Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

Today I received an email note from Sparkle Gunther.

Not last night, but the night before (it takes me a while, OK?) the whole family went out to take care of the snow. The boys pretty much got their sleds out and went down the hill that is our front yard while my wife and I shoveled the driveway. With her help it did not take long so we had some goof around time. She thought it would be good to build a snowman (our first one in a while) and I agreed. The boys were pumped. I pretty much ad to roll the snow into the three distinct pieces that all good snowmen are made of. It was a bit tricky, but what I found I needed to do was pack the snow around the ball until I could get it big enough that it would largely pack itself. So, up went the body and the head and the boys and my wife decorated him with a snowman kit that was given to us a while back by friends of ours. I had to put two nails into his hat because the wind was picking up and we did not want to go looking for the hat when it blew off his head. When we got in and the boys were i...

My wife knows me better than anyone else on the planet. Every day of my life, it seems, I am subtly deceiving everyone I come into contact with. They have no idea who I am. She does. She has seen my dust and my dross and has also seen that which will survive the fire of His judgment and be presented back to Him as the fruit of His labor in me. Every once and a while when I am quiet she will ask me "What are you thinking?" As well as she knows me she needs me to let her into my wordlessness to better her understanding. That's no deficiency for she pursues knowledge about me out of her love for me. Yet there is One who knows my frame without questions or words. When I close my eyes to pray or meditate He has already considered it, formed it, and calls to my consciousness His guidance of it. My longing (that I can't even articulate at times) to be fully known and fully understood will be fulfilled when I am allowed to perceive this deep and perfect contemplation. What bl...

I can't remember when it was exactly said, but there was a leader that was part of the college ministry that I was a member of that said "I hope you don't sin every day." I am absolutely sure that he does not remember saying it and I am quite sure that I was one of the few in the room, if not the only one in the room, that heard it. My spirit fell and I was grossly discouraged over it because, indeed, I did sin every day. In fact there were some days where it felt like all I did was sin...and sin...and sin. I was sure that there was something wrong with me because of this. He seemed to have it all together and was very sure that sinning every day was a aberration and a sign that one was not regenerate. At least that is what I heard in his comment slight as it was. I have matured since then and still find that sin that my pride, self-reliance, selfishness, insensitivity, lust...all of it is rearing its head every day. Every hour. Sometimes every minute. Lord, if you cr...

More than anything I'd like to see Better brighter days for you, for you and me Now that you're on fire, your voice is like the wind Now that you're on fire, let life begin again Now that you're on fire, a new day has begun Now that you're on fire, you are like the sun - Now That You're on Fire, MXPX Maybe this is obvious, but I have been pondering it lately. The song "Now That You're on Fire" from MXPX is a reference to the new life that we can have in Christ when we acknowledge our need for him as forgiver and accept his leadership in our lives. More than the individual changes this brings there are brighter days for the people that I am in contact with. There are brighter days for my wife, sons, family, friends, co-workers...all of them feel the effects of the fire that God Himself has kindled in my heart. God wants to set them on fire as well, through me and the work that He has done in my life. If there are not brighter days for those around ...

Anticipating the grand return Crying out for the page to turn - All Creation Sings, AD "All Creation Sings" is one of my favorite songs from the group Kerry Livgren was a part of after he left Kansas. My absolute favorites are "Lead Me to Reason" and "Beyond the Pale" but all of ADs songs are fine in their own right. All Creation Sings speaks of the groaning of creation and the fixation on the anticipation of Christ's return and for a new chapter to be opened in the history of the world. The events of last night made made me even more keen to ponder this and to groan right along with the creation. There was the announcement of an engagement and planned marriage this Summer. There was also insensitivity and hurt over some things that I had done. All of it reminds me that there is redemption for the filth that invades my life and that there is a bride waiting patiently for her groom. And when He comes to claim her the minor key that is the rushing wind ...

Or the post could be titled "Google is my friend". The other day I was thinking how funny it would be to do a take old the old show "Soul Train" by changing it to "Seoul Train". Well, searching for Seoul Train in Google I came up with this: Plot Summary for Seoul Train (2004) With its riveting footage of a secretive "underground railroad," SEOUL TRAIN is the gripping documentary exposé into the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland and China. SEOUL TRAIN also delves into the complex geopolitics behind this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. I have been accused of being insensitive in the past and often am, but even I am going to show the restraint necessary to leave this one alone.