http://thegrateful.org Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:13:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en May it be said of us Christians that we are weak and foolish, for in these God is strong and wise.  That "God's power is made perfect in weakness" is not merely an encouraging bible verse to be printed on inspirational magnets and bookmarks; rather, it is the reminder for ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/09/05/we-glory-in-weakness/ [caption id="attachment_174" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Terrible Sunrise"][/caption] This was the sunrise on the worst day of my life, when the love of my life and I parted ways.  At the time, God used its beauty to comfort me, but as I look at it now I see only doom and trouble.  My ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/09/04/terrible-sunrise/ As the world waits to see if the U.S. presidential elections in November will result in the advent of the latest political messiah or the inauguration of the devil, the thought occurred to me today that since neither candidate fits the ideological bill that today's Christians think would make a ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/09/03/osama-bin-laden-for-president-08/ [caption id="attachment_135" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A blade of grass in a field, backlit by the sun."][/caption] I took this photograph a few days ago on a camping trip in northern Idaho near the Coeur d'Alene River.  The thumbnail doesn't do it much justice, but when enlarged (click on it), you can see ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/09/02/no-eye-has-seen-no-mind-perceived/ For a long time I thought that Christ's command not to worry essentially implied that what humans call "responsibility," God considers faithlessness.  That is, if I am taking steps to bring about a practical end, and those steps are not explicitly directed by God in some way, then I must ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/08/28/responsibility-without-anxiety/ This weekend I went into downtown Portland at God's prompting because He had something for me to do. I may have missed my first opportunity by not heeding His prompting to stop my car and talk to a person, but God graciously granted me a second chance as I ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/08/25/unequally-yoked-the-saga-of-luis-palaus-portland-cityfest-portlands-project-homeless-connect-and-the-treatment-of-homeless-mr-a-part-i/ Sometime in the last week or so, God gave me a quick, sky-view of Portland, with the emphasis on the people that are out-and-about every day there.  The meaning had something to do with going out and speaking with them.  As far as I was able to tell, He wants ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/08/22/five-thousand-directions-at-once-the-state-of-the-church-today/ After meeting with my thesis advisor I have come to a decision about my thesis.  Eight weeks is not enough to do it well.  I had my reservations about taking more time on it because, in the past, that has been more of a delaying/procrastination tactic.  This time it is ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/08/20/my-revenge-will-come-in-due-time-senor-thesis/ My senior thesis, which I was originally supposed to complete in the fall semester of 2006, is finally underway.  I took it back up recently after having totally abandoned it sometime last winter.  Since I have a new and improved topic combined with an actual desire to write it, it ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/08/18/okay-senor-thesis-this-time-its-personal/ You will notice that I haven't said too much about myself or my life.  A year ago when I had this website up I did it intentionally for reasons that I won't go into here.  However, what about now?  How personal should I get in such a public forum as ... http://thegrateful.org/2008/08/17/how-personal-to-be-on-a-website/