Grand Themes

Here it comes...might as well get back into blogging with a pour-out-your-heart post. This is one of those "Burn the Ships" kind of posts.

Life for me over the last two years has been different. Its been a mixture of blessing and failure. Some things have stabilized, somethings are new, somethings are still a struggle. To summarize the time, I'd have to say I think all my spiritual beliefs have been thoroughly tested. I've concluded that the gap between what I know in my head and what I believe in my heart (i.e. how I live out my beliefs in daily life) is much much larger than I've ever wanted to admit. Not only that, but the most troubling part is that it seems the gap has grown larger at a faster pace in the last nine months. I do not like the direction things have been heading and I am taking charge and doing something about it.

I am not trying to mix up anything that hasn't already been written or said by another human being. I am not very creative or original. But I am a "redoer", a "recycler" of ideas. I take what I learn in life and try to make sense of it and try to "reframe" it so that it speaks to both my head and my heart...so that it inspires me to live better. Recently I stepped back from daily life and considered what I know to be true. The following are what I call grand themes in life:

1. God's Sovereign Rule - The creator God rules everything.
   
2. Grace - The love of God is beyond belief.
   
3. Truth - It exists and is contained in the authority of the Bible.
   
4. New Life - It is exists in the Spirit of God.
   
5. Change - New Life itself is really about becoming who you already are.
   
6. Surrender - Humble giving up of prideful self.
7. Live - For another by faith.
   

I hope to blog through my thoughts and life experiences regarding these themes. It is a practice that keeps me focused on them (and hopefully is helpful to some one else.)