Brain Bubbles

A New Perspective on the Bible

2008-10-10T15:23:00.002-06:00

So I was reading in Luke for my QT today and I had a thought. First scroll over this reference and read the text. Luke 2:25-32. Simeon KNEW Jesus by the Holy Spirit. And when "he too him up in his arms," Simeon cherished and valued and loved the WORD that was in his hands. So I was thinking... In a different way, but still, really the same, we have the WORD, the Bible, in our own hands. Do we hold it lightly, or do we lovingly take it up in our arms and say, "...my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." There is freakin' power in that!

2008-09-27T23:44:00.002-06:00

Check out this reftagger thingy I added. If you put in a reference, like Gen. 1:1, it'll allow you to link over to the actual verse!

John Piper ROCKS!!

2008-09-27T23:02:00.009-06:00

Well, really, Jesus is the one who rocks. But I'm here right now at the Desiring God conference and it totally rocks that John Piper thinks that Jesus Rocks. I love that John is always seeking to be humble - that makes me take his words to heart more. I also love that he just wants to get the word out about Jesus! He's written a whole load of books and now they're being offered for super cheap by downloading them. And you guys know how I feel about saving a tree! So go check out www.logos.com/piper and save yourself some money!

2008-09-01T20:56:00.000-06:00

Ecstasy on the Beach (a memoir)

2008-02-24T18:37:00.002-07:00

The pressure finally gone, the rest of my body slackened. I had never even realized I had armpit muscles, but then I noticed those relaxed too. It was this cozy sensation like getting a really good backrub. But this was one experience that I would have to enjoy alone.

Never mind that my denim shorts and t-shirt were sopping wet. And disregard the fact that salt had attached itself to my leg hairs, which would make me itch the rest of the day. Oh, and I’m sure I failed to mention that sand was permanently embedded in my underwear, irritating that delicate panty-line area.

I was in Jr. High, and our family was on a road trip along the coast of California. I had been holding in my pee longer than felt humanly possible, and when we stopped to see the beach, I knew my time had come. Pretending like I was actually having fun sitting in 5 inches of ice cold ocean water, I let it all go—horrified at the idea that someone might figure out what I was doing. But that thought quickly faded as warmth swirled around me.

Psalm 47 (in my own words)

2008-02-19T11:04:00.002-07:00

1) Move! Everyone move your body with joy! Don't hold back when you're singing to God!
2) Stand in awe of the One who is above all--who is higher than all. The whole earth is subject to this King of kings.
3) God has taken care of teh Israelites and in the time of David, Israel was great.
4) Israel was predestined by God to be great.
5) No small noise is made to honor our great God!
6) Open your mouth and let songs come out--songs of praise to God and to our King.
7) Sing praises; sing psalms. Why? Because God rules and reigns over all!
8) The nations are subject to God. And God is immoveable! He is constant. His residence is holy.
9) All are subject to God. And why shouldn't they be? God is lifted above all!

Music

2008-02-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we try to put words to music when the music should be the melody of the unspoken words of our heart.

I wonder if he's awake yet...?? (a memoir)

2008-02-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

I wonder if he’s awake yet…? I just don’t want his parents to catch me looking at him. I’ll just lay here a little bit longer and listen to hear if he shuffles in his sleeping bag or not. But I’m dying to know if he’s awake yet. Just lay here, Angela—just for a minute.

Forcing myself to pretend like I was sleeping, my thoughts flicked through the recent events of the weekend: I was on a camping trip with my best friend Daniel and his family (except for his sister, Mia). They had never been camping before, so I had to show them how to do stuff—like clear the ground of pine cones before setting up the tent. We were all equally excited over being in a rented 4-Runner, as normally their family drove a hunter green mini van and mine drove a big boat, which Ford tried to elegantly call a Crown Victoria.

Daniel’s Swedish dad, Jan, carried his coveted Arizona Highways magazine. He used it to choose all the towns we would visit. There were several items of interest that he wanted to see, one barn in particular. But when we drove to see the barn, he kept showing us the picture in the magazine—completely forgetting about the actual barn in front of us! That became the joke of the day.

Still pretending to sleep, my thoughts returned to Daniel. We had been best friends for quite some time. How funny that I first met him years prior because he and my sister wanted to “go out” in Jr. High and my parents didn’t want them to. Well, here we were. Daniel was allowed to bring one friend camping with him, and he chose me! That made me all giddy and squishy inside. I had been crushing on him for a long time, but couldn’t admit it because we were such good friends and I knew he wasn’t interested in me. Now I had to spend this whole weekend with him, pushing back those retarded heart jumps that made me shy and suddenly stupid. It’s hard to be normal around someone you like.

I wonder if he’s awake yet…? I’m just going to barely crack my eyes open and see… I hope they don’t open too much so it looks like I’m peeking! Ohp, there we go. Oh my gosh! He’s staring at me! I quickly shut my eyes, wondering if I shut them so fast it made my eyes flinch. Then he would know. Then he’d know that I peeked at him and saw him looking at me. Oh my gosh, this is so lame. What am I supposed to do now!? I have to peek again to see if he’s still looking, or if it was just a fluke. Slowly Angela, don’t let him know you’re peeking! Dude, he’s still looking at me! He’s totally looking at my whole face—studying me! Oh crap…. The sun is shining through the tent, making my morning facial oils glow, I’m sure. And my hair… I KNOW how sexy I am with sleeping bag hair. Oh dude, what do I do? Do I roll over so he can’t see me? Do I open my eyes? No, cause then he’d catch me… Man… he is still looking at me.

No longer am I wondering if he’s awake yet. I’m freaking out because I don’t know what this means! Could I actually get my hopes up? I could have spent a whole month wondering why he was looking at me, because that was how long it took Daniel to tell me that was the moment he fell in love with me.

Angela L. Mattei

Why I'm hugging the tree...

2008-01-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

Before I ever became pregnant, I knew I wanted a home birth. Not so it'd be natural and better for the baby, but because I was freaked out about hospitals! But as I talked with my midwife and then my chiropractor, I became more and more aware of how unnatural our world has become! As my baby began to make her presence known, desire surged in me to bring her into an environment as close to the way God intended it as possible.

At first my focus was on our family only, such as no artificially fragranced air fresheners and as much organic, non-processed food as we could afford. But after a short chat with my mid-wife, she encouraged me to look beyond our family to the entire globe, at things like plastic and its many negative facets. So I began to do my research.

I ordered a recycle can since our neighborhood doesn't offer that. I also put my daughter (and now my son as well) into cloth diapers since disposables are the main "contribution" to our landfills. I made a pledge not to shop at Wal-mart and in the last two years, I have broken that pledge only once. I switched my business to be a "green business," using non-toxic and environmentally friendly supplies.

But most important of all, I learned about plastic and all of its evils. I will save the details of plastic for another entry, but suffice it to say that decreasing the amount of plastic we use has been hardest of all, and yet most satisfying of all. Plastic is most often traced back to middle-eastern oil. And the countless lives lost over that oil is horrendous. While less clear-cut and traceable than "blood diamonds," it is the same concept. And that is motivation enough to decrease plastic use as much as possible!

God gave us this earth and told us to take care of it--one of his few commands. Now that I am aware of how the wealthy--myself included--are using the earth for personal gain--at the loss of those with less spending power, I want to make better choices. I don't want to live selfishly and ignorantly anymore.

Jonah and God

2007-06-24T20:31:00.000-06:00

I'm going through Jonah for my Elements of Bible Study class and realized a difference between Jonah and the Ninevites and the men on the ship with him. While Jonah would "pray," even when he was in the belly of the fish, the Ninevites are encouraged by their king to "call on God earnestly." And do you remember when the sea was all stormy?? The men on the ship came to Jonah and said, "Call on your God."

I was listening to an emergent podcast (I don't, by the way, endorse all of their stuff) and the topic was "finding God in the other." The idea was that sometimes we can learn something about God through the eyes of those who don't quite believe the same as we do. Take Paul and speaking to the Greeks, for example, about the unknown God. While the Greeks didn't have a complete understanding of God, they knew something of the awesomeness and powerfulness of this unknown God. Well, I am learning something about communication with God by observing how those in the story of Jonah communicated with God. Jonah was too flippant about God. He was completely disrespectful many times, and at others, he just prayed and asked for the salvation that he knew would come from God. The men on the ship and those in Nineveh saw an urgency that only God could meet and sought to implore him for salvation!

A journal entry on how God is at work in my life...

2007-04-24T01:28:00.000-06:00

He's at work in my life in many ways, I just don't usually see it. I can sense it though. I feel this strong urge to get in touch with Angela from Mario's work, and with Kelly, the fiance of one of Mario's friends. They're both pregnant, and I wonder if I can minister to them at all?

I also feel this deep urge to meet regularly with April and Leanna. I hunger for their fellowship and wisdom, as well as their love and concern. I feel God's invisible hand pushing me towards them.

I can also sense that God is preparing me for the chaos of life in Turkey and is constantly improving my multi-tasking skills.

As for intimacy with God - I think He's showing me how easily I stray away from spending time with Him. It's hard for me to set aside time when so much else needs attention. And all that other "stuff" is more tangible. I finish it and see that it's done. I can't even have that attitude in my quiet time! It's not allowed. I'm to go into it wishing that time were endless. So I'm screwed from the beginning, just by the wrong attitude I go into my QT with.

I can sense that God will be sharpening my sense of authority in the spirit realm as I dive into this new book "I Give you Authority." I've always had a hard time seeing past the line that divides spiritual from physical. It will be important to be planted firm in God's Word as I go through this book. And being in the Word is the hard part...

God is working in many ways. I'm curious to see how they'll intersect.

Love Your Wives as Christ Loved the Church

2007-03-08T01:18:00.000-07:00

So I was just listening to an excerpt from John Piper's sermon "Marriage: Pursuing Conformity to Christ in the Covenant." John talks about how husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church. This was wisdom that Mario's dad passed on to him years ago. It has been such a blessing to me that Mario has taken this advice so seriously. So much of the character of God and Christ in particular has been shown to me by the example of my husband. Through all of my moods and grudges and seeking out "fairness," Mario has been patient and has chosen to view me as blameless. His never-ending patience and pursuit of my heart has opened my eyes to the desire of God for my heart. Thank you Mario. :) I love you so much!

Judgments of the Lord Part 2

2007-03-04T00:51:00.000-07:00

"...you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them, for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." Ephesians 5:8-13

We are inadequate to fully recognize and accurately judge sin in our lives. It takes the Light of Christ to expose this darkness. So unless we intentionally seek out the judgments of the Lord, the depth of our sin remains in darkness.

"Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:14

Judgments of the Lord

2007-02-23T01:10:00.000-07:00

When you hear the words, "Judgments of the Lord," what comes to mind? An overbearing Father? Someone uncompassionate and unmerciful? A God who doesn't understand? Psalm 19:9-11 says, "The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb." When I read this, I was struck by how negatively I view the "judgments of the Lord." The words used by the Psalmist are so endearing. Have I let the world's view of God affect my own feelings towards Him and His righteousness??

2007-02-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

Mario: The SleepTalker

2007-02-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

Last night as I read my Bible in bed, Mario fell asleep. When I shut off the light and snuggled up to him to go to bed myself, he said, "Surprise!" "What!?" I asked. He responded, "It's the discreet avenue for kids who do good." It took me quite some time to stop laughing. :)