Light, God, Beauty, and the Open Road.

mike. 19. re-born march 2010.
Jesus. music. books. coffee. parks. conversation. movies. woods. bob dylan. bodies of water. american spirits. But Jesus is all that matters.
It's All about Jesus.
He is the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Ask me about Him.
peterfeld: President Obama awards Bob Dylan the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “our Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

peterfeld:

President Obama awards Bob Dylan the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “our Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

(via dailydoseofdylan)

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
John Mark McMillan

—Love You Swore

comeupfromthewilderness:

John Mark McMillan, Love You Swore

(Source: christisenough)

When Grace Goes Violent

“Grace-driven effort is violent. It is aggressive. The person who understands the gospel understands that, as a new creation, his spiritual nature is in opposition to sin now, and he seeks not just to weaken sin in his life but to outright destroy it. Out of love for Jesus, he wants sin starved to death, and he will hunt and pursue the death of every sin in his heart until he has achieved success. This is a very different pursuit than simply wanting to be good. It is the result of having transferred one’s affections to Jesus. When God’s love takes hold of us, it powerfully pushes out our own love for other gods and frees our love to flow back to him in true worship. And when we love God, we obey him. The moralist doesn’t operate that way. While true obedience is a result of love, moralistic legalism assumes it works the other way around, that love results from obedience.” - Matt Chandler, The Explicit Gospel (217–218)

one winter

leftblankonpurpose: Two years he walks the earth.No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, ‘cause “the West is the best.” And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.— Alexander Supertramp   May 1992

leftblankonpurpose:

Two years he walks the earth.
No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, ‘cause “the West is the best.” And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.
— Alexander Supertramp
   May 1992

(Source: charlottehideandseek, via wewhoaresmall)

What this Christian is for.

“Christians are known for what they are against, rather than what they are for.   
This is one reason why I think many non-Christians want nothing to do with Christians.  Who wants to be friends with someone who only talks about what they dislike, find wrong in the world, constantly critique, or spend countless hours lashing out over opposing theologies? I don’t care if you’re anti-this or anti-that.  I want to know if your pro-this or pro-that.  I want to know what you for.
I don’t want to be known for what I am against.  Therefore, the following is my short list of what I am for, and for what I think Christians should be known. 
I am for the sacredness of every human.
I am for the ability to have life and life to the fullest.
I am for loving and lasting relationships.
I am for the equality and well-being of all people.
I am for the righting of wrongs.
I am for family. 
I am for forgiveness, even when it seems impossible
I am for abolishing hate, inequality, stereotypes, and harmful labels.
I am for fighting injustices.
I am for the voiceless and marginalized.
I am for restoration.
I am for the Church to be a counter cultural community full of love, joy, mercy, and kindness.
I am for love, joy, mercy, and kindness.
I am for the reconciliation of relationships.
I am for semper reformanda.
I am for imago dei.
I am for sola scriptura.
I am for sola fide.
I am for sola gratia.
I am for solo Christo.
I am for soli Deo Gloria.
I am for the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.
I am for the inclusion of the excluded.
I am for the healing of relationships.
I am for racial reconciliation.
I am for peace.
I am for turning our weapons of war into gardening tools.
I am for making the most of opportunities.
I am for politicians and legalities that uphold the sacredness of humanity and seeks the welfare of said humanity.
I am for letting the Word of Christ dwell in me richly.
I am for transformation through the renewing of my mind.
I am for metanoia.
I am for the restoration of the joy of my salvation.
I am for laughter.
I am for smiles.
I am for learning from mistakes.
I am for holy living, even when I am hypocritical in my pursuit of such a life.
I am for Jesus Christ being fully grace and truth, God and man, Love and hope.
I am for the universal Church and communion of saints.
I am for the hope and reality of resurrection.
I am for giving material possessions away to those in greater need.
I am for living in a non-materialistic and non-consumeristic way.
I am for mercy and grace triumphing over judgment.
I am for the history of the church.
I am for saying “I’m sorry” more often than I think I may need to.
I am for listening and learning more than speaking and teaching.
I am for humility.
I am for gender equality.
I am for the Trinity.
I am for deep and authentic community.
I am for a cause greater than myself.
I am for telling people I love them. Often.
I for the all Scriptural interpretations to build the double love ethic of loving your neighbor and loving God.
I am for the Gospel, which shows to the world the Love of God.
I am for the openness of anyone who believes Jesus Christ to be Lord to full membership and Table fellowship.
I am for Christ.

I don’t want to be known for what I am against.
I am a Christian.   
This is what I am for.”

“You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. For if you love only those who love you, what reward is there in that?” 

(via sketchmedesire)

“Truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it”

—Flannery O’Connor

Jesus really could not save himself.

“In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He [Jesus] saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.’”

Oh, how right they were. But it was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of Love for His Father, to do his Father’s will - and, within that framework, it was his Love for sinners like me.

He really could not save himself.

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”