Relevant video on marathoner Ryan Hall

Hey guys,

Last Sunday, our running group got on the topic of how our desire to train, improve, and ultimately win plays in with what God desires for our growth and development. I came across this video and was amazed at Ryan's story of how God taught him about using his desire to compete. For those non-runners out there, Ryan Hall is a committed believer who is probably the best American-born marathoner our country has seen in about 30 years. He is one of the few white dudes in the world who is close to mixing it up with the East Africans at the marathon distance. This video shows him doing a 15 mile tempo run at 5:00 min pace at 7,000 feet in adverse conditions...not bad!

Need inspiration to post your thoughts?

Look no further! Simply click on the link below, and think of the dozens of guys around the country who will be thinking these thoughts as they read your post! (I have Tim to thank for reminding me of this clip this past Christmas)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKjxFJfcrcA

But seriously, guys are throwing some great thoughts around and I hope it spurs us on. I appreciate and relate to Tim and Eric's words about overfamiliarity of the Good News leading to actual unfamiliarity. Todd, Brandon, Chantelle (Brandon's sister) and I went for a long run this afternoon and had some great conversation about the reading. I look forward to hearing more about how God is working!

Hearing Jesus' Invitation to the Kingdom Clearly

Readings for February 23-March 1: pgs. 11-21.

Key Quotes

"People think they have heard the invitation. The thing they have accepted it or rejected it. But they have not. The difficulty is to hear at all." (11)

"I think we finally have to say that Jesus' enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak to, to heal, and empower the individual human condition...He promises wholeness for their lives...Suddenly they are flying right-side up, in a world that makes sense." (13)

"So, C.S. Lewis writes, our faith is not a matter of our hearing what Christ said long ago and 'trying to carry it out.' Rather, 'The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to 'inject' His kind of life and thought...into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.'" (20)

Key Questions

At what point in your life have you most clearly understood Jesus' invitation to discipleship? Has that invitation been dulled by years of "overfamiliarity"?

How has Jesus most clearly spoke to, healed, or empowered your life?


aloha, Matt

Reading for February 17 - February 22: Ch. 1, pgs. 1-10

Here are a few thoughts and questions to get us going. To be honest, Willard kind of showboats a bit early on here, covering a bunch of intellectual history only like a USC philosophy professor could. It's a bit dense, but my advice is to just push through; he is laying the intellectual groundwork for a sustained argument that will bear much fruit in the chapters to come, and the writing style does not stay at this level.

A few questions to guide our discussion:

1. How plausible is his story of the fighter pilot who slammed into the ground during a low level flight because she was disoriented?

Since we have an F15 and F16 pilot in this group, I expect expert contributions to this question. If my basic knowledge of fighter pilot culture is correct, I'm assuming that Tim would say that this is only common among Viper pilots, and Jeremy would say that only Eagle Drivers would ever become this disoriented. I leave it to these two log in and enlighten us.

2. Is higher education's ambivalence towards moral truth as dire as Willard suggests? Why is it so crucial to actually become a good person, morally speaking, rather than to just be taught to be clever about how one deals with moral issues?

To this question, there are a handful of guys on this blog who have both taken classes from the "experts" referred to that reside in Emerson Hall at Harvard, as well as taken "moral reasoning" classes also mentioned, including classes from Robert Coles. I think this could provoke some interesting responses.

3. Why is his paragraph about kids singing about being Oscar Meyer weiners so hilarious (in my opinion) but also eye-opening about how "upside down" our society really is? Check out the following commercial from 1965 for historical context, and consider, like Willard, what this commericial's existence actually says about our society. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNddW2xmZp8) How has consumerism in America warped us, and how aware or unaware are we of its effect on us?

Look forward to reading your thoughts.

aloha, Matt

PS: check out the following clip for a good F15/F16 dogfight that was in the IMAX movie, "Operation Red Flag," the excercise that Jeremy is now involved with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INb-421E-mo&feature=related

Bios

I thought it might work well to have one post where we all comment on it and post our bios to get to know one another. Jeremy Miller did a great job of kicking it off for us today; I love the desire to see the talents God has given us in the right perspective, and consider how they might be part of His conspiracy here. aloha, Matt

Thank you Matt for launching this project and this blog. The book looks good in published excerpts. Any writing that says 'eternity has already started and that it is here now' appeals to me. The idea of hanging around and waiting for some sweet hereafter has never appealed much to me. It does say that, doesn't it? I look forward to receiving and reading it.

[Jon - buy your own or I will tear out pages I have read and send them to you... one by one...]

It is only now, in this time, that we can do such a thing as have a real-time dialogue like this... across thousands of miles. Considering our different backgrounds, circumstances, interests, etc., it will be interesting to discover each other through our discussions.

Since this is all about hearts, happy valentine day to all!

Eternity Has Already Started for Each of Us! A Few Thoughts on the "Foreword" and "Introduction"

Here's the thing that strikes me most from this reading: what we do and believe NOW, in our daily choices, whether they seem small or big, is part of our eternity. The person we are becoming for eternity and the substance of our character is being shaped right NOW. This is a sobering thought, but clearly Jesus' invitation to obedience and discipleship was great news to all who heard it when he walked on earth. As Willard points puts it, this was the "best life strategy" they had ever heard of and thought they would be fools to pass it up.

I am challenged by this, because I realize that I often view following Jesus as burdensome, and one more thing to do in a busy day. Instead, I'm going to try to pray that I would see Jesus' invitation to follow Him and obey Him as the greatest opportunity of my life, and it keeps getting offered to me day after day, by His grace.

Some key quotes I liked.

"Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives." (xiii)

"What we have to believe or do now, by contrast, is real life, bursting with interesting, frigtening and relevant things and people." (xiii)

"More than any other single thing, in any case, the practical irrelevance of actual obedience to Christ accounts for the weakeed effect of Christianity in the world today..." (xv)

"The really good news for humanity is that Jesus is now taking students in the master class of life. The eternal life that begins with confidence in Jesus is a life in his present kingdom, now on earth and available to all." (xvii)