we all seek peace through He who offers grace…

A friend and I are sharing some theological views with one another… in the context of double checking myself through the writing of others, I found this… (by Erickson in the 1983 ed. of Christian Theology p. 646)

“The person who loves the transient will also pass way. The one whose loyalty is to that which is permanent will also abide forever.”

For a good while now, I have enjoyed collecting coffee mugs… here is the coolest one I’ve been given in a while…

It was a surprise from Laci and Keri…

Here is the original… it is now a symbol of the

spirit of the people of Vukovar, Croatia…

My friend Mark, who travelled with me there last week, posted some resources to learn more…

On an unrelated note… I was fasinated to read about an atheist who went to church at a big “mega-church” near Chicago in the USA… his description is interesting

“A child saying a child’s prayer looks simple. And if you are content to stop there, well and good. But if you are not – and the modern world usually is not – if you want to go on and ask what is really happening – then you must be prepared for something difficult. If we ask for something more than simplicity, it is silly then to complain that the something more is not simple.” – C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity, p.40 Harper Collins edition 2001)

Lewis uses modernity here and I think this helps us understand how we want to break it all down into its componant parts… the thing I – as a modernist – must understand is how do others who are post-modern look differently at ideas… this one for instance…

Two blogs I browse pretty regularly are my friends Mark and JR. Interesteringly, each of them noted U2 on their blogs… Mark about Bono at the National Prayer Breakfast (USA) and JR talking about U2 and the Emerging church… I recommend both to you…