Where is my wild?

ever read a book that makes you think, "am i even alive?" if not, pick up Into the Wild. Phenominal. it is the story of a young man, chris mccandless, 22, that heads off across the country after graduating from a college in georgia. the book chronicles his life as a vagabond for about 2 and a half years, traveling up and down the west coast as a hitchhiker, migrant worker, train hopper and walker. he even rides a canoe down the colorado river for a while. it all ends in alaska as he tries to live out his jack london dream of being an ascetic woodsman and dies in the process (that happens in the first chapter so don't get mad at me for giving it away!) he gave away over 20,000 dollars to Oxfam and lived those two years, for the most part, with just the possessions "he could carry with him at a dead sprint."
when was the last time i had a dream, a vision, like this guy, and went for it so wholeheartedly? when was the last time you set out, not knowing where you would end up, but just certain that you were headed towards the promised land of your dreams? tell us about it.

Different Wiring?

I am currently being enlightened about the makeup of a woman - and i'm not talking about something created by l'oreal. i'm reading a book put out by john eldredge and his wife, stasi. john wrote a popular book on manhood, called Wild at Heart, and this is its companion.
the thesis of the book is that every woman is seeking the answer to this question as they live out their lives: am i lovely? as the expression of the beauty of the image of God, women seek to redeem the beauty they were created with as the crown jewel of creation.
this is an interesting book and i know my fiancee agrees with much of its arguement. i will press on for now and keep you updated as i find out why so many of the thoughts that go through rhianon's head have never entered my own.

The Preacher

So the quote of George Whitfield about humility is interesting because, more than most people, he must have been tempted by pride. Before he had the white head he's sporting in this picture, he was preaching out in the fields. At age twenty-three, he preached to 23,000 people out in the fields in Bristol in England. The crowd was made up of the young and old, poor and rich, majestic and downtrodden. Most of those that came to listen to him on that occassion and on many others were not to be found in regular church attendance - most wouldn't step foot in a church building! But because Whitfield broke the social code and brought the unbound gospel to the fields, many heard. God must have humbled him many times to enable him to be so exalted as well.

How are we allowing the gospel to be bound in our day? With Whitfield, it was bound by the walls of a church building. Are we keeping the gospel and sharing it only with the social elite in our day? Are we binding it politically, by sharing it only in nations that welcome the freedom of religion? Are we keeping it bound in any other way? Let me know how you think we are still binding it.

More on AA soon to come...