Blue Like Jazz
Hello everyone! I have read three chapters (4, 5, and 6) in Blue Like Jazz that we need to cover. So let's get started on that.
Chapter 4 is called Shifts: Find a Penny. In this chapter Miller talks about wanting to attend Reed College. Some people called Reed one of the most ungodly places on earth. He grew an interest in auditing a few classes there over time. One of his buddies decided to take some classes there and asked Miller to join him. And he did. He met a lot of people in his classes there. Some believed in God and some didn't. One girl he met there, her father was a Methodist pastor and most of her family believed in God. But she didn't. This girl really struggled in life and just couldn't find it in herself to believe in God. He talked about another girl who grew up not believing in God. That was until she went to a semester abroude program in France. There she met a fellow Reed student who did believe in God. They didn't know each other while in the US, but met and became good friends while they were in France. They talked about life and their struggles in life. But the girl who believed in God turned their conversations about Him. Eventually the girl who had grown up not believing in God turned her life to Him during this experience. All because a friend of hers shared her faith in Him and showed her God can help her in her struggles in this life. That is truly a commentary on how we should evangelize today.
In chapter 5 Miller talks about Faith and penguins. There isn't any one on earth (including myself) who can explain God. If any one could, God wouldn't be God. He is uncomprehendable and unexplainable. And the same is true with our faith in Him. We can do our own research in our Bibles about Him. We can find the sites mentioned in our Bibles on world maps. But there isn't any scientific evidence we can point to. Can't see Him, touch Him, taste Him. All the things that science says proves something is real can't be done with God. All of that to say there is a great deal of faith that goes along with believing in God. Near the end of the chapter Don talks about penguins and how they hatch their eggs. The momma penguins give the eggs to the papa penguins. And the momma penguins go off somewhere to get fish while the papa penguins all sit around in a circle with all of the eggs to keep them worm. But the momma penguins instinctively know when the eggs are going to hatch. After a while they start back home and always get back at the correct moment when the baby penguins are going to be born. Absolutely amazing! No one can explain how they just instinctively know when the eggs are going to hatch. They just know. Miller says it's the same way with us. Some times we just know that God is real.
And lastly is chapter 6 and this chapter talks about Redemption: The Sexy Carrots. Here Miller talks about an experience he had with two high school friends of his who got him to do some crazy stuff. That experience was a turning point in his life. It got him to be serious about God and about life in general. He talks about a little children's book he had written (included in this chapter with very funny animated characters). It was a bunny rabbit who was chasing the sexy carrot. The rabbit chased the rabbit across the US and even to the moon. Eventually the rabbit got the sexy carrot and ate it. The moral of the story is if you chase your dreams for long enough, you'll get it eventually. Of chourse, another moral is some of the things we want in life will kill us (the story ends with the sexy carrot killing the rabbit- so sad).
More on Blue Like Jazz later on next week.
Sorry I haven't talked about the AIM students in a long while. The AIM students in Lubbock know who their teams are now and where they will be going for their mission fields. So please be in prayer for them as they prepare for their mission fields with their teammates. Pray for those who are on their mission fields right now all round the world.
Be in prayer for my friends who are heading Moscow, Russia: Rob and Denyce Hindman and their two sons; Mike and Lucy McDougle and their son; and David and Olivia Nelson. These are all dear friends and they plan to leave this summer.
For all missionaries who are preaching the gospel all over the world.
And lastly that the Lord will raise up more workers for His harvest fields (Matthew 9).
Thanks and God bless!
Chapter 4 is called Shifts: Find a Penny. In this chapter Miller talks about wanting to attend Reed College. Some people called Reed one of the most ungodly places on earth. He grew an interest in auditing a few classes there over time. One of his buddies decided to take some classes there and asked Miller to join him. And he did. He met a lot of people in his classes there. Some believed in God and some didn't. One girl he met there, her father was a Methodist pastor and most of her family believed in God. But she didn't. This girl really struggled in life and just couldn't find it in herself to believe in God. He talked about another girl who grew up not believing in God. That was until she went to a semester abroude program in France. There she met a fellow Reed student who did believe in God. They didn't know each other while in the US, but met and became good friends while they were in France. They talked about life and their struggles in life. But the girl who believed in God turned their conversations about Him. Eventually the girl who had grown up not believing in God turned her life to Him during this experience. All because a friend of hers shared her faith in Him and showed her God can help her in her struggles in this life. That is truly a commentary on how we should evangelize today.
In chapter 5 Miller talks about Faith and penguins. There isn't any one on earth (including myself) who can explain God. If any one could, God wouldn't be God. He is uncomprehendable and unexplainable. And the same is true with our faith in Him. We can do our own research in our Bibles about Him. We can find the sites mentioned in our Bibles on world maps. But there isn't any scientific evidence we can point to. Can't see Him, touch Him, taste Him. All the things that science says proves something is real can't be done with God. All of that to say there is a great deal of faith that goes along with believing in God. Near the end of the chapter Don talks about penguins and how they hatch their eggs. The momma penguins give the eggs to the papa penguins. And the momma penguins go off somewhere to get fish while the papa penguins all sit around in a circle with all of the eggs to keep them worm. But the momma penguins instinctively know when the eggs are going to hatch. After a while they start back home and always get back at the correct moment when the baby penguins are going to be born. Absolutely amazing! No one can explain how they just instinctively know when the eggs are going to hatch. They just know. Miller says it's the same way with us. Some times we just know that God is real.
And lastly is chapter 6 and this chapter talks about Redemption: The Sexy Carrots. Here Miller talks about an experience he had with two high school friends of his who got him to do some crazy stuff. That experience was a turning point in his life. It got him to be serious about God and about life in general. He talks about a little children's book he had written (included in this chapter with very funny animated characters). It was a bunny rabbit who was chasing the sexy carrot. The rabbit chased the rabbit across the US and even to the moon. Eventually the rabbit got the sexy carrot and ate it. The moral of the story is if you chase your dreams for long enough, you'll get it eventually. Of chourse, another moral is some of the things we want in life will kill us (the story ends with the sexy carrot killing the rabbit- so sad).
More on Blue Like Jazz later on next week.
Sorry I haven't talked about the AIM students in a long while. The AIM students in Lubbock know who their teams are now and where they will be going for their mission fields. So please be in prayer for them as they prepare for their mission fields with their teammates. Pray for those who are on their mission fields right now all round the world.
Be in prayer for my friends who are heading Moscow, Russia: Rob and Denyce Hindman and their two sons; Mike and Lucy McDougle and their son; and David and Olivia Nelson. These are all dear friends and they plan to leave this summer.
For all missionaries who are preaching the gospel all over the world.
And lastly that the Lord will raise up more workers for His harvest fields (Matthew 9).
Thanks and God bless!
posted by Zack | 12:56 PM
2 Comments:
Just stumbled across your blog and noticed you're reading Blue Like Jazz...very good read. Changed me a couple of years ago when I chewed through it.
Grace & Peace.
I have never read the book blue like Jazz but it sounds interesting. Thanks for the comments and prayers.
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