happy news

as of friday, casey and i are engaged!

praise God from whom all blessings flow,
praise Him, all creatures here below;
praise Him above, ye heavenly host,
praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! amen!

read this first:
"what should i do if my spouse does not keep himself or herself well?"

i understand we should present these types of things humbly and gently, but isn't it just... for lack of a better word, wimpy to have to frame requests like this or rebukes with "oh, well here's what's good about you, and here's what's wrong with me, and now i can tell you what's wrong with you." that doesn't seem to be the Biblical pattern, but rather from the false humility and "democracy" or "being like folks" (see "screwtape makes a toast" by c.s. lewis) that is promoted in the west, especially in the u.s.

jumbled thoughts

"why is [love your neighbor as yourself] a summary of all that God calls me to? oh, get this truth: because it's only when i love God above all else that i'll ever love my neighbor as myself. it's only when God is in the rightful place in my life that i will treat you with the love that i have received from Him. brothers and sisters, hear this: you don't fix language problems, you don't fix communication problems, you don't fix word problems horizontally; you fix them vertically!" ~paul tripp, war of words: getting to the heart for God's sake, at desiring God national conference '08

"love your neigbor as yourself" doesn't just mean love them as you love yourself. here's another way of looking at it: love your neighbor as if he is part of you. treat him as a part of yourself. this is especially poignant if they are a Christian, because then you are truly a part of the same Body, namely, of Christ.

acts 4:34 & acts 6:7, people giving up houses and lands for people, and priests becoming believers. first, becoming homeless so the homeless aren't anymore makes no sense, because then they do the same and it's cyclic. so i would assume this means they lived more communally, or at least more simply, in smaller houses, because they realized they didn't need their luxury stuff as much as those in need needed what they could give from the sale of their stuff, because people are worth more than stuff.
secondly, if the priests became believers, and a large portion of what the priests did was offer sacrifices, and Christ is the great and final Sacrifice as the Lamb of God, then wouldn't a lot of them be out of work? what does this say about how we should see our jobs compared to being true to Christ?

despicable...

...is what best describes the fact that this article is true.

God help us all.