August 2011
69 posts
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“You will never find a spouse who is not affected in some way by the reality of...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 69
July 2011
87 posts
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“Husbands, you are married to a fallen woman in a broken world. Wives, you are...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 69
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Learning to Carry the Name Well :: Maybe You Can...
Four years ago, I decided to put into practice Matthew 10:14:
And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.
I admit this verse is taken a bit out of context, but at the time and specific moment, it fit my situation. I was getting persecuted. I was getting attacked. I was not welcome and this action was the...
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Revisiting the Past :: You Can't Go Home Again
Here is an excerpt, from a letter, I wrote, four years ago, to the most amazing couple I have ever met. They willingly, joyfully, painfully, sat with me through this struggle and trial. They loved me and encouraged me as the only church I had ever known, attacked me and ran me out of my home.
“Doug and Shelley I really do love you two. I know that without God using you two in my life I would...
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Define Your Story - Don't Let It Define You
Below, you will find words I penned, four years ago, as I was sitting in my final service at the church where I was born and raised. It is part of my story. I will never be able to get rid of it. It taught me things I never expected to learn.
However, this story, this adventure does not define me.
When I wake up, I get to prove this.
I never thought I’d come back.
Healing, redemption...
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“Leaders pour into the gifts of their people - husbands pour into the gifts of...”
– Eric Mason
I long to live this out one day…
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It Is Finished
post 2 of 3…
I haven’t arrived in life. I’m still on a journey of restoration and redemption. The cross covers all the wrongs I have ever or will ever commit and all the heart issues I have had to work through, need to work through or will have to work through. That is the beauty of what Jesus did when He died on the cross.
He uttered the words “It is finished”.
Jesus doesn’t lie.
Jesus...
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An Open Prayer
I was going to write this for a brother and leave it for him only - instead I decided to open it up, not use names and make it broader…
Life will get better.
Seasons change.
God moves in unique ways all the time. We just don’t always see it. Things are constantly in flux. At times, God is trying to get you to a place you’ve never been before. I know this isn’t always an...
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“we need to understand how profoundly broken this world is. Sin has radically...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 67
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Jesus Understands
These next several postings were written a year ago, after this situation happened. They are probably, three of my favorite, written things ever. If you have questions, ask away.
Intellectually it is easy to remember Jesus has done it all and I cannot do it. Though, the heart usually takes some time to catch up – even when I remember “It is finished”.
That’s where I get drawn back to why and how...
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“Faith is a refusal to panic”
– Martin Loyd Jones
The Director's Narrative: July 27 - A Year Later →
directorsnarrative:
A lot can happen in a year. The last year of my life proves that. Today is the marker of the end of a year I never expected, a year I never wanted. But they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and I think I finally understand that. God has definitely made me stronger in the last year.
…
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This Story Should Have Been Written Differently ::...
What’s in a year?
12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. 8,760 hours. 525,600 minutes. 31,536,000 seconds.
Yes, technically, intellectually, this is what makes up a year. But, for most, a year is made up of far more then time. There are happy times; some joyful times; some amazing, great times; some sad times; some hard times; some times you wish you can forget or change.
As I’m typing...
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“We’re not married in a carefree Garden of Eden. We’re married in the midst of...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 66
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“Christian marriage calls us to focus our efforts on giving respect.”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 55
“Joy is not necessarily the absence of suffering, it is the presence of God”
– Sam Storms
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“We need to be called out of ourselves because, in truth, we are incomplete.”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 50
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“It is far less of a leap for a man to love a woman or for a woman to love a man...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 50
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“On a very practical level, a husband who plots how to make his wife laugh every...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 43
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“Once we enter the marriage relationship, we cannot love God without loving our...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 42
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“When we love well, we please God.”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 41
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RockHarbor Fullerton VBS :: Meet the Penton's
I love my church. If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time I hope you know how truly in love with my local expression of the global church I am. God has placed me here; God has called me here; God wants me here; I need to be here; I desire to be here.
RockHarbor Fullerton is my home church.
Every year, our mothership (whom we are a part of as a campus), RockHarbor, runs Vacation...
dsafghjkl asked: I have two questions for you today.
First, what is your name? I have been following you all this time and am just realizing that I do not know it.
And second, what is missiology? I noticed that some of your posts are tagged that, but I hadn't heard that word before so I looked it up. The dictionary said that it was "the theological study of the mission of...
First, what is your name? I have been following you all this time and am just realizing that I do not know it.
And second, what is missiology? I noticed that some of your posts are tagged that, but I hadn't heard that word before so I looked it up. The dictionary said that it was "the theological study of the mission of...
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July 17, 2006 :: Flipping the Page - The Ending of...
For 13 days I writhed and wrestled in a hospital bed.
My time lying, dying, sleeping, healing, praying, waiting was not reminiscent of Job - but more in comparison to Jacob’s encounter with God, where he wrestles God, is left with a limp, his life is changed and so is his name as a result of it (Genesis 32:22-32). For 13 days, I was confronted with realities I never thought I would face. I...
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Campus Crusade for Christ or CRU? :: What's in a... →
If you know me or read my blog, chances are at some point in time you will have heard me mention my experience with Campus Crusade for Christ. It is a ministry filled wiht people who helped heal, change, grow, stretch and teach me while giving me an opportunity at launching a movement, leading a movement and teaching. It is a ministry filled with many men of God I highly respect.
It is also a...
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July 17, 2006 :: Resetting the Stage
(Sorry I have left the story of God’s movement hanging for a while. It has been a really busy time - but a really amazing time. Thanks for reading - I have left details and stories out. If you have any questions, any comments, please feel free to message me them. I’d love to get your opinion, questions or just be able to flush things out for you - to give you a full picture of how...
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“Marriage can be the gym in which our capacity to experience and express God’s...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 40
“The suffering in the journey brings more joy to the destination.”
– Matt Hammett (via aharlequinfaith)
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“marriages can be platforms for evangelism… just by sticking it out in our...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 37
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“Strong Christian marriages will still be struck by lightning – sexual...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 36
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A Harlequin Faith: "As Christians, Should We Be... →
my brother has great insights…
aharlequinfaith:
So the other day I was driving from Orange County to San Diego at around midnight and, like normal, I was listening to Fox Sports Radio. They were discussing the whole Ohio State Football Program/Jim Tressel cover up debacle and one of the hosts asked the question, “As Christians, should we be mad…
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“How can I tell my children that God’s promise of reconciliation is secure when...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 35
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July 15, 2006 :: Staph Infection of the Blood
There are stories from this time period and ordeal that would fill academic journals (literally, I’m pretty positive I’m published in some academic journal somewhere). In the course of my 13 days in the hospital I had about 3 doctors assigned to me, many different nurses and all kinds of residents. I was a sideshow in the middle of a one ring circus. My life, my sickness, my near death...
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“The first purpose in marriage – beyond happiness, sexual expression, the bearing...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 33
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This is Southern California :: Carmageddon →
Welcome to Southern California.
Check out the Countdown Clock. Yup. You read that right.
http://www.ktla.com/news/local/viewerinfo/ktla-405-countdown-clock,0,847826.story
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Carmageddon T-Shirts →
I want these.
Carmageddon.
Carpocalypse.
Autodistopia (the OC version in honor of Disneyland).
Cartastrophe.
“There is no true mission without holiness and there is no true holiness without...”
– Tim Chaddick
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“He planted marriage among humans as yet another signpost pointing to his own...”
– Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 30
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Prayers for My Job Interview
I am about to head into my second job interview with a non-profit in Bueana Park, CA at 9 a.m. this morning. Pray for me please.
I’ll be meeting the warehouse manager and going out for a test drive in a 24 foot box truck.
I’m stoked for this and want this job. I am lying awake the night before as I type this praying for God to move and do His thing.
“Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of...”
–
Tim Kizziar
