If I affirm that God holds everything together, then I’m free to establish a sustainable rhythm as I entrust everything and everyone to God. When I enter into God’s rest, I crawl into bed knowing the world lounges safely in his hands.
If you think the Bible is boring, lacking content, or just plain cannot keep your attention, perhaps you are not reading carefully enough. Alternatively, you may not have not stumbled upon the richness and depth of the book of Colossians yet. Allow the series documents provided below to serve as a catalyst for your continued exploration of Scripture. I trust that you will find a wealth of life-giving truth as you pour through this stellar Pauline letter to the church at Colossae.
Yes, the remainder of the fourth chapter is not completed. If you have your own contribution or insight to the conclusion, I want to see it.
If you have uncovered a particular portion of the text that jumps out at you, please share it in the comments.
Colossians Series Presentation Documents [pdf]
1. Colossians Intro / 1:1-2
2. Colossians 1:3-8
3. Colossians 1:9-14
4. Colossians 1:15-20
5. Colossians 1:21-23
6. Colossians 1:24 – 2:5
7. Colossians 2:6 – 2:15
8. Colossians 2:16-23
9. Colossians 3:1-4
10. Colossians 3:5-11
11. Colossians 3:12-17
12. Colossians 3:18 – 4:1
For deeper study in Colossians:
(Much content and analysis of this study is derived from the expertise of these works, in addition to my own graduate exegetical work at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
Colossians & Philemon: Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament – Murray J. Harris
Colossians, Philemon – Word Biblical Commentary – Peter T. O’Brien
The purpose of this recipe is to provide for twelve gluten-free, no added-sugar, no rice, no corn—almond, coconut, pumpkin, and coconut muffins. The resulting muffins are purposely not sweet and absent of grains. (If you prefer a sweeter version, you may add agave syrup or honey to the ingredients.)
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Equipment
Measuring cup
Tablespoon / Teaspoon
Mixing bowl
12 container muffin tray
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup organic pumpkin
1 cup almond flour
1 cup finely shredded organic coconut
1 finely diced apple
2 large eggs
4 T almond butter
3 T organic cocoa powder
1 T ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 T vanilla extract
1/2 T cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t baking soda
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3. Grease muffin pan with ghee.
4. Add mixed ingredients to the prepared muffin pan.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.
For as long as I can remember, I have always admired quality and precision in design and communication. The appreciation comes not only from a place of inner creativity but from the connection between logic and creativity—structure and order having as much importance as style and elegance.
Design is the first element which intrigued me as a child. Observing architecture, construction projects, invention, and graphic design captured my attention. Engineering projects and structural feats incited wonder. In later years, I saw the value in simple layout and two-color design for print and web to communicate ideas in visually powerful and compelling ways.
Not until my final years in high school, and to a much larger extent in college, rhetoric and communication formed my thought and ignited imagination. I willingly spend time drinking deep of propositional truth and inspirational ideas by means of effective communication through lecture, sermon, music, and video.
As human beings we consume the words of others with our ears and eyes (reading, watching film, listening to a speech). It is the work of our hands that write, draw, direct, form, and build—the projection of our voice to encourage, inform, persuade, and inspire. A clear work of the senses to create and communicate. And it all makes sense that we would imitate the creative power and the awe-inspiring wonder expressed by our creator-God who fashioned the world with his speech.
I write this from Chicago on a crisp autumn afternoon looking forward to attending the Story conference where myself and other like-minded individuals gather for the opportunity to gain inspiration and encouragement through the many ways to experience, appreciate, and share the greatest Story to ever live?
Greek Chicken (left) – courtesy of Joanie Davis
One may ask, “Where is day eleven?” Oh, day eleven has happened. Still eating Whole 30 style, but the deep desire for deep-dish Chicago-style pizza or a Culver’s Double Bacon Butterburger Deluxe wars against my greater virtues. I did not give into this craving, but I easily could have pulled over to grab a bite along any one of the miles of my fifty minute commute home after CrossFit.
A couple of times the thought crossed my mind that people are probably not that interested in what I am eating on a daily basis. At least, people do not want to browse a food log or see snapshots of a man’s lunch in their Instagram feed as the main content an individual produces. People are far more interested in stories, ideas, opinions, information, and inspiration. Also, the disciplines I enjoy go far beyond the realm of nutrition, despite its importance in a balanced, healthy life.
I want to produce a wide range of content, interesting to read, encompassing the full spectrum of life’s vital components–at least the passionate pursuits which God wired me to enjoy and share. I will continue the Whole Sixty commitment to eating real food, but will only report back my progress at milestones from this point forward. Let me know what details you want a report on as I move forward with clean eating.
Ten days of Paleo nutrition, and one-sixth through the Whole Sixty. For the last few days, I have felt a little run down, sometimes with a mild stomach ache. During most workouts, I have had little energy to push through the high intensity work, so I am increasing the volume of food I consume to support my activity. Thankfully, my brother showed me how to make a skillet (shown below), starting with grassfed ground beef, salt, pepper, chili powder, green pepper, red cabbage, avocado, and two eggs. This was a good, substantial meal after a strenuous workout, and it ended up settling my stomach. A decrease in coffee and heavy cream intake may be next, if stomach issues persist, but so far, I am keeping them included in my diet. Still going strong, but pizza sounds so good about now.
Most lame meal shots—ever.
Sunday morning began with leftover beef tenderloin, two pasture-raised eggs, and a small piece of salmon. At the beginning of the Bears game, just after a tough rowing workout, I put a whole bunch of greens and veggies (bok choy, baby kale, carrots, strawberries, blueberries, and a banana) in the VitaMix and drank that up. My brother brought grass-fed, nitrate-free sausage to eat, which must accompany a Bears game. Ate some macadamia nuts, a couple slices of nitrate-free chicken, and raw coconut water in the evening before heading to bed.
Who knew the day we would celebrate my mom and brother-in-law’s birthday would be the most complete in compliance with the Whole30 guidelines.
In the early afternoon, my sister-in-law and I did some damage at Mariano’s, picking up a solid assortment of vegetables and a monster beef tenderloin to accommodate the many family members we had at home for the evening. Delicious.
Day seven complete. One full week through. Finally had better energy in training, yesterday. (Of course, it lined up with my strengths.)
4 rounds for time:
500m row
20 kettlebell swings (24kg)
20 wall ball shots (20#)
(5:00 rest)Programmed by: CrossFit Fire
Next challenge—survive a week of clean eating with birthdays and family in town. Let’s go.
A visual recap of day six.
After training at CrossFit Fire, Hickory Pit BBQ in McHenry supplied my post-metcon protein emergency. Mmmm…pulled pork.
