Pretty dead things
My daughter, Miranda, loves photography. Currently, she’s taking a photography class, so we often take her to different places around our area so that they can shoot photos. (If you’re interested, you can see some of her photos here. You’ll even find a picture of me.)
The thumbnail attached to this post is one of her pictures. It was taken in Nags Head, NC. I think it’s a beautiful picture. (You can see a larger version of the tree picture here.)
A few days ago, we went to a local “botanical garden” which turned out to be a couple of trails through the woods. While walking the trails, she took pictures of rocks, stumps, and fallen logs, among other things.
Again, many of those pictures are stunning. Currently, my laptop’s desktop background is a photo of a gnarled and twisted stump that she took. The stump has colored striations that are very pretty.
In fact, all of the things that I listed are very pretty: tree, stumps, rocks, fallen logs. But, they have something else in common, too. They’re all dead.
None of them are living. They are beautiful to look at. They have structure and substance. But, they are all dead.
Just something to think about… dead things can be attractive, but they’re still dead.
I’ve been interviewed again
Dan at “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine” has posted an audio interview that we did together in a post called “Alan Knox: Conversations w/ Friends.”
We primarily talked about blogging. He asked me about starting my blog and my writing schedule, etc.
My favorite part was talking about online relationships and connecting people together online.
Finally, we do talk a little about ecclesiology and missional living.
You’ll also learn a little more about the history of our relationship, and you get to hear my Southern accent.
“The head of the church should be paid more than others”
For regular readers, the title of his post probably sounds strange. You may have read “The head of the church should be paid more than others” and decided that good ol’ Alan had lost his marbles… or that someone had taken over his blog. Well, that’s not the case… I don’t think.
You see, more than half of the traffic from my blog comes from search engines. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a true thing nonetheless.) Occasionally, I check the search strings that people use to reach my blog.
Yep… you guessed it. Someone searched for “The head of the church should be paid more than others.” And, whoever searched for that string looked at a few pages on my blog. (By the way, if you’re reading this, and you found my blog using that search string, please email me at aknox@sebts.edu. I’d love to know what you were looking for.)
Now, guess what. I agree with that statement (the search string) 100%. If it were possible, I would agree with that statement more than 100%.
Of course, there is only one “head of the church,” and his name is Jesus, and he is the Christ (Messiah), and he is the Son of God, and he is living and present and empowering every one of his followers and every group of his followers.
And, he deserves to be paid more than any other. In fact, he desires all of the pay. Every penny.
So, let’s give it to him.
Q&A Session
This week, my friend Eric asked a very good question. I thought about it for a while, then answered it here on my blog. I enjoyed that process – question, time for thought, and answer.
So, I thought I would ask you – my readers – if there are any questions that you would like to ask me. Now, I’m primarily thinking about questions regarding my understanding of the church, but I might answer other questions as well.
Do you want to know what I think about “X” or what I believe about “Y” or how I would do “Z”? If so, leave your questions in the comments. I’ll try to write a post with a thoughtful answer.
If no one has any questions, then this will go down as the shortest Q&A session in history.
Quick to hear; slow to speak
As I’ve mentioned several times on this blog, I talk too much. I probably write too much here, and I know that I speak too much when I’m with other people.
Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying that I should write (here) or talk (when I’m with other people). Instead, I recognize in myself a tendency to speak too much. That is, I tend to speak when I should listen.
Last weekend, God helped me with this problem. With all the weather changes recently (temperatures dropping and rising), my sinuses began to complain. By Sunday morning, when we were meeting with the church, I could barely talk.
So, while the church was reading Scripture about prayer and discussing prayer, I primarily had to shut up and listen. This was a good thing for me, and I hope that I can learn how to listen more even when I can (physically) talk.
I did talk Sunday. But, I had to be very careful and strategic about what I said. While it was a struggle for me to be silent (because of my tendency to talk), I enjoyed listening very much.
Pray for Jason in South Africa
If you’ve been reading my blog for at least four months, then your probably remember my friend Jason. I did three video interviews with Jason back in November and December 2010. (Interview 1, Interview 2, and Interview 3)
In those interviews, Jason talked about traveling with South Africa for a year to work with orphans and to strengthen some churches there.
Well, Jason boarded a plane at RDU yesterday morning at 7:00. He flew to JFK in Washington DC, then on to South Africa. I just received word that Jason has landed safely in South Africa and is getting settled in.
When you think about it, please pray for Jason while he is in South Africa, and pray for his family who are still here in North Carolina.
I will try to post updates from Jason whenever I get them.
What surprises me…
Earlier today, I published a post called “Why are they surprised?” This post is actually a follow up to that post.
You see, not only were the people that I talked with surprised (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, please click the link above and read the previous post), but there were a couple of things that surprised me as well.
First, I’ve lived in this area for over eight years. I’ve lived in this same small town for almost five years. But, until last year, I had never heard of this food pantry. Until a few months ago, I did not know the extent of the work done through this food pantry. I did not know that 300+ families came to this church building every other week looking for help.
This surprises me. Another brother who was with me said the same thing. He had never heard of this food pantry until I told him about it a few weeks ago. We talked to the lady who organizes the food pantry. We’re trying to get the word out.
But, something else surprises me – although it is somewhat related to the first thing. With over 300 families coming by this church building every other week, why are there so few Christians involved? Now, like I said above, I’m sure that many Christians in this area are like me and my friend in that they have never heard of the food pantry.
But, the church that hosts the food pantry is one of the largest churches in the Raleigh area with thousands of members. Plus, many of the members of that church attend a local seminary which boasts over 2000 students (one of the largest seminaries in the country). So, again, where are all the Christians willing to give up a few hours every other week to serve those in their community who are in need?
In fact, the food pantry makes it easy for these Christians. The needy people are coming to them!
This surprises me, too.
My friends who are organizing the food pantry have helped me with the first “surprise.” I hope that my exhortations and the example of my family and friends help alleviate the second surprise.
Remembering the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
On January 28, 1986, I was a freshman engineering student at Georgia Tech. The space shuttle program was the hero of most engineers, and the explosion of the Challenger at 11:39 a.m. that morning took many of us by surprise.
Of course, just before the shuttle exploded, our hopes were not riding with the first teacher in space, but with the future of space travel. Books about possible trips to Mars or new inter-galaxy probes lined the bookstore shelves.
But, all of that changed when the shuttle disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, only 73 seconds into its flight. While seven crew members lost their lives that day, many, many engineers and engineering students lost their hopes and dreams.
In other words, that was a pivotal moment in our tech history.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we must watch for these kinds of moments. They may affect people on a national scale, like the Challenger explosion, or they may be more localized. But, we must be ready to offer people hope. I was not ready that day. My hopes were built more on technological and career advances than on Jesus Christ.
I thank God that 15 years later, when another disaster occurred that affected Americans on a national scale, I was ready and I was able to point people to the hope they can have in Jesus Christ.
Where were you when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986 at 11:39 a.m.?
Self Portrait
My daughter, Miranda, loves photography. For Christmas, she was given a very nice DSLR camera. Last week, she started taking photography classes from a local photographer.
Her first assignment is to take a self portrait. But, here’s the catch: she can’t be in the self portrait. So, she has to take a picture of something that represents her. She decided to put together several items that are important to her, and take a picture of that.
Her assignment started wheels turning in my head. What would I include in a self portrait of me? What items best represent who I am?
Well, this is really tough. There are items that I would want to include, like Scripture, and maybe a picture of my family and friends. Other items like books and computers are a big part of my life. Perhaps I could include some of my favorite foods: Thai, Ethiopian, Steak. I would want to include something that represents my concern for the least and lost of this world.
Then, I started thinking, I wonder if my family, my friends, and other people who live with me believe that they are important to me… Would they agree that they should be in a picture that best represents me?
I don’t know… food for thought, I guess.
But, what about you? If you had to take a self portrait that didn’t include you, what items would you include in the portrait that best represent who you are?
Danny’s coming to visit!
My friend Danny (his blog is here, even though he hasn’t blogged lately) is coming to visit us today!
You may remember that Danny and I went to Ethiopia together last July. Then, a few weeks after we returned from Ethiopia, Danny moved back to Virginia.
Well, Danny is in town this week, so he is spending this afternoon and evening with our family. We’ll spend Saturday afternoon hanging out at our house, then this evening we’re taking Danny to the Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in Raleigh.
I can’t wait to share with Danny what’s been going on in our lives, and hearing what God has been doing in his life in Virginia.