Romans 5:1-51 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

We LAN’ed yesterday. It was brutal. We must LAN again.

Books but no pages

Giggles but no laughter

Grass but no fields

Killing but no death

Blooming but no flowers

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73:25,26

The room sleeps in darkness. My computer screen burns a window of light into the black where I sit, soaking in Andrew Peterson’s Love and Thunder through my heavy headphones. A single question burns through the rhythm of sound and rhyme of reason. What does it mean to desire only God?

“…Jesus, lead me through the night, Pillar of Fire…” Peterson weaves his tales, leading me through dry deserts and cold nights. Always onward, always upward. Something, maybe that Pillar of Fire, tells me this is right, this journey toward a home I’ve never seen, never heard, never touched. Something tells me that far off place is somehow more real and more enchanted than this place could ever dream to be.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 Faith is seeing God’s country as home. And faith is the only way to get there. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11:6. Faith is following Christ, who has blazed the trail home. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12:2.

“…just as I am, just as I was, just as I will be, He loves me, He does…” How do I quit stumbling through the trail? How do I follow Jesus to that Far Country without all these distractions I face? How do I desire only Jesus? How do I quit being selfish? How do I quit trying to impress people? How do I quit entertaining lust? How do I quit avoiding my dirty laundry? How do I quit being so darned lazy?

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” Psalm 119:9-11.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” Hebrews 4:14-16.

Silly String is the great uniter of our time. It breaks down all ethnic boundaries and unites us all in perfect harmony. Snickers does this too. Just with a guitar in hand. But seriously though, who doesn’t like silly string? It stands among the greatest inventions of all time: the wheel, the toilet, the light bulb, hot pockets, and finally silly string.

And what’s more, silly string can have direct effects on your overall mental, emotional, and physical health. Have you ever considered that using silly string may even save your very life? You’ve heard it said, “laughter is the best medicine.” Well, guess what silly string is made from? That’s right…no, that’s wrong, not compressed lima beans. It’s canned laughter, folks. Yeah. Uh huh. Laughter. In a pressurized tube module. Heck, this stuff is so versatile, the military’s been using it in combat situations. So next time you’ve got small pox, instead of calling doc brown, try some of that silly string.

Next Week: Crayons, the Modern Miracle Drug

Warning: In case of an actual medical emergency, do not take this advice.

I had this idea for a country song a few weeks ago. Now, bear in mind, I can’t sing. I can’t play guitar. Heck, I don’t even have a twang, so the idea of me coming up with a country song doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

What’s worse, I don’t like country music either, but there’s one thing I admire about songwriters of that genre. They have a knack for shedding new light on ordinary things. I love that. Give me a song about a grandfather’s old toolbox, I’m a lost man.

So I was hunched over the kitchen sink one morning, scrubbing down a pot or two. They were probably left over from dinner the night before. And this thought comes to my head, someone should write a love song about washing leftover dishes. I’ve heard plenty of rhapsodic declarations of unfailing devotion and inexpressible ecstasy, but not enough about simple, true love. Not enough about love that washes dishes with you long after the dinner party has faded into the night.

Okay, so maybe this doesn’t sound too romantic after all. Give me a break, it’s only my first country song.

After our photo stroll through the square, we went ahead and jammed this evening. Here’s a shot of Jonathan singing from my flickr.

Alone with a voice, originally uploaded by cptcrayon.

Went to a friend’s show last night. The venue lighting was terrible. As in, there was none, so only a few shots. Here’s a wallpaper made from one of those decent shots.

Check them out at myspace.com/arturatura.

No blog postage for a little while. I humbly apologize to the both of you.

Here’s some of that design stuff.

Just finishing up a couple flyer designs for my church’s youth ministry. The design process has gotten more enjoyable to me over the years. As I let creativity take its course, ideas spring up, which I then direct toward a finished product.

After I get a copy of the youth camp DVD that Eric has been working on, I’ll start on the cover art for that project as well. One of my favorite aspects of creating is allowing others to take part in the experience by both sharing the finished product and by collaborating with other creators.

What have you created today?