Sex God--Part 2

And these are my concluding thoughts on an overly amazing book.

By far the chapter that resonated with me the most was Chapter 5: She Ran Into the Girls' Bathroom. The chapter is about risking love, taking a chance, and sometimes facing rejection--experiencing heartache.

Rob Bell references Genesis 6:6 "Then YHWH (God) was sorry that he had made humankind on earth, and it pained his heart." God gave us the right to choose, and from the beginning we rejected Him. We rejected his law, we rejected his will and ultimately we rejected--and continue to reject--his love. To quote Bell "God takes this giant risk in creating and loving people, and in the process God's heart is broken." (pg 97). What we can learn from this is that if our Creator can take the risk of allowing all mankind to reject him for eternity, we can take the chance to love--not only in the sense of a romantic relationship, but also our enemies, our neighbors, our coworkers, our family, etc.--and risk being rejected. Because honestly, we will be rejected. It's unrealistic to think that our love will be reciprocated 100% of the time. We live in a broken world and because of this we face imperfect love.

Further quoting Bell, "Love is handing your heart to someone and taking the risk that they will hand it back because they don't want it. That's why it's such a crushing ache on the inside. We gave away a part of ourselves and it wasn't wanted." (pg 98) All I have to say to that is--wow.

So then Bell goes on to explain how we can risk loving others:

Contrast this [bullying others to appear strong] with people who appear weak but are actually quite strong. It's when someone says something mean or cutting about us and everything within us wants to one-up them with an even nastier comment in return, thus winning the exchange, but we hold our tongue. We "lose" the round, but what we did took tremendous strength And it would take even more strength to forgive them and then maybe even love them. It would all appear quite weak to the observer, unless they understood that what they were witnessing was actually strength in action. (pg 103)

How incredible counter-cultural is that?!? To turn the other cheek? To hold your tongue? To not defend yourself? How incredibly hard is that. Try it! And then...try LOVING the person that you're trying so hard not to talk bad about.

And now the part that really resonates with me:

This can transform our experience of heartbreak. Instead of being something that distances us from God, causing us to question, "Where are you?" every poem by a lover spurned, every song sung with an ache, every movie with a gut-wrenching scene, every late-night conversation and empty box of Kleenex are glimpses into the life of God. (pg 106)

Our healing begins when we participate in the suffering of God. When we don't avoid it but enter into it, and in the process enter into the life of God. Wen we see our pain not as separating us from but connecting us to our maker. (pg 107)

So wait, hold up here. Is he? Could he be? What Bell's suggesting is that we experience broken hearts in our lifetime so that, maybe, we can gain a slight understanding of the broken heart God is constantly feeling when mankind continually rejects His love. When I think about the heartbreak I've experienced, I realize that surely it must be nothing in comparison to how badly it must hurt to have mankind reject you...generations upon generations rejecting your law, refusing to trust that your way truly is THE way. What pain that must be. So maybe, I can gain a slight understanding of the sadness God felt when the world rejected his Son and sent him to the cross.

And the last one from this chapter, "Our greatest wounds rarely come from strangers." (pg 108). How true that is. The sting of strangers' rejection lasts mere seconds...but the people we really care about...when they choose to reject us or hurt us...that pain lingers and is the hardest to overcome, to forgive, and to love through.

There really is so much more in this book that is truly astounding. Go read the book. Go. And when you're done, let's discuss. I like theological discussions. True story. :)

Caalifooornia....Here I come!!!

I just returned on Friday from California. It was amazing. I now want to go back and visit and spend a ton of time there. I was out there for business so I spent a majority of my time in conferences and meetings, but loved, loved, loved it while I was there. The conference was fantastic! (I'll have to write more about it later...lots of interesting stuff). And of course, I am a crazy tourist and took far too many pictures. Anyhow, here are a few of my favs from the trip:

The view from my Balcony...minus the smog, isn't it beautiful?

I just really liked this picture of the palm tree. :)

The Hollywood Sign...Seriously. It's there. Look close. Squint your eyes. Use your imagination.

Disney's California Adventure

Disneyland Dream Suite

Sleeping Beauty Castle...It's small, and in this case, blurry.

The doors to the Grand Californian. Don't mock me for taking pictures of doors. I thought they were cool. The end.

I really didn't take many pictures, so those are the coolest ones. I'll write more about the conference later. Just a little snippet...My favorite keynote was Emmanuel Brown, Director of Digital Marketing and Content Development, Nike's Jordan Brand. Nike's Jordan Brand is doing some mega cool things. Check out their Breakfast Club. Basically you can develop a fitness plan and download it to your iPod among many other cool features. And Brown was a crazy awesome speaker.

You've Got Mail

Don't you love when you turn on the tv and one of your favorite movies is on??? I think it's one of those little pleasures in life that make me really happy. I turned on the tv this afternoon and was so excited to see that You've Got Mail (the movie with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks) was on. What makes it even more of a pleasure for me is that I don't own the movie, so it really is like a special treat. And yes, I know what you're thinking, "Gosh, that is succcch a chick flick." I know, I know. But C'mon, it's a good movie!! And these are some of my favorite quotes. Enjoy.

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino." - Joe Fox

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but valuable. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void." - Kathleen Kelly

"The Godfather answers all of life's questions. What should I pack for my summer vacation? "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." " - Joe Fox

"I like to start my letters off to you as if we're already in the middle of a conversation. I pretend that we are the oldest and dearest of friends as oppose to which we actually are, people who don't know eachothers names and met in a chatroom which we both claimed we'd never been to before. What will NY152 say today I wonder. I turn on my computer, I sign on, I wait impatiently as it connects and my chest catches my breath as I hear three little words. 'You've Got Mail' I hear nothing, not a sound on the city streets just the beat of my own heart. I have mail-- from you." - Kathleen Kelly

P.S.--I saw Juno on my plane ride home from California. Absolutely. A-MAZING movie. Like seriously, brilliant. And here are my favorite quotes from that movie :)


Vanessa: Your parents are probably wondering where you are.
Juno MacGuff: Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?

Leah: Yo Yo Yiggady Yo.
Juno: I'm at suicide risk.
Leah: Juno?
Juno: No, it's Morgan Freeman. Do you have any bones that need collecting?
Leah: Only the one in my pants...
Juno: I'm pregnant.
Leah: What? Honest to blog?
Juno: Yeah. Yeah, it's Bleekers.
Leah: It's probably just a food baby. Did you have a big lunch?
Juno: No, this is not a food baby all right? I've taken like three pregnancy tests, and I'm forshizz up the spout.
Leah: How did you even generate enough pee for three pregnancy tests? That's amazing...
Juno: I don't know, I drank like, ten tons of Sunny D... Anyway dude, I'm telling you I'm pregnant and you're acting shockingly cavalier

Juno: You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events.

Rollo: You better pay for that pee-stick when you're done with it. Don't think it's yours just because you marked it with your urine!

Mac: Liberty Bell, if you put one more Baco on that potato, I'm gonna kick your little monkey butt.

Juno: Your little girlfriend gave me the stinkeye in art class yesterday.
Paulie Bleeker: Katrina's not my girlfriend alright? And I doubt she gave you the stinkeye that's just how her face looks, you know? That's just her face.

Mmmk. Hope ya'll enjoyed this :)

In a New York Minute

I went to New York. Three months ago. Don't judge me for taking so long to blog about it and post pictures. (And let's be honest, the only reason I finally got the pictures off my camera is because I'm leaving for California TODAY and needed room on my camera! :)

Rockefeller Center


Museum of Natural History. Lots of Bones. And Rocks. And more bones.


World of Disney NYC, of course!


Central Park and 5th Ave. Don't I look like a New Yorker? Ha!


I heart rocks.



Okay, I have more, but that's all there's time for today. Besides, that large rock is a lot to handle. I know, I was pretty amazed, too! And Liz, well, she could barely contain her excitement over rocks :)

Sex God

So did that get your attention? I thought so.

I've been reading a book by Rob Bell called Sex God. Bell's claim is that sexuality and spirituality are endlessly connected. And through reading his book and thinking through a lot of his teachings, I see his point. In fact, in the first chapter he explains the purpose of the book pretty clearly:

Sex. God. They're connected. And they can't be
separated. Where the one is, you will always find the other. This s a book
about how sexuality is the "this" and spirituality is the "that." To make sense of
the one, we have to explore the other.

And that is what this book is about.

I'm only about halfway through the book so far, but let me provide you all with some of the points from the book that have really been weighing on my heart and mind lately.

• "When Jesus talks about heaven and hell, they are first and foremost present realities that have serious implications for the future. Either can be invited to earth, right now, through our actions. It's possible for heaven to invade earth. And it's possible for hell to invade earth." (pg 22)--So my thoughts are: What kind of impact am I making? Am I introducing heaven here on earth to people? What kind of witness am I being?
• "Moments when all of the ways that we divide ourselves and rank each other and convince ourselves of how different, better, and unalike we are disappear and we are faced with the fact that first and foremost, we are humans. In this together. And not that much different from each other." (pg 26) Thoughts: How judgemental and insensitive can I be to a person's situation? How often do I fail to place myself in the shoes of others? And how many times do I feel inadequate compared to someone else? How unappreciative have I been of the life that God has given me?
• "We were born into a world, into a condition of disconnection. Things were created to be a certain way, and they're not that way, and we feel it in every fiber of our being...we're severed and cut off and disconnected in a thousand ways, and we know it, we feel it, and we're aware of it every day. It's an ache in our bones that won't go away...Our sexuality, then, has two dimensions. First, our sexuality is our awareness of how profoundly we're severed and cut off and disconnected. Second, our sexuality is all of the ways we go about trying to reconnect."(pg 40) Thoughts: I mean, think about it, how many times do you hear in movies or see on tv something along the lines of 2 individuals talking about how they feel closest when they're having sex. And how much of media is based on sexuality? We're just trying to connect. Because of the broken condition of humanity, we look for connections everywhere besides where we find the one true connection--God. And so undoubtedly, we are left unfulfilled and longing for something more when we fill the desire for connections with meaningless relationships, defining careers, a nonstop social life and more.
• "...we aren't angels and we aren't animals" (pg 64) Thoughts: When we allow ourselves to blame our actions on our animalistic nature, we discredit the order in which God created us. We discredit our ability to think, to reason, to feel, to love, to have any sort of emotion. We discredit our ability to have any say in our actions. But when we allow ourselves to believe we are angels, we are setting ourselves up for failure. For we have humanistic natures and we live in a world of sin. Bell talks about how, as humans, we were created after angels and after animals. As God created the world, he brought it more and more out of chaos. So for us to think we are angels or animals, we are going back towards chaos when we should be moving forward--continuing the creation.
• "Lust promises what it can't deliver...Lust comes from a deep lack of satisfaction with life. This is why we have to slow down and reflect on our lies before we'll ever begin to sort out the significance of this. Lust often starts with a thought somewhere in our head or heart: 'If I had that/him/her/it, then I'd be...' Lust is always built on a lie...Think about the head space we give to things and people we want. it's easy for our thoughts to be dominated by a craving. We're in a meeting, we're taking a walk, were studying, we're doing jobs around the house, and the whole tie our brain is miles away, trying to figure out how to get it...Lust is slavery...But freedom isn't being able to have whatever we crave. Freedom is going without whatever we crave and being fine with it." (pgs 73-75) Thoughts: Oh so many thoughts on this section. It's about so much more than sexual lust. By lusting for anything, whether it be a relationship, a job, a lifestyle, a body type, material goods, etc., we are telling God that what He has given us is not good enough. We are telling him that his plan which is Perfect is not good enough for us. Who are we to tell God it's not good enough??? And by living in lust, we are not allowing ourselves to live fully content lives of purpose. We are distracted from the task at hand by this thing that lurks in the back of our minds. It's a vicious cycle spurred on by our sinful nature, our broken condition, our culture, etc. Our only option to break this cycle, to gain freedom, is to be prayerful in asking God to help us be content and satisfied with what we have--asking for help in overcoming those urges and cravings for something more. Find "something more" in God.

So that's about where I'm at right now. The book has so much to say that I have to continuously go back and skim over sections. And so, go buy the book, start reading, and then start conversing with me about your learnings. Sex. God. Two words you never thought would be connected...until now.

New Music!

Dave Barnes' new CD came out this past week. Believe me, this guy is good. He's got a fabulous voice and intriguing lyrics. In concert he's incredibly entertaining--a great performer and absolutely, flat-out hilarious! I saw him a few months ago at The Social (Probably my favorite concert venue...intimate feeling, up and coming acts, cheap tickets) with Matt Wertz, another particular favorite of mine. Wertz and Barnes are friends and tour together from time to time. I was a little skeptical as to how good the concert was going to be...but it was incredible! They performed each other's songs together and cracked hilarious jokes throughout the night. Anyhow, iTunes is selling Dave Barnes new CD, "Me and You and The World" for just $5.99 for a limited time. You can't beat that deal. Great music for a great price. Go check it out. Like, I'm not joking. Seriously. Go download it. (And then write me precious little notes about my fabulous taste in music. It'll be good for you. And me. Thanks.)

Now if only those boys would come back and sing in Florida....

PS--Be sure to check out a really great cause that the Wertz and Barnes both support. The Mocha Club brings awareness to issues plaguing 3rd World countries. You can support the Mocha Club by giving just $7 a month (Just give up Starbucks twice a month and voila! There you have $7 to donate). Your money supports Widow and Orphans, Clean Water Initiatives, Educational Initiatives and so much more. Plus, the Mocha Club organizes mission trips, so you can give your time, too, and see these issues firsthand.

Indelible Grace

I feel the great need to spread the word about the most amazing music movement. Indelible Grace is a group of people who are on a mission to put old hymn lyrics to new music. Contributors to the project include Matthew Smith, Sandra McCracken, and Derek Webb. The movement is somewhat tied with the Reformed University Fellowship so therefore also tied to the Reformed Church movement (think Presbyterian Church in America, Reformed Church, etc). I'm not really in the state of mind to debate the Reformed Movement vs. the Evangelical Movement vs. the XYZyadayadayada Movement (But I'd love to discuss it over coffee with you...just let me know). All I know is that these individuals are incredibly talented at making God's word relevant. I find connection with their music because it has a sort of indie/singer-songerwriter/alternative country feel to it--something I enjoy in any type of music. I've always loved the lyrics in hymns. Here's an excerpt from Indelible Grace's "About Us" section:

But actually, this is not really a "new" movement at all! Up until the beginning of the 20th century, it was common for people to compose new music for each generation for many of the hymns that they loved. There is no rule that says each hymn can only have one musical setting, and in fact, hymnals are designed for you to be able to mix and match words and music -- that's why they have a metrical index. But unfortunately, we lost this tradition and got stuck in a more modern traditionalism of associating one particular tune with one particular hymn.

We believe that the words of a hymn actually have more emotional nuance
than one piece of music can adequately capture. Thus singing even familiar hymns
with different music can bring out shades of meaning that had remained
unnoticed. For instance, while the traditional music for Toplady's "Rock of
Ages" conveys the power and strength of the words, James Ward's more recent tune
brings out the sweetness and tenderness that is also part of the emotion in the
lyric...

We want to be a voice calling our generation back to something rich and solid and beyond the fluff and the trendy. We want to remind God's people that thinking and worship are not mutually exclusive, and that not everything worth knowing happened in the last three years. We want to invite the Church to appreciate her heritage without idolizing it. We want to open up a world of passion and truth and make it more that just an archaic curiosity for the religiously sentimental. We believe worship is formative, and that it does matter what we think. So, we hope this site will prove helpful in encouraging and nurturing a growing movement.

They couldn't say it better (go read the rest of their "About Us" section. If nothing more, it's educational). I truly believe it's important for the church (as in every church) to incorporate hymns somewhere in their worship. It reminds us that we are not the first to struggle, we are not the first to cry out, we are not the first to be broken, we are not the first to rejoice, we are not the first to love. Simply put: we are not the first. Our forefathers and mothers went through so many of these experiences and wrote beautiful and eloquent words that fully capture these emotions. Now it's our turn to interpret them and put them to music we connect with.

In any case, check out Indelible Grace. Check out Derek Webb. Check out Sandra McCracken. Check out Matthew Smith. The work these inviduals are doing for the church is truly stunning.

http://www.igracemusic.com/