knowing v. Knowing (this blog isn't about sex)

knowing versus Knowing. You can know about dcTalk or maybe you know some of their songs, but do you really Know them? Have you been to one of their concerts? Do you Know that Kevin Max crowd-surfs and is awesome? You can know about a place or even go there to visit, but living there allows you to Know it. I Know Madrid. I Know chicken parmesan subs. Actually, I would like to Know one right now, but from what I Know about Madrid and from what I Know about chicken parmensan, I can Deduce that I won't be getting one 'till I'm back in America.



I think this concept of knowing versus Knowing is crucial for scripture and spiritual matters. I can know that Paul said that he was the worst sinner he knew and that attitude should be our own. It is a different matter altogether to wake up in the morning and call your pastor to say that you don't think you're really saved because you don't know ANYONE who is capable of what you Know you did.

I have known Galatians 2:20 for a long time. It's one of the first verses I memorized. I might have forgotten the reference or when I learned it, but I have always been able to rattle off "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me."
Over the last year I have spent a lot of time in Romans 6-8. One of the main themes of that chunk of chapters is that as a Christian, I can't let sin reign in my mortal body. I have to crucify my flesh again and again when the sin creeps back in. I've known this in theory for some time but I never really Knew how I'm supposed to crucify my flesh.
So I started flogging myself.
Just kidding.
What actually happened was I was sitting on the metro and the seats were full. I had gotten one of the last ones and it was when I was on the way from my house to the Cady's house which is kind of a long ride, like a half an hour or so. Anyways, I'm usually good about getting up when old people get on or people that obviously need the seat. So this woman gets on, probably in her 60's or so. Not that old. And I am sitting there and I know that I should probably get up and let her sit down. Then the putrescence that plagues every believer creeps in. "She's not that old." "My nana's older and she wouldn't need to sit." "Why doesn't one of the 30 other people around me with a seat get up." "She's probably going to get off soon anyways, and I have like 25 more minutes to go."
Then the holiness that helps every believer whooshes in. "It doesn't matter who she is, she's older, get up." "You just did a bible study on serving. Jesus washed feet, and you can't let an old lady sit?" "Don't listen to the putrescence. That's what I'm here for." "CRUCIFY THIS!"
Then I realized that's what crucifying the flesh is. Doing something that you don't want to do simply because Jesus would have done it. OR Not doing something you really, really want to do simply because Jesus would not have done it. I know that sounds simple and this post probably now sounds pointless, but it had never dawned on me like that before.

To my shame I sat there a little longer with these thoughts rolling around in my head and the idea of crucifixion and whatnot and then, finally got up. She sat down and muttered "gracias." She should have beat me upside the head with her giant old lady purse for taking so long.

My Big Family

I have been organizing this trip to N. Africa as sort of a research trip for my church. Our main goal was to go visit this guy named Joe who opened the first Christian bookstore (I'm pretty sure it's the first Christian anything) in N. Africa. So I emailed him asking when we could visit but I had to sort of make my email stealth and not really mention that we were a church or anything because the guy who knows him in our church said that his email is intercepted and read by the government sometimes. So this morning I got an email back from him and it began "Greetings in Jesus' name." I feel like I was just jarred back into reality. Like, I'm still reeling a little bit. This is the life I get to live! I don't have to know a person, but if they are a believer, I can greet them in Jesus' name and know that they are in fact my brother or my sister. How awesome is that!? Like, do you know how big our family is? AHH. I'm excited. I'm excited that people were greeted like that when Paul wrote to churches and that I just got greeted like that 2000 years later. God is unchanging and his church is a rock against which Hell can not prevail!

Different Strokes for Different Folks

In honor of the seven comments I had on my last blog post, I will post seven different things.

1. One of the things I don't like about Spain is the cereal. It is all nasty. All of it. Except for one kind, Crock Bizz, which is like Smacks in the states but Smacks is too bad for you to eat all the time so I'm stuck with what should be corn flakes and other crap but it's not corn flakes, it's like little pieces of crunchy toasted paper. I love you Crock Bizz and I'm sorry we can't be together. AND I HATE YOU SPANISH CORN FLAKES AND WISH YOU WERE HIT BY A BUS.

2. As some of you know, and as my roomates have experienced, I used to write standup comedy sketches and have preformed them for a very few because they were written in like 9th grade and they're all about my dog and racist people. Well, yesterday, I was walking down the street on the way to the park and I started coming up with new material. I was seriously laughing out loud on the street. I got some looks. Suffice to say, my new material is coming along quite nicely. Man, I'm funny.

3. I'm still eating this cereal and YOU STILL SUCK, CEREAL.

4. So I'm organizing this trip to N. Africa in January as sort of a recon (research) but im gonna call it recon mission to find out who we can serve with in the future and I have a chance to go in the fall with another group of folk and not lead it just to find out where we're going and take notes and stuff and I'm praying about it right now. I don't know whether or not to go, and I don't know if I'll have the money. So pray for that. If I go, I'll miss our big thanksgiving bash which I don't want to miss, but I think that's just selfish. And I'll miss school which I've never complained about before so I don't know if that's a pro or a con. But I don't care about pros and cons, I want to know what the Lord wants so pray, okay? okay.

5. I've decided that even though I'm not married or have children that I have to start making my own holiday traditions. Or just random traditions. I like the tradition me and Amy (my roomate) have right now that just started. Every Sunday afternoon around 2 we go and eat "breakfast" (because we really did just get up although Amy sleeps later than me because it's the only day of the week she can really sleep in because of the construction in our building so she sleeps till like one which is REALLY impressive because i can only sleep till like eleven thirty MAX) anyways, we go eat breakfast at two at this irish pub around the corner where they speak english and actually have a decent breakfast unlike anywhere else ever and it's like a legit irish breakfast (eggs, beans (really good), potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon... BETTER THAN THIS FRIGGIN CEREAL) and as we're eating we watch football (the soccer kind) on their tv's cuz there is a game always on, so we're there for like an hour and a half two hours watching sports. sunday tradish.

6. I got a 59 on my business ethics midterm! but he curved it to a C so what does that say about everyone else? And what the crap? It's philosophy. That's like, MY subject. It's my minor. I've never gotten a C in philosophy EVER and now I am ticked. I'm taking the class independent study and so I basically do the readings but don't go to class and get the notes and I understand the reading because again, sixth philosophy class, and whatever, im not going to even justify that grade with a very legit explanation because this is turning into a long post.

7. so the other day I heard again that "Jesus is just a crutch" and you know what our response should be?! YES! He is! But I don't know anyone who doesn't need that crutch. When I am weak, he is strong. That's like the definition of a crutch. Amen to that. Because all of the rest of the crutches in the world like drinking or relationships or pride have GIANT SPIKES on them that stab you in the armpits. But our Crutch isn't like that. They smashed our Crutch and He rose from the DEAD.

Things I want to do when I grow up slash Things I want to do in my life slash Life plans.

See the title for a brief introduction to this post.
okay.

Someday I want to own a pub and work in it and meet people. This will hopefully be in a european country and maybe in the U.K. although if it's in the U.K. no one will come because who goes to a pub run by an american? Maybe Greece. Or China. I don't know yet.


Someday I want to live on a houseboat in silence. Maybe in silence. I'd like people to come and have parties with me on my houseboat so maybe I'd just be silent when no one was there. At this time I would also like to fish for all my own food and maybe grow some vegetables on board. I think it would be cool to be able to be self sufficient for a while and not have to buy anything. Although I think I would want dsl on my boat. either that or I want to not have the internet and just read all the time.


Someday I want to read all the time.


Someday I want to learn how to fly planes. I would like to know how to build a plane and fly it but if I just have to settle for flying a plane that would be cool too. Not big planes, like little two person ones.


Someday I want to be a mechanic. I already know what a distributor cap is and I think I could change my own oil. But I think it would be cool to be able to fix cars.


Someday I want to have a potato farm. I want to grow potatoes and carrots and radishes and all kinds of things that you can't see the final product until you pull it out of the ground. That would be sweet. I hope my potato farm is in Ireland or Scotland, but I would settle for potatoes anywhere. I would also like a goat or a cow on my farm and maybe some chickens. Maybe a sheep or two. I would also have spare rooms here for people to come and visit and I would make these people good breakfasts. ( I have recently perfected the fried potato or homefry if you will. This may sound like no big deal or an easy thing to master but I consider myself a pretty good cook, and it isn't.)


Someday I want to have like nine kids but I think this one might not be able to happen in time for me to do all the other ones. Maybe it can be when I have the potato farm, but I need to get started on being married soon I think because I don't want to have a bunch of kids in my 40s. Maybe six kids would be good. Anyways, I want a whole gaggle of children at some point.


Someday I want to be a missionary in a closed Muslim country. This will involve learning Arabic which I have already started but have sort of stopped. I think this one will happen in the next couple of years after I leave Madrid. I don't know yet. But, I want to wear a burka for a while.


Someday I want to own a hostel for homeless people. This could happen simultaneously with the pub but I think it would be cool to make friends with some homeless people like some of the ones I have now, and then invite them to come live with me in the hostel so they can find jobs and stop doing drugs and stuff.
(ps. i totally know these guys. they are homeless by "profession." Their signs say "for beer" "for wine" "for weed" and "for cocaine." They're actually pretty nice and have a dog. and a website. Check them out at www.lazybeggars.com. Any time we give them sandwiches they pull out a cardboard sign that says something like "for kind things" or something like that. I don't remember. Kelly?)

I think that's all for now.