New Blog

Hey All,

I'm posting over at my communities blog site here -> Jeremy Pryor's blog.

On Fire

by Stevon Lucero

This song by Switchfoot has deeply affected me during this prayer retreat.

On Fire (portion of the lyrics)

But everything inside you knows
Says more than what you’ve heard
So much more than empty conversations
Filled with empty words

And you’re on fire
When he’s near you
You’re on fire
When he speaks
You’re on fire
Burning at these mysteries

Give me one more time around
Give me one more chance to see
Give me everything you are
Give me one more chance to be... (near you)

Cause everything inside looks like
Everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I’ll take

When I’m on fire
When you’re near me
I’m on fire
When you speak
And I’m on fire
Burning at these mysteries
These mysteries...

Simeon & Anna

I'm in the second day of my prayer retreat at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

This morning God has been talking to me about the process of falling in love with our Savior. Luke 2:21-40 contains the story of two people who loved Jesus with all of their heart even before he was born.

Simeon was so full of the Holy Spirit that God revealed to him many mysteries about the coming Messiah. His prophecies are staggering and ring completely true to this day. But what amazes me is his passion for Jesus. His very life was tied up with his expectancy of Jesus. He didn't care so much whether he lived to see all that Jesus would do, Simeon passion was simple - to just see his face before his death.

Anna, a prophetess, also recognized the Messiah as this 8 day-old infant. She worshipped through ceaseless prayer and frequent fasting and never left the temple day or night. I look around me in this prayer room at many Simeons and Annas - men and women so passionate about Jesus that they recognize his presence, his voice, his face.

The Barnes gave the proclamation to our community that God is calling us to fall in love with our Savior. What is the path to passionate love for the Savior? How does one become like Simeon or Anna? God is calling me to simply spend time in his presence and read the promises of the coming Messiah. We must become desperate with anticipation for the coming Messiah. We must rejoice at the Messiah's birth. We must walk with him in his journey on the Earth. We must stand with him at the cross. We must live, crying out for his return...

The Constant Gardener

This one deserves a trip to the theater.

Difficult...will make you struggle if your heart easily empathizes with others. Curious how many films are suddenly featuring Africa (go Bono). Artfully done. Meirelles puts you in the shoes of a loveable one dimensional nice guy who is suddenly forced to face an evil that can hardly exist in his perfect predictable world.

This theme of African exploitation is one that feels completely overwhelming - like digging a bottomless pit where a new shocking and complicated evil is unearthed with every shovel full.

Where did this divergence begin? How do our various races play in the divine drama of our world? How can the children of Japheth answer the sons of Ham? How can we begin to bring resolution to so much suffering?

To Switch or not to Switch?

Somebody help me! I've been trying to decide whether or not to abandon 15 years of faithful PC use to join the growing ranks of Apple users. I hate to admit it but it just seems they now make a far superior product. Any comments, suggestions or ultimate solutions would be greatly appreciated.

I realize that for those of you who are not so dependent on your laptops that it's like an extension of your body may not understand how like a spiritual crisis this decision is. On the road from Eden to Zion these days one must pack a laptop and the time may have come to partake in the forbidden fruit to continue the journey.

Laptop journey thus far Toshiba -> Dell -> HP -> Better HP -> Alienware -> ?

From Garden to City: Exploring Our Collective Journey

Both at Theology on Tap and on Sammy's blog we're beginning to explore this question - why is paradise originally described as a Garden and why does it culminate in a city?

I feel I'm just beginning to explore this topic but here are a few thoughts in process -

1. Layers of Perfection: This discussion challenges my definition of perfection. The Garden of Eden was perfect but perfection is only one dimension of growth. I always assumed it was the only dimension, but now I've realized that can't be. At what point does an artist create the perfect work. The scale of perfection does not even begin to describe the value of art and likewise perfection is merely the environment or the canvas on which things can develop. Eden was perfect but it was NOT the end only the beginning. Zion is a further improvement that humanity can only enjoy at a greater degree of maturity. Luke tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom. Some might wonder how a perfect being can gain wisdom but wisdom is a different dimension. I believe, as bizarre as it might sound, that when Adam and Eve fell in the garden they lost their holiness but they increased in wisdom. This does not justify their action but it may explain one of the reasons it was allowed. They gained the knowledge of good and evil. They did not know that God was good until the Fall because they had never tasted evil. Zion will be a place of far greater wisdom than Eden and I believe it will encompass other improvements that make its form as a city necessary. From garden to city is a journey from innocence to maturity.

2. The purpose of gardens and cities. A garden is designed for discovery, a city is built for progress. When all the peoples of the Earth came together at Babel to form one city God confused their languages because humanity did not have the maturity for that level of collaboration. God intended us to remain on this journey and to not begin a world-wide collaboration that would make unlimited progress possible. In Zion our redeemed state and lifelong wisdom will be rewarded with the privilege of uninhibited collaborations. Imagine minds like Einstein, Newton and Hawking with purified motives and limitless lifespans creating and building this future Kingdom. Imagine the artistic collaboration. Zion is the ultimate unleashing of this process. In a documentary about New York someone described foundation of the city as an "exchange of ideas". The diversity of resources and the relative proximity of inhabitants makes the city the obvious venue for the next stage of our existence.

3. Journey's End - Living in a city is the restful reward of a journey accomplished. We are here to learn to walk by faith. Abraham lived in tents his whole life and resisted the temptation to live in a city (unlike his nephew Lot) because, as Hebrews tells us, "he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Imagine that! All cities on Earth, even in all their grandeur, are poor reflections of Zion. Donald Trump would blush at the comparison between what he has built and that future city.

Implications - So given this journey how should we live? We live in this awkward state between Eden and Zion where we must balance a life lived by faith and a growing maturity toward city living without embracing a counterfeit city life. When God cursed Cain he told him to be a restless wander and the first thing he does is disobey and build a city. Earthly cities are at the same time humanities greatest achievement and our most shameful rebellion. I think it is no coincidence that the most mature non-Christians I know desire to give their lives in the service of building a better city. Perhaps this is because it is our journey's end and what we were created to experience, however, we must avoid the subtle danger of becoming content with building mud castles on the beach in the shadow of a castle designed for a King (metaphor by CS Lewis).

Ash Wednesday Thoughts...

"The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace."

"Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness."

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world."

Quotes from Mother Teresa