Friday, October 10, 2008
A New Perspective on the Bible
So I was reading in Luke for my QT today and I had a thought. First scroll over this reference and read the text. Luke 2:25-32. Simeon KNEW Jesus by the Holy Spirit. And when "he too him up in his arms," Simeon cherished and valued and loved the WORD that was in his hands. So I was thinking... In a different way, but still, really the same, we have the WORD, the Bible, in our own hands. Do we hold it lightly, or do we lovingly take it up in our arms and say, "...my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." There is freakin' power in that!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
John Piper ROCKS!!
Well, really, Jesus is the one who rocks. But I'm here right now at the Desiring God conference and it totally rocks that John Piper thinks that Jesus Rocks. I love that John is always seeking to be humble - that makes me take his words to heart more. I also love that he just wants to get the word out about Jesus! He's written a whole load of books and now they're being offered for super cheap by downloading them. And you guys know how I feel about saving a tree! So go check out www.logos.com/piper and save yourself some money!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Ecstasy on the Beach (a memoir)
The pressure finally gone, the rest of my body slackened. I had never even realized I had armpit muscles, but then I noticed those relaxed too. It was this cozy sensation like getting a really good backrub. But this was one experience that I would have to enjoy alone.
Never mind that my denim shorts and t-shirt were sopping wet. And disregard the fact that salt had attached itself to my leg hairs, which would make me itch the rest of the day. Oh, and I’m sure I failed to mention that sand was permanently embedded in my underwear, irritating that delicate panty-line area.
I was in Jr. High, and our family was on a road trip along the coast of California. I had been holding in my pee longer than felt humanly possible, and when we stopped to see the beach, I knew my time had come. Pretending like I was actually having fun sitting in 5 inches of ice cold ocean water, I let it all go—horrified at the idea that someone might figure out what I was doing. But that thought quickly faded as warmth swirled around me.
Never mind that my denim shorts and t-shirt were sopping wet. And disregard the fact that salt had attached itself to my leg hairs, which would make me itch the rest of the day. Oh, and I’m sure I failed to mention that sand was permanently embedded in my underwear, irritating that delicate panty-line area.
I was in Jr. High, and our family was on a road trip along the coast of California. I had been holding in my pee longer than felt humanly possible, and when we stopped to see the beach, I knew my time had come. Pretending like I was actually having fun sitting in 5 inches of ice cold ocean water, I let it all go—horrified at the idea that someone might figure out what I was doing. But that thought quickly faded as warmth swirled around me.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Psalm 47 (in my own words)
1) Move! Everyone move your body with joy! Don't hold back when you're singing to God!
2) Stand in awe of the One who is above all--who is higher than all. The whole earth is subject to this King of kings.
3) God has taken care of teh Israelites and in the time of David, Israel was great.
4) Israel was predestined by God to be great.
5) No small noise is made to honor our great God!
6) Open your mouth and let songs come out--songs of praise to God and to our King.
7) Sing praises; sing psalms. Why? Because God rules and reigns over all!
8) The nations are subject to God. And God is immoveable! He is constant. His residence is holy.
9) All are subject to God. And why shouldn't they be? God is lifted above all!
2) Stand in awe of the One who is above all--who is higher than all. The whole earth is subject to this King of kings.
3) God has taken care of teh Israelites and in the time of David, Israel was great.
4) Israel was predestined by God to be great.
5) No small noise is made to honor our great God!
6) Open your mouth and let songs come out--songs of praise to God and to our King.
7) Sing praises; sing psalms. Why? Because God rules and reigns over all!
8) The nations are subject to God. And God is immoveable! He is constant. His residence is holy.
9) All are subject to God. And why shouldn't they be? God is lifted above all!
Friday, February 8, 2008
Music
Sometimes we try to put words to music when the music should be the melody of the unspoken words of our heart.
Monday, February 4, 2008
I wonder if he's awake yet...?? (a memoir)
I wonder if he’s awake yet…? I just don’t want his parents to catch me looking at him. I’ll just lay here a little bit longer and listen to hear if he shuffles in his sleeping bag or not. But I’m dying to know if he’s awake yet. Just lay here, Angela—just for a minute.
Forcing myself to pretend like I was sleeping, my thoughts flicked through the recent events of the weekend: I was on a camping trip with my best friend Daniel and his family (except for his sister, Mia). They had never been camping before, so I had to show them how to do stuff—like clear the ground of pine cones before setting up the tent. We were all equally excited over being in a rented 4-Runner, as normally their family drove a hunter green mini van and mine drove a big boat, which Ford tried to elegantly call a Crown Victoria.
Daniel’s Swedish dad, Jan, carried his coveted Arizona Highways magazine. He used it to choose all the towns we would visit. There were several items of interest that he wanted to see, one barn in particular. But when we drove to see the barn, he kept showing us the picture in the magazine—completely forgetting about the actual barn in front of us! That became the joke of the day.
Still pretending to sleep, my thoughts returned to Daniel. We had been best friends for quite some time. How funny that I first met him years prior because he and my sister wanted to “go out” in Jr. High and my parents didn’t want them to. Well, here we were. Daniel was allowed to bring one friend camping with him, and he chose me! That made me all giddy and squishy inside. I had been crushing on him for a long time, but couldn’t admit it because we were such good friends and I knew he wasn’t interested in me. Now I had to spend this whole weekend with him, pushing back those retarded heart jumps that made me shy and suddenly stupid. It’s hard to be normal around someone you like.
I wonder if he’s awake yet…? I’m just going to barely crack my eyes open and see… I hope they don’t open too much so it looks like I’m peeking! Ohp, there we go. Oh my gosh! He’s staring at me! I quickly shut my eyes, wondering if I shut them so fast it made my eyes flinch. Then he would know. Then he’d know that I peeked at him and saw him looking at me. Oh my gosh, this is so lame. What am I supposed to do now!? I have to peek again to see if he’s still looking, or if it was just a fluke. Slowly Angela, don’t let him know you’re peeking! Dude, he’s still looking at me! He’s totally looking at my whole face—studying me! Oh crap…. The sun is shining through the tent, making my morning facial oils glow, I’m sure. And my hair… I KNOW how sexy I am with sleeping bag hair. Oh dude, what do I do? Do I roll over so he can’t see me? Do I open my eyes? No, cause then he’d catch me… Man… he is still looking at me.
No longer am I wondering if he’s awake yet. I’m freaking out because I don’t know what this means! Could I actually get my hopes up? I could have spent a whole month wondering why he was looking at me, because that was how long it took Daniel to tell me that was the moment he fell in love with me.
Angela L. Mattei
Forcing myself to pretend like I was sleeping, my thoughts flicked through the recent events of the weekend: I was on a camping trip with my best friend Daniel and his family (except for his sister, Mia). They had never been camping before, so I had to show them how to do stuff—like clear the ground of pine cones before setting up the tent. We were all equally excited over being in a rented 4-Runner, as normally their family drove a hunter green mini van and mine drove a big boat, which Ford tried to elegantly call a Crown Victoria.
Daniel’s Swedish dad, Jan, carried his coveted Arizona Highways magazine. He used it to choose all the towns we would visit. There were several items of interest that he wanted to see, one barn in particular. But when we drove to see the barn, he kept showing us the picture in the magazine—completely forgetting about the actual barn in front of us! That became the joke of the day.
Still pretending to sleep, my thoughts returned to Daniel. We had been best friends for quite some time. How funny that I first met him years prior because he and my sister wanted to “go out” in Jr. High and my parents didn’t want them to. Well, here we were. Daniel was allowed to bring one friend camping with him, and he chose me! That made me all giddy and squishy inside. I had been crushing on him for a long time, but couldn’t admit it because we were such good friends and I knew he wasn’t interested in me. Now I had to spend this whole weekend with him, pushing back those retarded heart jumps that made me shy and suddenly stupid. It’s hard to be normal around someone you like.
I wonder if he’s awake yet…? I’m just going to barely crack my eyes open and see… I hope they don’t open too much so it looks like I’m peeking! Ohp, there we go. Oh my gosh! He’s staring at me! I quickly shut my eyes, wondering if I shut them so fast it made my eyes flinch. Then he would know. Then he’d know that I peeked at him and saw him looking at me. Oh my gosh, this is so lame. What am I supposed to do now!? I have to peek again to see if he’s still looking, or if it was just a fluke. Slowly Angela, don’t let him know you’re peeking! Dude, he’s still looking at me! He’s totally looking at my whole face—studying me! Oh crap…. The sun is shining through the tent, making my morning facial oils glow, I’m sure. And my hair… I KNOW how sexy I am with sleeping bag hair. Oh dude, what do I do? Do I roll over so he can’t see me? Do I open my eyes? No, cause then he’d catch me… Man… he is still looking at me.
No longer am I wondering if he’s awake yet. I’m freaking out because I don’t know what this means! Could I actually get my hopes up? I could have spent a whole month wondering why he was looking at me, because that was how long it took Daniel to tell me that was the moment he fell in love with me.
Angela L. Mattei
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