i am praying for discernment.

these are difficult times.

i don't want to see anyone led astray.

Humanity's Sacred Union with the Earth

I finished my senior seminar paper this week (finished is a relative term, because while I completed it to turn in, it does not seem nearly finished).


I know many of you were interested in reading it. My paper is about the connections between sustainable farming and faith, which is rooted in the bond we should have with nature, being good caretakers of creation. This paper takes the attempt to live a Christian life in wholeness, in shalom, seriously. Wholeness in the gospel covers a lot of terf and one area is loving creation, while not setting it over God. If what I say interests you, puzzles you or captivates you, I urge you to read this essay.

Humanity's Sacred Union with the Earth: Broken, but Redeemed by Good Soil

the victory is ... ?

A lot of positive things have happened, all within a week.

I got an internship, I got a car, I won a short story award, I am passing all my classes to graduate, I've shared nostalgic memories with old friends, I've passed on wisdom to younger friends who strangely look up to me, I figured out the direction I need to head in next fall, I've gone for good walks, indulged in hot krispy kremes and have let life be fun.

Where is my victory? In none of this. Through everything, I've remained mildly depressed. I am so crooked deep down, it's hard to be grateful for all the good things, which are good.

I'm going to start reading Desiring God by John Piper today. I need to know about the happiness of God.

Though, God is showing me his goodness. I've doubted him so much this semester. I doubted his goodness. I looked to a bleak ending to my college life. I didn't think anything would work out.

It's time to embrace happiness. It's time to conquer my sins, through Christ's power alone. It's time to overcome. It's time to proclaim victory.

It's time to heal.

I love to sing this really loud in an empty house

FROM THE DEPTHS OF WOE (Psalm 130)
From the depths of woe I raise to Thee a voice of lamentation
Lord turn a gracious ear to me and hear my supplication
If thou iniquity dost mark, our secret sins and misdeeds dark
O who shall stand before thee? (Who shall stand before thee?)
To wash away the crimson stain grace, grace alone availeth
Our works alas are all in vain, in much the best life faileth
No man can glory in Thy sight, all must alike confess Thy might
And live alone by mercy (Live alone by mercy).
Therefore my trust is in the Lord and not in mine own merit
On Him my soul shall rest, His Word upholds my fainting spirit
His promised mercy is my fort, my comfort and my sweet support
I wait for it with patience (Wait for it with patience).
What though I wait the live-long night and till the dawn appeareth
My heart still trusteth in His might, it doubteth not nor feareth
Do thus, O ye of Israel’s seed, ye of the Spirit born indeed
And wait till God appeareth (Wait till God appeareth).
Though great our sins and sore our woes
His grace much more aboundeth
His helping love no limit knows, our utmost need it soundeth
Our shepherd good and true is He, who will at last His Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow (All their sin and sorrow)
Text: Martin Luther, 1523

healing time

I hate how emotions and anxieties from my past are reverberating now as I'm graduating. I don't understand it. But it's there. I cry whenever I hear Rosie Thomas sing "pretty dress" or Eisley sing "telescope eyes," because it feels so real to me, today.

I'm not typically a crier, but this semester I've been a river. especially this week. I cried so much during my last large group, but probably for different reasons than people thought.

I'm in such need of healing, but most of the time, I become apathetic rather than struggle with it, head on. I hide behind books, music,my laptop screen, superficial conversation, and intellectual debates.

why the evolution debate is irrelevant to christian faith

Yes, I said it. It's irrelevant.

The book of Genesis, what a great book. I find so many truths when I read it. When I read about the importance of Creation. When I see how humans were once in harmony with god and creation and then was deceived. When I see the trueness of human nature and how man and woman were made, equal yet in different roles.

I see a lot of truth in Genesis.

I don't see any science. The book of Genesis does not support creationism or evolution. We cannot tell from an oral, metaphorical account how exactly God made the earth and the heavens. All we know is that he made it. That does not necessarily go against evolution. God could have set evolution into motion. How can we even possibly perceive what one day is to God? Our concept of time is not God's concept of time.

I read this quote from the Bible Institute and I totally disagree-

"This is similar to what happened with the issue of evolution. Before Charles Darwin and Charles Lyell, no one ever thought that the Bible taught any evolutionary origins of life. After Evolution became accepted by many in society, religious people tried to bend and twist the Bible to fit evolution rather than allow the Bible to mean what it says. Result - the acceptance of the day-age theory, which is an effort to force Genesis to match the beliefs of the world."

No, the Bible does not teach evolutionary origins, but neither does it teach "creationist science." I believe that many people in the past have created big, deep heresy by trying to make up biblical facts about creationism. Making up speculations about how old the earth is according to the Bible, when the Bible does not concern that.

I am not saying that the Bible is removed from the material world. Agricultural science could be interpreted in many of Jesus' parables, and it is important to note that Paul in his ministry engaged culture instead of alienating it. When he spoke on Mars Hill in Acts 17, he acknowledged the Greeks' statue to an unknown God, claiming he knew who that God was. He engaged their philosophy, rather than becoming completely irrelevant.

Creationism is completely irrelevant to our culture. Why can't we embrace the tenants of what science is, rather than trying to create a "science" which is not respected by most scientists. Faith is not a science, we can't engage it as one. People move creationism should be taught in schools, and that is absurd. I might buy the argument for intelligent design, but I am not even positive if that should be taught as a science or a philosophy.

I think that there is nothing wrong with Christians accepting evolutionary theory. Personally, I do not know, scientifically, how we got here. But who was there at the beginning of creation to know? I am not satisfied with any explanation, but I do accept that everything in creation was made and we were created in God's image. I believe Genesis is truth, but it is not science.

Stop making a book something that it isn't.