Just a Thought

PLUS

EQUALS

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

I was in Target today, and among my purchases was the X-Men movies (Hey, the first two weren't bad, and it came with a $10 coupon for the Wolverine Movie.) The 20 something female Target worker commented on the purchase asking if I was getting ready for the new Wolverine movie, and that she was excited for the film. She also mentioned that before Return of the King came out she bought the other two films and watched them in preparation.

Comics and geekdom ain't just for kids (or even just for boys) any more.

On a tangentially related note, is it sad the thing I am most excited about in relation to the upcoming Captain America film is all the tie-ins that will be hitting the shelves?

random thoughts

• The forgiveness of God doesn't simply restore us to the way we were before, but to the way we were meant to be.
• The genesis of Sesame Street was a father wondering aloud if television could be used to teach preschool aged children.
• The Watchmen book is better than the film.
• Same with Prince Caspian.
• Ditto for the Passion of the Christ.
• The Muppet Movie never gets old.
• Disney has DVDs where the commentary isn't simply a rehash of the info learned on the making of documentaries.
• I am now a volunteer for Redwood Kids 
• The main puppet characters at Redwood are named Sven and Ollie.
• When I was a kid, the pastor of my church often told Sven and Ollie jokes.
• I can't believe the good fortune I have had in finding a church/small group.
• This is the fourth time the first church I attended has been the church I made my home church (high school, college, Grace, and now here). In the case of Grace and Redwood Covenant Church (aka RCC) they were not only the first church I attended, but the only church.
• I am contracted to stay at camp through the summer
• I won't make it home for VBS =(
• I am trying to find another, less busy week, to visit Long Beach.
• The act of Jesus kneeling to wash the disciples feet (John 13) is also an act of lifting them up.
• The God who made the cosmos, stripped down, wrapped a towel around himself, and washed the feet of the disciples. Showing not only an example of service, but one of giving worth to those men, an act that would be repeated and magnified as He died on the cross in our place.
• There were no guests (not counting three families of co-workers) this weekend, so that means we don't have to pick up trash before work this morning. (We usually pick Friday afternoon after the kids leave and again Monday or Tuesday after weekend guests leave and before the kids arrive.)
• The fifteen minutes I had before work have now been filled by this list.

Be a Hypocrite

This week's message at church was how we as Christians need to be hypocrites. Seriously.

The passage was from Ephesians 5:
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The point made was this. The origin of the word hypocrite used in Ephesians comes from Greek plays. The actors would take on the look and the attributes of another. This was done without pretense. That is to say they never claimed to be the person they were acted as. As Christians we are to imitate God, but never claim to be Him.

Clearly, I am not God, but that doesn't mean I can't take on His attributes. It doesn't mean that even as a broken sinful person I can't be patient, kind, and forgiving. And it doesn't mean that being patient, kind, and forgiving makes me God. Under the facade I am still a broken person. But therein lies the good news!

I am broken, and yet I am being made into a new creation. I am fallen and sinful and selfish, yet I have learned and continue to learn how to care for others more than myself, how to care for others instead of myself. The good news of the Scriptures is that all of us are imperfect, but that God has redeemed us and is molding us into perfection.

I am not better than the person who sees the veneer, who sees in me the attributes of God. I was just shown where the mask and cape were first. But there is another mask, there is another cape, there is another opportunity to be changed from who we are into who we were meant to be.

The hypocrisy we see in the Church is that as we put on the attributes of God, we think that it makes us holy, that it makes us better than those without. Remember, we have these treasures in jars of clay. We aren't the main attraction. We are just the vessels showing the love and forgiveness of God to others.

So then why can't "anyone' just pick up the attributes of God, or the attributes of Mohamed, or Buddha, or just be a good person?

 The answer lies in the first chapter of Ephesians:

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

¹¹In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹²in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that ensures me that I am being made into a new creation that will, one day, be perfected. It is the Holy Spirit that enables me to live a life of patience, kindness, and forgiveness. Remember, I am broken. I need God to make me more than I am.

--Jesse "Gonzo" Letourneau

Serving Him alongside all of you, just from further away.

Social Event of the Season

Click to make bigger.

It is offical I need a car

I have missed church the last two weeks in a row. Both due to my own mistakes.

Last week I didn't set my clock ahead, and missed my ride to church. He was leaving, and I was rolling over after looking at the clock, thinking, "I don't have to get up for another hour."

This week, mass miscommunication, that is all my fault. Normal ride to church is out of town (with his car), back up ride to church was going to early service. Another guy at work said he could give me a "ride tomorrow." He was referring to social event of the season, which is happening tonight. (Its a birthday celebration for three friends from work, at a bouncy house park like thing.) I thought (and no reason to, as he has started to attend a different church) he meant church-why I don't know-my desire to find a ride to the later service was apparently so strong I made a huge assumption. And yes I know what happens when one assumes.

So now I am dressed in my Sunday best, with no place to go, for the second week in a row.

The worst thing is that I grabbed an application to work in the Children's Ministry at my church, and haven't been able to turn it in for two straight weeks. I am thinking I might have to wait until I have the ability to get there on my own before I commit to being there on a regular basis.

So, I am now off to listen to an archived Grace at Night sermon (same thing I did last week).

--Jesse Letourneau
Serving Him with you just from a little farther away

Goat Rock 1-13-09

Our Fearless Leader Frodo explains the danger of sleeper waves

One Gecko and five Puggles