Damien Walters

Sarah and I have been taking kickboxing lessons. Both of us like to be in shape and active and the more coordinated and acrobatic exercises seem to appeal to us both. Needless to say, this guy has both of us feeling inspired…

Ain’t It The Truth. . .

I was priveleged enough to hear this song TWICE today. Anybody who had a week as full as mine should jump right in and sing along.

Sneak Preview

James and Megan are singing in our wedding. Unfortunately we won’t be dancing behind them during the ceremony. . .

Two Quotations on Friendship

I am currently reading The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. In his chapter on friendship, Lewis makes two very good points on the nature of friendship:

That is why those pathetic people who simply “want friends” can never make any. The very conditions of having Friends is that we should want something else besides Friends. Where the truthful answer to the question Do you see the same truth? would be “I see nothing and I don’t care about the truth; I only want a Friend,” no friendship can arise – though Affection of course may. There would be nothing for the Friendship to be about; and Friendship must me about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm about dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travellers.

We can thus detect the pride of Friendship . . . in many circles of Friends. It would be rash to assume that our own is safe from its danger; for of course it is in our own that we should be slowest to recognize it. The danger of such pride is indeed almost inseparable from Friendly love. Friendship must exclude. From the innocent and necessary act of excluding to the spirit of exclusiveness is an easy step; and thence to the degrading pleasure of exclusiveness. If that is once admitted the downward slope will grow rapidly steeper.

Weekend with My Parents

I’m glad to be spending the weekend with my parents. This will be the last time I get to sit down with them before the wedding. I’ve lived away from them for two years now – and for the entire duration of my relationship with Sarah. I’m hoping to gain wisdom. I see in my parents’ marriage the things that I want in my own marriage. It is sad for me when I see friends date and marry who do not have an example at home of a Christ build relationship. Many of them have a hard time figuring things out, a lucky few do not. If you do have a good example at home, praise God for it. Praise God with tears and shouts of joy.

22 Days

Wow.

I love Sarah with all of my heart and could not be happier that I am marrying her. 22 days does not sound like a long time at all now that I think about it. For those who don’t know us or our story, visit http://www.samandsarah.info for the scoop. Also, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t point out that the site was designed and developed by yours truly. . .

Chasen – Crazy Beautiful

The only reason I post this is because the video was shot in two Greenville locations – Coffee Underground and the church where I will be getting married. The brick walls belong to Coffee Underground, but if you catch a glimpse of tall stained glass windows you’ll see some of the beautiful features of the historic Central Baptist Church on Pinckney Street in downtown Greenville.

Tiny Seeds of Truth . . . from Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter is a CRAZY right-winger – there’s no denying that. I can’t stand Rush Limbaugh, so Ann is usually somewhere beyond mars when it comes to people I enjoy listening to. But my bias aside, there are tiny seeds of truth in this article that she has written regarding the attacks on Miss California, Carrie Prejean:

Calvin

“There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence” – John Calvin

“Knowledge of the sciences is so much smoke apart from the heavenly science of Christ” – John Calvin

I cannot prove God with physical evidence. I would be disappointed if I could. To the atheist it would certainly be a paradox. The atheist requires proof, but God commands blind faith first. God has certainly proved Himself to me, but only after I followed blindly. There is no satisfying proof to be had, save the power of the Holy Spirit.

Step aside, man, and you will have the true power of Christ manifest in your soul. Insist on nothing. Christianity is either fake and of no importance or it is true and all-important. If it is fake you will soon realize it. The Holy Spirit cannot work if He does not exist. If it is real the matter will sort itself out. God is faithful in proving Himself to those he wishes to rescue.

Open-mindedness

Atheists generally make Christians upset. I understand that this is a broad statement, but for the most part we cringe when someone downplays our life’s focus (being the pursuit of a Holy God). One major problem is a lack of effort on our part to understand where the atheist is coming from. We are quick to throw the Bible or “faith” in their faces without realizing that these things mean absolutely nothing to them without evidence. Watch this video and try to understand where this athiest is coming from. He is not mean. He is not uneducated. He certainly is not condescending. My opinion is that he is tired of being attacked for not “having faith” – which sadly is understandable. We will win people like this when we get over ourselves and become humble enough to allow Christ (the only effective Witness) to work through us.