A Study of the Heart

A Word Study
Heartless – Someone who lacks compassion
Have A Heart – Is what we urge those with no compassion to have
Heartaches – Are our deepest hurts
Broken Hearted – How we’d describe jilted lovers
Black Hearted – Are the truly evil
Heart of Gold – To describe a saint
Heart to Heart – When we need to speak at the most intimate level
Lighthearted – When on vacation or relaxing and having fun
A Hardened Heart – A person with this has lost the capacity to love

The Physical Heart
• The human heart beats more than 3.5 billion times in an average lifetime
• The heart is one of the most important components of the human body
• The human heart begins beating approximately 21 days after conception
• In adults the mass of the heart is 9-12 oz, or about three fourths the size
of a clenched fist
• An extremely diseased hearts can be up to 2 lbs in mass

Our physical heart and its role in sustaining our lives is something that the majority of us over look on a day to day basis. We practice a form of faith that keeps us from concern of whether or not our heart will make it to its next scheduled beat.

The Emotional Heart
Matt. 5:38-44, Mark 10:21, Eph 5:22-30
Sometimes loving our enemies is one of the hardest things our emotional hearts will face. It’s easy to tell others to do it but to practice it is often much more challenging. As humans revenge sometimes seems to be the first resolution we seek. Showing God’s love is nearly impossible when we are wronged.
It is a cake walk to show superficial love, but when it comes down to showing genuine love it can be much more difficult. Are we truly willing to give up everything for God? It is effortless to say that we would, yet in the back of our mind never expecting to actually be called upon to do so.
The love experienced between a man and a woman is something that most of us have gone through in one way or another whether it is physical or emotional. When a man takes a woman to be his wife the scripture commands them to love her even when it’s not easy. This is an example of us experiencing our emotional heart.

The Spiritual Heart
Proverbs 4:23, Matt 12:34-36
When our heart connects to God on a spiritual level it is a greater thing than only an emotional connection. i.e. someone could express a form of worship for God because of thoughts of his greatness has filled their emotional heart with excitement. On the other hand someone could be expressing a form of worship for God because he got a hold of their heart in a spiritual way that can form and change them in a remarkable way.
Our spiritual heart is a wellspring where our dreams, desires, worship, and meaningful sacrifice flow out. Our true and pure thoughts come out of our spiritual hearts, yet far too often we suppress these hopes and dreams for what we see as a lack of resources to implement them. This is a terrible waste and we must find a way to do and be what God has installed in our hearts since our conception.

Last Lecture

UPDATE: I posted the full lecture below. Thanks to Jeff for the link!

If you were going to die in a few weeks what advice would you leave the world with? Dr. Pausch is a 46-year-old computer science professor who has incurable pancreatic cancer. He only has a few weeks to live and this is his last lecture.

*Some language may be offensive to sensitive viewers*

a hunger for fashion

Lasik

My wife Christina just had Lasik eye surgery done today. I posted some pictures on flickr Click Here to view them. Below is a 13 minute video I took of the operation. It's long and kinda boring and the quality isn't the best because I shot it all through the operating room window. Even so it is crazy to watch if you've never seen it before. She seems to be recovering well and in good spirits, leave a comment or question for her and I'll pass it along and have her reply in couple days or so.

Moving

Hey we're getting ready to move and all the rooms of the house are slowly getting packed. These are pictures of some of the aftermath. For those of you who didn't know we are moving to good ol' Council Bluffs Iowa. The proud home of strip clubs and casinos, and a lot of other great stuff, but most importantly it's home to the church we call home. For those of you involved with The Gathering This means we only have two more Thursday nights left (4/12 & 4/19). After that we'll be taking a four week break while Christina and I get the new house in order. Please comment on how messy the rooms are and how badly I need to clean them.
-Thanks

Winter Retreat 2007

This a video I threw together of the youth worship service we had in Minnesota this past weekend. I had the great privilege of being asked to lead this year. I was joined by my good friend Scotty-G on the bass, my lovely wife Christina on the keyboard, Jeremy H. lugged along the PA and a special thanks to Neil for playing the drums so amazingly.

Seize the Day: The Downside of Heaven

Work and Worship
Ephesians 6:6-8, Psalms 122:1
Our day to day lives can tend to become monotonous. We work all day and some have the brain straining task of going to school as well as working. Very few people in this world seem to find a career that they enjoy, something to be excited for when you wake up in the morning. Instead we drag our feet hoping a grand opportunity will unexpectedly show it’s self. No matter how many times we hear “work as if it were unto God”, it doesn’t help.

We must also find the time to worship. Going to church or finding any alone time with God for that matter can some times feel like a chore. When worship becomes a chore we need to examine or lives. Are we burnt out because we have lost sight of what it means to truly worship with no inhabitation? Sometimes it may also be unconfessed sins we are unwilling to give up, so that we may become closer to God.

We are Desire
Proverbs 4:23-27
At birth God has instilled desire into each and every one of us. For some of us it is much harder to discover then others. We have hopes and dreams that should not be ignored. This is the reason why countless people are miserable with their lives. Our culture tends to suppress dreams in exchange for menial 9 to 5 jobs or strive only for success in wealth. What we overlook is success in fulfilling our God given desires. If we think to the longings we have that are so close to our heart that we’re shy to share them with others for fear of people mocking or degrading them, that is where we can find our true desires.

When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Christian
Romans 8:9-11
Does anyone remember saying that when they were a kid? More than likely none of us said that. Instead we would have said something like a fireman, police officer, doctor or maybe some said minister. With that being the case why do we so often treat Christianity as a job or an obligation? We drudgingly up hold the Christian faith in our day to day lives as if it’s our civil duty. We go to church and pray for our meals as if the moral structure of this society would not exist if it wasn’t for our sacrifice. It is much, much more than that. It is a privilege and a gift to be chosen by God and to have his Holy Spirit dwell inside of us.

For Heaven’s Sake
Genesis 1:28
Heaven and eternal life are the ultimate gift from God, but we must live our lives to there fullest potential. This life here on Earth is so much more than just going to work and going to church to pacify the time until our death or the rapture. If we don’t follow our dreams and desires and do the things that may seem out of place to others. Just think of all the lives we could impact outside the four walls of our work, home or church. If we can’t be trusted with what God has given us now, then how can we expect him to trust us after this world passes away?