light is the way

a visual commentary on life and Christ by brooks potteiger
The Louvre.

The Louvre.

OR coast.

OR coast.

The Divine Bait & Switch.  Psalm 37:4 ‘Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.’ On Saturday I had the wonderful privilege of watching the sunrise at the beach with some fellow believers. I was truly overcome with a sincere sense of awe and worship. It occurred to me that we are so inundated with His wondrous works that we often miss them for that very reason. Imagine if we could only view the sunrise once a decade; what an event it would be. We would surely see it for the glory that it is and respond appropriately with marvel and worship. Yet, because we get this divine spectacle daily we often wonder why God is hiding. It truly is a great paradox, but I am digressing greatly from the intention of this post. As the day progressed I had the chance to engage in some wonderful and honest conversations. I was talking to one guy in particular, and he was sharing with me a bit about his journey over the past couple of months. We were discussing the struggle between having our desires and wanting to serve God. He said something to the effect of ‘I know that if I seek first the Kingdom, the Lord will give me what I desire’. That’s when it hit me. We often miss the proverbial small print. The Bible absolutely teaches that if we delight ourselves in the LORD he will give us the desires of our hearts. However, what we forget is he also gives us new hearts! Oh what a glorious truth that he does not let our fleshly desires dictate our spiritual future! It’s as if our savior, knowing our chronic myopia and selfishness, proclaims ‘don’t worry little children, follow me and you’ll get what you want’ but then adds in a whisper to those with ears to hear, ‘but your desires will look much different after your heart transplant’. It is impossible to open the scriptures without seeing this play out time and time again; this idea of dying to ourselves and, in doing so, being far more satisfied than we could ever have imagined. This is how some biblical ruffians could go from arguing about who would be the greatest in heaven, to giving up their lives for the sake of the gospel. This is how out of the same mouth came such statements as ‘take up your cross’ and ‘blessed are the poor’ but also ‘my yoke is easy and my burden is light’. We need to come to the Lord with empty hands and humble hearts, realizing that the Creator knows the creature better than the creature knows even itself. The Lord will give you the desires of your heart, but as your heart aligns with His it may look much different than you ever could have imagined. We will learn what it means to live a life of service, which is a reliable indicator of a divine heart transplant. The Lord himself said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How brilliant was the God-man in teaching holy truths to depraved minds!  This idea, that of the divine bait and switch, has never been stated better than in the words of Saint Augustine who said so simply and beautifully, “Love God and do whatever you please”. This will tickle the ears of the immature believer, but as the father grows us we will see that the joke was on us, and we will be eternally grateful for it. Yes, we WILL get the the desires of our heart, BUT “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you…(Ezekiel 36:26)”.  (photo-Bethune Beach, saturday morning)

The Divine Bait & Switch.

 Psalm 37:4 ‘Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.’

On Saturday I had the wonderful privilege of watching the sunrise at the beach with some fellow believers. I was truly overcome with a sincere sense of awe and worship. It occurred to me that we are so inundated with His wondrous works that we often miss them for that very reason. Imagine if we could only view the sunrise once a decade; what an event it would be. We would surely see it for the glory that it is and respond appropriately with marvel and worship. Yet, because we get this divine spectacle daily we often wonder why God is hiding. It truly is a great paradox, but I am digressing greatly from the intention of this post.

As the day progressed I had the chance to engage in some wonderful and honest conversations. I was talking to one guy in particular, and he was sharing with me a bit about his journey over the past couple of months. We were discussing the struggle between having our desires and wanting to serve God. He said something to the effect of ‘I know that if I seek first the Kingdom, the Lord will give me what I desire’. That’s when it hit me. We often miss the proverbial small print. The Bible absolutely teaches that if we delight ourselves in the LORD he will give us the desires of our hearts. However, what we forget is he also gives us new hearts! Oh what a glorious truth that he does not let our fleshly desires dictate our spiritual future! It’s as if our savior, knowing our chronic myopia and selfishness, proclaims ‘don’t worry little children, follow me and you’ll get what you want’ but then adds in a whisper to those with ears to hear, ‘but your desires will look much different after your heart transplant’.

It is impossible to open the scriptures without seeing this play out time and time again; this idea of dying to ourselves and, in doing so, being far more satisfied than we could ever have imagined. This is how some biblical ruffians could go from arguing about who would be the greatest in heaven, to giving up their lives for the sake of the gospel. This is how out of the same mouth came such statements as ‘take up your cross’ and ‘blessed are the poor’ but also ‘my yoke is easy and my burden is light’. We need to come to the Lord with empty hands and humble hearts, realizing that the Creator knows the creature better than the creature knows even itself. The Lord will give you the desires of your heart, but as your heart aligns with His it may look much different than you ever could have imagined. We will learn what it means to live a life of service, which is a reliable indicator of a divine heart transplant. The Lord himself said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How brilliant was the God-man in teaching holy truths to depraved minds! 

This idea, that of the divine bait and switch, has never been stated better than in the words of Saint Augustine who said so simply and beautifully, “Love God and do whatever you please”. This will tickle the ears of the immature believer, but as the father grows us we will see that the joke was on us, and we will be eternally grateful for it. Yes, we WILL get the the desires of our heart, BUT “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you…(Ezekiel 36:26)”.

 (photo-Bethune Beach, saturday morning)

x - christ I recently heard an interesting statistic and it was something to this effect: more content is produced every 48 hours than the cumulative amount from the beginning of time to the year 2003. While this really is not all that surprising, the implications are undeniable. At every turn we have a million new intellectual mistresses vying for our attention if not our devotion (see, I’m doing it right now so tread carefully). We can find ten thousand ‘experts’ to substantiate any claim or idea we can dream up.  Now I am not concerned that we are in danger of losing  our faith at every step by some erroneous, yet cleverly written quip. If one is dissuaded from their faith in this manner, and with this expediency, I would contest that this wasn’t much in the way of faith to begin with, and it’s for his or her benefit to have this loose footing knocked from under them, so that they can either stay lying down or rise up on a firmer foundation. However, my concern IS that we are tempted to spend time in completely idle discussions without any practical implications. I am the chief of sinners in this regard. Lately, however, as I have been spending more time in the Word I have seen how immature and useless this is. There are so many amazing truths that are self-evident, and that all Christians can agree upon, that who has time for other things.  One such topic is the idea of the antichrist. This is something people will talk about, even fervently, as if they have any notion on what they are saying. People say ‘Do you think he is here now’ or ‘Will we know him when we see him’ or other such things. To be perfectly honest, I think you probably hear it most from Republicans whenever a member of the opposing party wins the presidency (cough, cough. No, being a Democratic president is not a antichrist prerequisite). Now my purpose here is not to debate pre-apocolyptic matters (as they largely fall into the category that I referenced in the preceding paragraph), but rather to look at the Word and see what it says that we can know and look for. Things that actually apply to our lives. This whole idea struck me as I was reading 1 John last night. Look at what the Word says starting at 1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour…I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son”.  Here John lays it out plain as day. Anything that denies the redemptive work of Jesus is the spirit of antichrist (it almost sounds ridiculous saying that because it is so self evident). Yet I believe those of us who profess Christ often do not understand the gravity of that. If we did, if we truly embraced our convictions and salvation,  would be far bolder. I am no exception. I do not know how things will look in 100 years, but  I do know the spirit of antichrist is alive and well today. I have seen it in my own life and ask the Lord to continue to root out undergrowth. I encourage you to take 15 minutes and give 1 John a reading today. It is a quiet little gem amongst the pillars of Paul, but I found it to be a very relevant and profound message. (photo-Cannon Beach, 2008)

x - christ

I recently heard an interesting statistic and it was something to this effect: more content is produced every 48 hours than the cumulative amount from the beginning of time to the year 2003. While this really is not all that surprising, the implications are undeniable. At every turn we have a million new intellectual mistresses vying for our attention if not our devotion (see, I’m doing it right now so tread carefully). We can find ten thousand ‘experts’ to substantiate any claim or idea we can dream up. 

Now I am not concerned that we are in danger of losing  our faith at every step by some erroneous, yet cleverly written quip. If one is dissuaded from their faith in this manner, and with this expediency, I would contest that this wasn’t much in the way of faith to begin with, and it’s for his or her benefit to have this loose footing knocked from under them, so that they can either stay lying down or rise up on a firmer foundation. However, my concern IS that we are tempted to spend time in completely idle discussions without any practical implications. I am the chief of sinners in this regard. Lately, however, as I have been spending more time in the Word I have seen how immature and useless this is. There are so many amazing truths that are self-evident, and that all Christians can agree upon, that who has time for other things. 

One such topic is the idea of the antichrist. This is something people will talk about, even fervently, as if they have any notion on what they are saying. People say ‘Do you think he is here now’ or ‘Will we know him when we see him’ or other such things. To be perfectly honest, I think you probably hear it most from Republicans whenever a member of the opposing party wins the presidency (cough, cough. No, being a Democratic president is not a antichrist prerequisite). Now my purpose here is not to debate pre-apocolyptic matters (as they largely fall into the category that I referenced in the preceding paragraph), but rather to look at the Word and see what it says that we can know and look for. Things that actually apply to our lives. This whole idea struck me as I was reading 1 John last night. Look at what the Word says starting at 1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour…I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son”. 

Here John lays it out plain as day. Anything that denies the redemptive work of Jesus is the spirit of antichrist (it almost sounds ridiculous saying that because it is so self evident). Yet I believe those of us who profess Christ often do not understand the gravity of that. If we did, if we truly embraced our convictions and salvation,  would be far bolder. I am no exception. I do not know how things will look in 100 years, but  I do know the spirit of antichrist is alive and well today. I have seen it in my own life and ask the Lord to continue to root out undergrowth. I encourage you to take 15 minutes and give 1 John a reading today. It is a quiet little gem amongst the pillars of Paul, but I found it to be a very relevant and profound message.

(photo-Cannon Beach, 2008)

dusk + goats.

As some of you know, I spent a month in Africa over January and the earlier part of February. Of that month, ten days were spent in Kenya. Of those ten days, three of them were spent in the bush. These images were taken on the evening of the second day. It was a quiet evening, one of those moments where the hushed atmosphere makes space for that hidden wonder. Where the foreign colors and endless landscape seem to make the world move in slow motion. I walked with my African friend Bonny and drank it in. This is a short series of some of the images I took while playing with the children that evening. I hope they convey even a fraction of the mood. If you are able to get outside of your world you will be changed. I promise.