Jesse Sutherland v2.0 » Life

Living My Faith Transparently

Jesse — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:23:17 +0000

I was reading in Psalms this morning and came across Psalm 40:8-10,

I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD.

I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.

The Lord used it to get me thinking about living my faith more transparently. David didn’t hide his faith. He lived it out by speaking of God’s faithfulness and salvation.

Recently at work one of our clients from the Salvation Army stopped by to tell us a story about how a commercial that we had helped to create had been used by God to bring a man who had been addicted to drugs out of his sin and into repentance and Jesus’ grace. Wow! I couldn’t help but smile as she excitedly told myself and my coworkers this not really knowing or caring what any of us believed. Her faith was attractive.

For another example, I’ve been impressed with following Pastor Mark Driscoll on Twitter. I love the way he represents his life and faith through a mere 140 characters. He tells about how proud he is of his kids, how he’s encouraged in his faith, and motivates people to serve others.

That’s what I desire in my life. Living out my faith in real, bold, attractive manner. I know its not exactly a huge revelation or new information, but I feel like it’s what God is teaching me right now. Hopefully I’ll be able to follow others examples as I seek to model this in my life. Do you have any examples of people living their faith out transparently, please share!

Movies with a View

Jesse — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:15:27 +0000

Just saw Pixar’s new film “UP” this evening and enjoyed it immensely. Some of my favorite movies are those that help you zoom out and gain some perspective on your life. Movies like these help you to realize that the trivial stuff you worry about most of your day probably doesn’t matter anyway.

It was starkly saddening to see how quickly the main character went from a young boy, vibrant and excited, to a young man, in love with his wife, to a lonely old stodgy man.

I don’t think I appreciate the time I have with my wife the way that I should. I can’t believe its already been three years, I already wonder if I have really made the most of our time together? Why am I always waiting for the sun to shine, or when we have more money, or the “perfect moment”?

I’m thankful that God uses moments like these, stories like these, to capture our attention and remind us that He is Good, that he has blessed us exceedingly, and that we have a finite amount of time on this earth.

Lord, thank you for this reminder. Would you help me to live a life that reflects yours to the people around me, help me to appreciate my wife for the beautiful woman that she is.

::Sigh:: I Joined Twitter

Jesse — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:58:00 +0000

I know I said this would probably never happen, but the unthinkable has happened. I joined Twitter after the persistance of two friends. (cough, cough).

Truthfully, I’m not exactly sure what I’ll do with it, but I guess every once in awhile I’ll pop on and post some profound 140 character message. You’d better friend me quick if you don’t want to miss out on any of that profundity. In addition, I’ll get my Lifestream to update with it as well.

In other news, I’ve got two new web sites launching soon. Stay tuned.

Contentedness

Jesse — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:28:53 +0000

One of the things I have often noticed, and often been frustrated with, is my natural discontent in almost every situation. You may have noticed it yourself in your life, whatever you seem to be doing, you think it could be better somehow. Strange, but we’re discontented creatures, never quite happy with the situation we’re in.

I notice it especially when I’m traveling. When I’m away from home I wish I could just rest at home and enjoy some down-time. Then, when I finally get home, I get bored quickly and wish I was out doing something fun. How ridiculous is that? Shouldn’t I just be able to enjoy the situation I’m in and not always wish it were something else?

Yes… I should.

I was thinking about what Paul says in Philippians 4:12, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…”

Then I read Proverbs 19:23 the other day: ” The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

Finally, 1 Timothy 6:6 says “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

And I’m only quoting a few verses… Obviously, the Bible has a lot to say about being content. Oftentimes it relates to money and posessions, but I think the issue goes much deeper. We feel like we deserve more, like there’s always something better out there that we deserve. Why is that?

Truthfully, I don’t know how to solve this dilemma of the human condition, and I’m trying to learn from the verses above how to experience “godliness with contentment.” But its not always easy.

This weekend, I noticed a discontented attitude settling in, which was rediculous because I was up at a cabin with my family and friends enjoying the beautiful outdoors! So I worked hard to ask God to help me be content, and enjoy the situation that I was in, right there, right then. And you know what? He answered my prayer. It was an amazing weekend. Thanks Lord.

New Ideas

Jesse — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:25:43 +0000

Working in the advertising and design industry makes me try and think up new ideas all of the time. The creative process is challenging and oftentimes hard to come up with ideas that are unique and relevant to the audience.

I noticed something this weekend as I was playing a Scrabble-type game with my family. As I tried to form my individual letters into words I would try to come up with long words at the beginning of the game. (You know, like “antidisestablishmentarianism”, just kidding) but I found that I sat there trying to think of long, complex words to no avail. When I would finally give up on that and focus on getting 3-4 letter words that I could put together quickly, I had much more success getting rid of my letters. My Scrabble board would spiral in complexity and often I could form shorter words into longer ones.

I think this is a good example of things I’ve found to be true about coming up with good ideas:

Just get started. I find that I rarely think of anything decent when I wait until I have a “good idea”. Instead, just get started, brainstorm everything: Even the silly, impossible, already-been-done ideas. Put time into your decision process, but don’t wait for the “perfect idea” to get started creating.

Ideas start as simple, and become complex. I am never able to come up with good complex ideas right off the bat. No one sat down and thought “I’m going to design a car, here’s how the carburetor is going to work…” Start with a simple idea and complex systems will evolve from it. Don’t jump to the specifics quite so soon.

Just some thoughts for you today the next time you have to brainstorm some new idea. I’m sure I’m not the first to come up with these things, but I decided to just post instead of overthinking. (That was the point, wasn’t it?)

New MacBook Pro

Jesse — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:06:26 +0000

I normally don’t post too often about technology kinds of stuff, but since I mentioned it in an earlier post, Apple has finally released new laptops, and I’m stoked! Brand new design, sweet new trackpad, two graphics processors, what more could I ask for? It’s just so pretty.

I’ve been saving my pennies and dimes for a long time now and hope to get one of these suckers soon. Now the only question is whether I should with the way the economy is going…

Duty vs. Passion

Jesse — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:12:18 +0000

Jonny, Ross and I started a new book this week named “The Sacred Romance“ by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. I actually read it a long time ago, but don’t remember much. We’ll be reading a couple of chapters every two weeks and talking about them. Should be a good time. Our discussion last night centered around Duty vs. Passion. In the first chapter they say:

“Frustrated by our heart’s continuing sabatage of a dutiful Christian life, some of us silence the voice by locking our heart away in the attic, feeding it only the bread and water of duty and obligation until it is almost dead…”

Now, I think all of us would agree that living a life passionate for Christ is always going to be better than living a life only of Christian duty and obligation. No arguments there. But my question is whether there is a place for duty and obligation, and unfriendly as those words sound?

As much as I would like to wake up every day feeling refreshed, renewed, and passionate to live my life glorifying God, the truth is that I don’t. I often wake up foggy-headed, cranky, and worried about the day ahead of me. It is often only duty that gets me into the Word and praying.

Frequentyly I find that once I have taken the time to sit down, focus on God, and read His Word, then my life comes into clearer focus and I can live more passionately for God.

I think the intentions of the authors are good, we should be striving to live for God passionately, but I wonder if it is accurate to be telling people that their whole life should be lived as one blazing ball of passionate energy for God? Is that even possible? Could we wear ourselves out?

Obviously, we’re only one chapter into the book, so I cannot say what exactly the authors are envisioning. What do you guys think, is duty as important as passion in the Christian life? Leave a comment if you’ve got something to say.

Is the Anticipation Always Better?

Jesse — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:17:50 +0000

Today was a sad day, Ok, not really that sad… Not like seriously sad, just kinda a little sad! Over the last few weeks I’ve been anticipating two things. They may be dorky, but it’s true, I’ve been looking forward to them.

The first, is a new MacBook Pro from Apple. I’m in the market for an Apple laptop. As a designer, it’d be really nice to have a Mac at home. Since it’s been widely rumored that there may be new ones coming this fall, I’m waiting before buying. Today they announced all sorts of new things including new iPod Nano’s, new iPod Touch’s, new iTunes, but no new MacBooks. Oh well, I guess I still have a bit more to save anyway.

The second, is an upcoming content management system that a lot of web professionals are into called Expression Engine 2.0. The company producing it has been saying all along that it will be out the summer of 2008. Well, it’s just about Fall now, and they finally announced that it has been officially delayed. Sadness.

So there you have it. Geeky stuff, but it’s part of my job as a web designer. What can you do?

Sideline Christianity

Jesse — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:54:32 +0000

I know that I’m not supposed to feel this way, but I often feel like as a regular working man, I am a sideline Christian. Do you know what I mean? Pretty much my role is to sit on the bench most of the game, maybe fill some water cups or something. Pastors, missionaries, christian authors, professors, etc. are all doing the brunt work of the Kingdom, and I’m just the guy on the sidelines.

Now, like I said, I know that its not supposed to look like what I’m picturing here. Everyone has always told me that we need working men and women in their fields representing Christianity, to volunteer at local churches and organizations, and to support pastors and missionaries through their funding.

But let’s be realistic about time for a minute here. I spent 40-45 hours at work every week. During that time, I’m primarily thinking about my job. My goal there is to do my work, and to do it well. By the time I get home, eat some dinner, spend some time with my wife, and take care of my house a bit, there’s not a lot of extra time in the day to do the extra volunteering at the church, or spend long hours talking about Christianity with friends.

Contrast that with a pastor or a missionary, where they spend their work hours doing work for the kingdom. Think about what they can accomplish in a 40 hour work week! Their primary goals are to develop their relationship with God, and to share that with the people around them. (Though I’m sure there are many distractions that easily get in the way.)

I guess that just leaves me with a lot of questions… How can I not be a sideline Christian? What should my faith look like in the working world? Where is it most important that my time go?

I’d love to hear some thoughts from some of you. Do I have my ideas backwards? Have you had the same frustrations? Am I being clear? I’ll try to post again on this topic in the near future.

Spiritual Clarity

Jesse — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:21:09 +0000

One thing I have noticed in my Christian life is how rarely I see my life with the kind of clarity that I wish for, and how short of a time it lasts. I often find that I am reading a book, or listening to a sermon, or talking to a good friend during the evening and all of a sudden this big-picture, large scale view of my life, God, and the people around me comes into focus. It’s like realizing that you’ve forgotten to put on your glasses in the morning and you hadn’t noticed it up to this point.

I feel like this tonight after finishing Velvet Elvis, a book by Rob Bell. In his last chapter he paints a big-picture view of Christianity, and of the Gospel message. You know what? It’s really attractive! I want to be the kind of person that is humble, serves others earnestly, gives generously, lives vigorously, and deals with people honestly. I want to be real with people, stop being scared of what they think of me and just love them for who they are. Really the Gospel isn’t as much about telling people about Jesus, as it is showing his love to them. How much more attractive is that? If you could do that really well, people would be banging down your door asking about Jesus.

Yet my challenge is always remembering that clarity that I had the next morning, when all is foggy again and I stumble into my everyday routines. How can I change? How can I stop living selfishly and start living for others? What steps can I take in that direction? What is God calling me to?

If no one else, maybe I can inspire myself with this post tomorrow…