A quote:
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.
If you are going to walk on thin ice you might as well dance
This is the personal website of Matthew Dellinger. I use it speak my mind on the continuing work of God in my life, our culture, the the church, and anything else that comes to mind.
I'm currently trying to move into a more serious realm. I want to use this space primarily to address the second and third topics I mentioned: culture and the church. I'm always looking for something to write about, so if ya'll think of anything, just ask and I'll talk about it.
Enjoy, or at least think about what I post.
As a lot of you know, I'm sort of a big fan of unity. That's one of the main reasons I'm as involved with vtONE as I am. Maybe its just me, but there's honestly nothing that I find more uplifting and encouraging than to see unity in action. The best example I can think of is Passion '06 in Nashville. I was sitting in the top deck of the stadium there, with about twenty thousand other Christians spread out before me. Everyone except me was singing "I Stand Amazed," but I couldn't sing. That moment, seeing all those people united in declaring the greatness of our Saviour just blew my mind, and I couldn't open my mouth. I just stood there and was overwhelmed by it.
Alright, so far I haven't mentioned anything about Christmas, but I'm getting there. But first, another slight tangent; I've recently been thinking about what it would be like to have kids, and how much that scares me, and why it scares me (which mostly has to do with me being selfish). So tonight, I watched The Nativity, which by the way I would highly recommend; it might not be completely accurate (which surprisingly didn't bother me), but it does a good job of making the story more real and human. Anyway, since the story is about having a kid, and I've been thinking about that, I spent the whole movie thinking about it from that angle. And something occurred to me at one point
There are two scenes as Joseph and Mary walk through Jerusalem that caught my attention; the first is a man who is reciting the prophesies concerning the Messiah. They walk by, and it's an amazing picture, because here before him stands the one about whom he is talking. The second is a woman, who noticing Mary's pregnancy, says to Joseph "there is nothing more wonderful than seeing yourself in a little face." Mary reaches over a squeezes his hand, and they walk on.
The thing that brought to mind for me was this; Joseph and Mary were, in the public's eye, married before they went to Bethlehem, and before she conceived. This means that they had weeks of going to to synagogue and hearing the prophecies, and hearing prayers for the coming of the Messiah. What an amazing kind of unity to have, to sit there and hear these age-old prophecies, and know that you, together, will help fulfill them. What joy that would bring to understand that you have the answer to the prayers your ancestors have been praying for generations. I haven't checked the dates, but I would guess that Mary's nine months may have included passover. How would it be to sit there, know that the Messiah you are waiting for has arrived and is with you. I don't know if I have successfully explained what I'm trying to, but just think about it. The unity experienced by Joseph and Mary in knowing that they were to be the parents of the Messiah must have been indescribable.
(12/24/07)
A certain Josh Deng posted this, and I thought it was pretty good, so I'll repost it here. Its talking about how love is an act of the will.
The Will To Do
(12/18/07)
Yes, after my long hiatus (aka the end of classes, and quite possibly the world as we know it) I have returned, to speak on how, among many other things, my relationship with Sarah has influenced my opinion of Joshua Harris.
A little background - for those of you who don't remember, I began my adventures into Harrisland with a disctint dislike of Josh; I read I Kissed Dating Goodbye and thought poorly of it, mostly because I felt that little of it was relevant to me. I also disagreed with him view of guy-girl relationships in general, which I saw as a little too straightforward, and thought limited the possibilities for cross-gender friendships. I still agree with my stance on that point, but moving on.
About a year after that, I realized that Josh was a Sovriegn Grace pastor, which meant he'd had a buttload of good Biblical teaching from C.J. and Co. This left me a little puzzled, especially after listening to to talk on discernment from the NA07 conference, which I thought was really good. At that point, I changed my view to "Josh has gotten his act together."
These last couple weeks, Sarah and I have been going through Boy Meets Girl, his sequel to IKDG. In reading that, I have realized something; this man actaully knows what he's talking about, and the reason I didn't think much of IKDG is because I was only seeing the tip of the iceberg. For those of you who don't know, IKDG is essentially Josh argueing against the popular trend of week-long, emotionally charged, pointless highschool relationships. I read that and thought it was so blatantly obvious that no one should write a book about it. Why was I reading this crap? However, in opening BMG, I got the whole picture; he's not only saying to put off this dumb idea of meaningless relationships, but now he has an answer for what to put on. I still disagree with his view on friendships stated in the first book, but I think in reading the second one that that view has changed slightly.
For the most part, I thought BMG was something everyone should read. He essentially goes through and lays out the foundation of what you need for a real, meaningful relationship, whatever you call it: commitment, effective communication, honesty, a right view of the biblical roles for men and women, support from your community, and an understanding that you're not married yet, but are instead in a stage of considering whether that would be the will of God. That last one tends to get me. I'm not sure why, maybe it's the fact that I tend to be an all or nothing type guy, but I really have to fight to keep myself from just assuming that I'm going to marry this girl. It's not that I think that I'm not, it's just that at this point, that's thinking further into the future than I need to be. I find myself thinking "won't it be nice when we're married, and I don't have to go home at night?" forgetting that that's most likely at best two years down the road, possibly not ever. And despite what my emotions would like me to think, this whole courtship/dating thing will not be a failure if we don't get married. Which is not to say that it wouldn't hurt like all friggin' crap, but that's not the point. Anyway, peace out. And be praying that I can find a job soon.
(12/15/07)