Luke

is such a great book. Finally inductive study is helping me understand one way of how to study the Bible. Mark was a great base biography to study about Jesus, considering it was the first actually written. Luke and if I remember correctly, the other gospels go through the some of the same points, but have a different focus even with them. The last chapters I read of luke last night was really cool. I felt like God was really talking to me about what his word was saying. I really like the Red Words. It really makes me remember who the speaker is, that He isn't like any other person who has had his words put on the page.
One of the main things we tried to understand in Mark study was the whole concept of the "Kingdom of God."
In Luke, Jesus says "for indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." This was in response to the question of the Pharasees asking when the Kingdom would come. If the kingdom of God is within us, well, it is already here, or being developed. This is one reason why I really like Sarah's idea of Soulshine...which emphasizes that God is a part of each and every person, each soul shines and is unique because of it. And if God is a part of every person, why should we not love/care for everyone?!?! That has helped me alot. And its been great to really look through that lens at life. You catch so many more beautiful things that you might have missed.
Jesus also compares his presence to lightning...in the fact that if he shows himself in one part of the world, it should be apparent to people in other parts of the world. So awesome. We've had alot of rain, not so much lightning..I could go for a good electrical storm.
Also there was a verse (Luke 18:14) that said "I tell you, this mad man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted." True enough. I can testify to that promise. Its much better to humble yourself, than be humbled. Trust me on that. If you don't believe me, I'll tell you all about it.
Again, I've decided that Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author in the world. Its a shame that right as I start to appreciate his work he goes out and dies. So it goes.
His newest book, Timequake is very interesting. As far as I can tell its a self-reflection/biography/sharing of thoughts about the world. But its written under the guise of being in a timequake, where he is forced to relive the last ten years of his life, knowing what will happen, knowing everything, but not being allowed to do anything about it. Just being able to watch.
My favorite line that just showed up in a random spot in the book (this is one reason I love Vonnegut) was this statement "They say the first thing to go when you're old is your legs or your eyesight. It isn't true. The first thing to go is parallel parking." I love it.
Another thing I love is that Vonnegut has woven into most of his books this character Kilgore Trout...which is a fictional science fiction writer. He is one character that seems to most accurately represent Vonnegut. Or Vonnegut uses him as the scapegoat. Vonnegut used to write short stories for a living (some of his best in Welcome to the Monkey House...a wonderfully great book), and he says the habit dies hard...so now Vonnegut says that "all I do with short story ideas now is to rough them out, credit them to Kilgore Trout and put them in a novel." Which is awesome. I love his short stories, not only are they entertaining, but they also serve a point. I recommend Vonnegut to anyone who doesn't mid swearing and a bit of crude humor. Just don't tell your parents I recommended him. =p
Thats what I've got to say today.


-RILEY