i'm not exactly a huge fan of the prosperity gospel. in fact, i really quite abhor it. but i also relish the blessings of God when they come upon me ... and the other day, i realized that while the prosperity gospel isn't true, it is true that blessing follows obedience ... because the blessing is in the obedience.

so the prosperity gospel says, "have a big enough faith, do big enough good works, and you will earn the favor of God, and He will bless you richly in return."

essentially, it's the attitude of, if i obey God, it will earn the the riches of a prosperous life. God will give me what is due to me because of my good behavior.


definitely not true. love, blessings, grace, favor ... all unconditional with God.

but here is the truth: God's way is good. God's way is true. God knows more about the human condition than even we who are bound by it: He created it. God's commands are full of wisdom and gracious truth for us; He sees the big picture. so in any circumstance of this life, God already knows and understands it more than we ever could. His comprehension of the most intimate details of our troubled situations is profound.

so when we follow in His way, when we are obedient to His commands, it will go well for us. we are walking in God's way, the way of truth and goodness and love and reconciliation and redemption and salvation and unity and peace and glory and grace. if we obey Him, we will see all of those things come to fruition in our lives, eternally and even occasionally on earth. the Kingdom is coming, and the Kingdom is here.


the blessing is in the obedience. We are blessed, not because we've earned it with legalism, not because our faith was be enough and we're getting the reward due to us for such a faith, but because we are lving God's way, in God's Kingdom, and God is completely GOOD ... how could it possibly go poorly for us, then? It may not be the health, wealth, or prosperity blessing that some seek after as their highest good, but it will be even better. God is giving us Himself, for eternity, when we go His way.

We are going God's way, and it will go well.

and what is more beautiful than redemption?

beauty itself is the language to which we have no key; it is the mute cipher, the cryptogram, the uncracked, unbroken code.

--annie dillard, pilgrim at tinker creek--

quick said the bird

as in, the amazing and talented group of friends with whom i have the pleasure of playing with on a regular basis (yes, my band).

Quick Said the Bird - The Advocate from Andy J Miller on Vimeo.

it's about 20 minutes, and it's our regular full set minus one song. check it.

a question.

how is it that i can care so much about things that are of so little consequence?


the things that really matter to me profoundly, on a permanent and eternal level, get only as much (or less!) devotion and attention than the things that are impermanent and utterly temporary. and worse yet, i will spend so much time and energy on things that are draining and nearly soul-sucking, but will give only the 'leftover' time to the things that are life-giving and spiritually energizing.


i think it has something to do with buying into lies ...


i need to start taking some thoughts captive and putting them into obedience under Christ. i need to stop the lies in their tracks and replace them with truth. and i think i need to start taking my schedule captive and putting it into obedience under Christ.

any advice?

there is more, more than all this pain.

andrew peterson's album "the far country" has been on continuous and heavy rotation in my car's cd player. it is a very road-worthy album, after all. with or without the shuffle.


this sunday i shared some of the lyrics from the final track, "more" with the congregation before worship. and i hope to play it for them some day, too. so this morning i tried to learn it. but i couldn't find the chords anywhere online.

so here they are, for posterity's sake: the chords for andrew peterson's more. someone more ambitious than i can tab out the picking, but if you play these chords in some formation, you can prety well figure it out :)

Capo 2 (play in C, sounds in D)

Intro: | C - - - | F - - - | Am - G - | F - - - |

C F

This is not the end here at this grave

Am G F
This is just a hole that someone made
C F

Every hole was made to fill
G Em F C

And every heart can feel it still
C F

Our nature hates a vacuum

This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground
Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain

C G
There is more, More than all this pain
E7 Am

More than all the falling down
C F

And the getting up again
C G

There is more, More than we can see
E7 Am

From our tiny vantage point
C F

In this vast eternity
C (Intro)

There is more

A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve
Your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more

(Intro)

There is more
More than we can stand
Standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess
More and more, forever more
And not a second less

There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything
Wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more

well, the secret o' life

...is enjoying the passage of time.



thank you, james. but for me, the secret is something of a practice in sustainablity. and quite honestly, i kind of suck at it. i seem to be constantly caught in the cycle of starting strong, then taking on a little too much, then starting to lose steam, then getting overwhelmed, then freaking out or melting down, then quitting entirely, then picking up the pieces to start fresh and strong. this whole cycle can happen in five minutes or five years ... or both. over-committment is a chronic problem for me, and even though i know i need to stop, i somehow always get suckered into it unwittingly.


in some ways, it's as if i'm waiting for something huge to happen so that i'll be forced to stop this craziness. but the problem with that is that i am somehow already 24 years old, and i'm not even sure how that happened. if i wait too much longer, i'll blink, and my life will have gone with nary a change for the better.


so what's the deal? what's the fix? what's the catalyst? how do i get to the other side, where life runs at a sustainable pace and i'm not pouring the sanity out of my head faster than the coffee flows at starbucks?



i could change jobs. i could change finances. i could regulate my housekeeping. i could keep a stricter calendar and limit the infringments. i could make rules about sleeping and eating and working and socializing. i could curb bad habits and perforce form good ones.

but i've tried all that. and it doesn't sustain.



see, i already know the solution to my problem, i just [still] suck at living it out: the only life that is sustainable is the life that is sustained by its Creator.

moment by moment, day by day, week by month by year by life by eternity. because that's the truth of it, isn't it? if every decision were made in light of eternity, every moment lived in light of eternity, i wouldn't have any of this sustainable-pace-of-life problem. if i weren't filled with the pride of self-sustenance, i would be humble enough to receive the life-giving provision of God.



well, it's a good thing that nothing is beyond redemption. apparently i'm still very much in need ....

o Lord, that you would renew my mind, and captivate my heart, and cleanse me within, and be all my vision and all my hope and all my strength, and teach me Your ways, and lavish me with love, and put my faith to works, and grant me a greater measure of faith, and open Your hand to satisfy and sustain, and save me by grace, and sanctify me by grace, and abide in me as i in You, and reveal all the hidden secrets of You, and grant me a measure of wisdom, and sustain me, Lord. sustain me with Your great love.

man, this is GOOD

that thought overwhelmed me today as i traversed the state of indiana (long-ways) and listened to andrew peterson's "behold the lamb of god" cd. yes, the album is good, but what was thinking of was the gospel.

it's so good. such good news. amazingly good. unbelievably good. in fact, it's the best ever. nothing so good could ever happen in my life that it would be better than the goodness of Jesus.

behold the Lamb of God
who takes away our sin
behold the Lamb of God
the life and light of man
behold the Lamb of God
who died and rose again
behold the Lamb of God
who comes to take away our sin.


nothing tonight that is 'profound' or 'groundbreaking' ... just good and true. behold; the Lamb of God ... behold ...


my mind may fail me, and probably will long before i have the good excuse of old age. but if i must know anything, it would be good for me to remember that i am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior.

be not mis-taken:

the only mistake for which a man is unequivocally required to pay is the mistake of refusing Christ. if he finds himself paying for any other mistake, it is by his own choice, not by requirement. but if he is forced to pay for the lone and grievous one of refusing pardon, oh what a price it is that he will pay.

exposed.

my rebellious bent is really quite profound.

yep, i adopted a new format for my blog. the number one reason? a bunch of my friends had picked the same theme. and i am a stickler when it comes to being unique.

so i picked a theme that had the MOST options to change. background colors, font colors, link colors, font type and size, border color .... etc. so now i can rest assured that, although it may be similar to another, it's no longer identical.

my stubborn streak runs deep.

i will be the anomaly. i will be the superlative.



knowing how stubborn and rebellious i am, let's just be honest about something: legalism wasn't such a horrible thing for me. i mean, yeah, i didn't like authority and i didn't like the rules ... so it was one of the only ways to keep me in check. it gave me credibility, a kind of righteousness. you know, the self- kind.


and then a funny little thing happened. just as it does with anything it encounters, the unfathomable depths of God's grace wrecked my legalism all to hell. propriety was out the window. judgmental people were now so clearly below my esteemed heights of grace, i was 'free' to do as i pleased.

no more plagues of a guilty conscience. no longer a slave to the opinions of my peers.


but no more happy than before.



this is the no-mans-land between legalism and holy desire. this is the desert of forty years duress where we are stripped of self-righteous legalism but also of self-preserving freedom and self-promoting pride. this is land where every ounce of character and fortitude is laid bare for all to see. where is the strength of faith to be found? only one source can conquer such a place and lead us out still whole.



i came to see that salvation was by grace alone, and this released me from legalism. but now it is time to see that even sanctification is by grace alone, and so be released from indulgent freedom. for He is the author of our faith, and He is the perfecter of our faith. i am not any longer a naughty child in need of a spanking to induce legal obedience. but i am a weary sojourner in need of the fiery desire that induces reckless pursuit. my endurance has proven weak and my fortitude small and my character meager, for they were built on the crumbling foundations of a self-made 'good christian life.' but there is yet hope. the old house was built in vain; but it is the Lord who builds anew. and what He builds will not quickly fall.



so for now i'll learn to walk (ever forward) through this strange land between legalism and holy desire, being diligent not just to meet the requirements, but also to serve the heart of the One who authored them for me in His infinite love and wisdom, even to bring me nearer to Himself.

truth that is truth is easy to find.

half-price books is a great delight of mine. today, after taking glorious and guiltless advantage of their 20%-off-everything-memorial-day-sale, i exclaimed to christopher that they have utterly RUINED me for the regular bookstore. from this time on and henceforth forever more, never shall i be found paying $14.95 for that particular paperback i've been eyeing. oh what wondrous joy is to be found in their isles!

today, for example, i acquired: a gensis CD, a jeff buckley CD, three annie dillard books, a bob dylan documentary, "the elephant," "stranger than fiction," and "until the devil knows you're dead" ... for $40.

what a glorious day today!

so tonight, i reheated some delicious leftover chicken casserole and popped in "stranger than fiction."


i came to a stunning realization. (stunning to me, anyway.)


the beauty of the gospel can be found everywhere, BECAUSE it is true. it is no contrived effort of human imagination. it is true, and as such, it is everywhere...


in the past, whenever the theme of some work seems to have echos of biblical proportions, my first thought is, "this writer must be a covert christian with a subtle evangelistic bent. i will google their bio to find out more."

but today, as i watched a story unfold with erie whispers of the goodness of Christ, i began to wonder if maybe this perfectly arranged tale of willing self-sacrifice was not so much arranged but actually intuited. maybe the storyteller is so naturally drawn to that story because even the frailest of human hearts was created to hear it.


maybe the screenwriter has stumbled so perfectly into a biblical allegory only because of the vibrant truth that such an allegory upholds.


in the end, is it not so that truth (if it be truth) should be found everywhere?

and so harold crick goes willingly to his death, knowing how and when and why, forsaking his own (and new found) good life, so that the life of another be spared and so that the good and perfect will of his author be fulfilled. and once the work is accomplished by his compliance, the author resurrects him, so as to write a completely new and better story.


i mean, really?! it's a wonder God's not suing for plagiarism of original intellectual material. i guess it's a good thing that the truth is public domain, right derek? that means we can find it everywhere ... even those of us who aren't even looking for it.

it beats in our veins. it arises in our thoughts. it takes over our literature, music, and movies. it's truth. it's inescapable.

i wouldn't have it any other way.