bluebirduncaged Beautiful, Something to think about

Beautiful: Hannah’s thoughts

Beautiful is God's pardon to the world. He could have made everything terrible, but He chose not to. He gave us a little reminder of Himself, and that life isn't so bad – even the hardest parts. Beauty is pure and unprecedented. When we say something is beautiful, we mean it. Whether it be about music, a person, or food (or anything for that matter), the word "beautiful" is not used in a light sense if we know the true feeling and meaning of it. Even people who do not believe there is a God know that "beautiful" means something different. Beautiful can be an attitude, an action, or a feeling. It's the light at the end of the tunnel, and the illuminated trees in the forest. Beautiful is creation. Beautiful is creativity making it's path through a deprived world. Beauty is also a choice. It is the opposite of bitterness. When you choose rightly, you choose beauty. Life is beautiful because we have hope and second chances. People are beautiful because God made them in His image. God is beautiful for reasons we will never understand on this earth. But our job is not to try and figure it out, it's to be thankful that God loved us enough to not let us be completely affected by our surroundings when we are in Him, and that we might see His beauty at work in our lives. Beautiful is God's gift to the world.

Hannah blogs at The Color of Thought

 

This is a response to a previous post. What does beautiful mean to you? Feel free to join our conversation either in the comments, by email, or on your own blog. We'd love to hear what you think.

bluebirduncaged Beautiful, Something to think about

Beautiful

Beauty is a sense of worth.

It’s an assigned value.

When we realize the value/worth of something, an attitude of honor and respect follows.

 

He gives us value and worth.

He restores our brokenness.

He makes us beautiful.

 

In beauty there is dignity, in dignity confidence and in confidence there is freedom.

 

You are beautiful.

Embrace it. Live in that truth

Be free in the confidence you have in Him

 

This is my response to a previous post. What does beautiful mean to you? Feel free to join our conversation either in the comments, by email, or on your own blog. We'd love to hear what you think.

bluebirduncaged Beautiful, Something to think about

Beautiful: Any thoughts?

beau·ti·ful [byoo-tuh-fuhl]

–adjective

1. having beauty;  having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind.
2. excellent of its kind
3. wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying.

 

What is beautiful? Is this really the definition? Is it subjective? Is there a universal standard? Is it only a surface thing or does it go deeper? Is it a feeling? Is it abstract or concrete? What is the result of beauty?

 

This is something I’ve been pondering as I’ve worked on a piece of choreography. What do you think?

Feel free to join our conversation either in the comments, by email, or on your own blog. We'd love to hear what you think.

bluebirduncaged Books

Book Review: Erasing Hell

I didn’t really want to write this book review mostly because of the way it might be received. It’s a tough and unpopular topic that many of us don’t want to approach. But as the authors say, it’s necessary. “We cannot afford to be wrong on this issue” because “this is not about doctrine but about destinies”

Erasing Hell, written by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle, explores what the Bible has to say about Hell. It dives into the scriptures in hopes of finding the truth about the afterlife of those who do not say yes to Jesus. The answers they come to are pretty clear but ultimately the decision about what to do with them is up to the reader. Chan and Sprinkle acknowledge that though most of us don’t really want to or feel like embracing the truth about hell, we do. They explain that “God is compassionate and just, loving and holy, wrathful and forgiving. We can’t just sideline His more difficult attributes to make room for the more palatable ones” They remind us that His ways are higher than our ways and encourage the reader not to be embarrassed of the ways God has chosen to reveal Himself. Chan and Sprinkle close the book with some frequently asked questions. Among them, they answer the question “How can God be loving and still send people to hell?” in the most understandable way I’ve read so far.

Though sometimes hard to swallow, this book helped change my perspective. The statement “It’s not about doctrine but about destinies” really hit me. It made me view people differently. I mean, as much as so-and-so gets on my nerves, would I really want them to spend eternity separated from God in eternal punishment? It takes a while to digest, and I’m not exactly sure how to respond to these truths in regards to my relationships. But I do know that it takes courage to believe and act upon them and I pray that the Spirit will guide us along the way.

Even though you may not want to read it, remember that just because you are uninformed of the truth does not mean that it is nonexistent. And this is not about doctrine but about destinies. I recommend this book and I hope you have the courage to read and act on the truths it discusses.

bluebirduncaged Something to think about

Something to think about from William Temple

“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God.
It is the quickening of the conscience by His holiness;
the nourishment of mind with His truth;
the purifying of the imagination by His beauty;
the opening of the heart to His love;
the surrender of will to His purpose –
and all of this gathered up in adoration,
the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable,
and therefore the chief remedy of that self-centeredness
which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.”
(William Temple, 1881 – 1944)

bluebirduncaged Guest posts, Things I'm learning

Guest post: Imitators of God

It was an overcast Saturday afternoon and, aside from the casual gust of soft breeze, all was still. I was hiking higher up the mountain, aided with the support of a crudely-shaped walking stick. As I went on, I tried to use the moment I had apart from the group to do some cleanup in my head. Much was on my mind. Aside from the occasional thoughts that pass through one’s head on any given day, my mind wandered from how I was missing swim practice that weekend, to my aching feet, then onto the steaks awaiting my eager stomach at the house. This continued for some time. As I look back on the moment, it is interesting to see how much “me” was in the equation. I tried to move my focus to God and away from myself, but it seemed that nothing was doing the trick. Then I began to pray. I simply told Him “thank you” and gave Him praise. But even then, it seemed that it wasn’t enough.

It had been roughly five miles since I set out from the base of the mountain, and the going was getting tough. The hill inclined sharply and my feet seemed to be giving in, not to mention the increased pressure on my injured knees. I was getting tired. I didn’t want to stop, for I wanted to see how high this trail would go. As I pushed forward, I began to realize that the seemingly never-ending rows of trees were lessening. Sky was in the distance… I was nearing the top. I climbed faster up the slope, and the ground under my feet began to level. It was a good feeling. Then the trees opened out into a field. And as I stepped forward, I felt a soft breeze flow over my face. I looked around. There were trees surrounding the field, except for a small gap about a hundred feet in front of me. Through this break in the trees, I could see mountain after mountain. The rows appeared to extend for miles. The scenery was beautiful. 

It was then that I felt His presence. I think it was almost as if God was telling me, “just look at how great I am. Cast all your thoughts aside and look at me… trust in me, love me, live like you love me. I created all of this with the words of my mouth; I spoke and everything came to be…” At this I couldn't help but fall on my knees and worship the only One worthy of any praise. 

Many times, I think it is exceedingly easy to fall into a rut… a rut of only going through the motions and not actually living life out as if we really are children of God. Often times, we get so caught up in ourselves and all that is going on around us that we lose sight of our true purpose in life. God calls us to be fishers of men, a city on a hill, a lamp on a stand… He calls us to be imitators of Him, to not be the lukewarm Christian testing out the waters; but rather, He wants us to be a glowing ball of fire for Him. He wants us to be all in; anything less is dishonorable to His greatness and majesty.  

 

“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” [Col. 1:16]

Caleb is a motion media student at Savannah College of Art and design. Visit his blog below.

image from www.diaddigo.com

bluebirduncaged Things I'm learning

Boxes and Labels

As humans, we like to organize our world by placing things in categories. In order to create order, we group things together. Bugs with six legs are called insects, those with eight are arachnids. History is the study of past events whereas math deals with numbers and their relationships. We box things together in order to consider them as one unit and label them for easy reference. This is great for organizing physical things but when we start to do this with people, it can be detrimental.   

Granted, the boxes people put us in and the labels we try to portray help shape our identities. But is it really who we are? Personally, I would like to bust out of a few boxes people have put me in because they don’t fully define me. Sometimes I’m proud of the labels attached to my name but sometimes, I wish people wouldn’t view me that way. When other people place expectations on us, we either feel pressured to conform to them or rebel against them. We all know what it’s like to have boxes and labels put on us, but have we thought about it from the other side?

Often, we’re so quick to place people in our categories of stereotypes and preconceived ideas that it hinders our ability to see people for who they really are. George MacDonald writes “We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary—to understand other people.” What if instead of dismissing people, because of the category we think they belong in, we looked for opportunities to love on them and find ways to understand them fully? What if we tried to extend grace to everyone like God did to us instead of being so quick to judge?

Maybe the guy who just ripped you up with criticism really just needs some encouragement and affirmation. Maybe the rude checkout lady has more going on than you can imagine and needs a friendly smile. Maybe that lazy and annoying co-worker could use a friend.

Let’s break down the boxes, rip the labels off, and try to understand the people around us.

 In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ~Phillipians 2:3b-4