I am currently writing my second book for NavPress called "Beginning With Brokenness" and I want YOUR story. If you are in your 20/30's, please take a few minutes to fill out my short survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GRSLJXV

If you need to change your first name for privacy, please use your middle name. I look forward to seeing your name in print! Thanks for helping out.

"A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray" (Proverbs 12:26).

Apparently, I didn't get that memo. Choose my friends s-l-o-w-l-y? No way! My heart is five-times the normal size. I've experienced just as much brokenness as I have Jesus' glory and healing power. Plus, I have too much to give!!!

Here I am in the midst of writing my second book on brokenness and it's lonely. All those thoughts of hurt floating around in my head. As I write it out it hurts less and less, but when I try and share those experiences with friends I keep getting hurt. Why do I stink at choosing my friends? I have many friends, and yet when I look around...

Honestly? The selfish part in me just wanted to write a three sentence blog with the verse from Luke 5:16 that says, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Then I'd follow it up with I'm lonely. I'm in a desert place? Who else has been there? The end.

Charles Cockerell designed the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to reflect the classical architecture of Rome. With massive Ionic columns, the building appears ready to withstand the fiercest tempest  ever to spin off the grey North Sea.

In truth, the columns do nothing but add a classical façade to a building that is held up by a standard architectural design of stone and mortar. If the storm of the century did arrive in Oxford, the columns would go first, revealing a very strong and plain reality just behind the Ionic (and ironic) Greek surface.

Churches have been talking a lot about brokenness lately. “Authentic” as a fad. It can seem so healthy, as we come to terms with our humanity and the terrible weight that drags us down. But it also is addictive, as a gathering of the broken becomes a weepy, high school pity party. “I’m so broken” can become “I’m not responsible.”

The Bible starts off with God creating the world, bringing Adam and Eve to life, giving them tasks and walking with them. However, in the biblical account this does not stay that way for very long. Eve deceived by the Serpent eats the fruit of the forbidden tree and Adam, knowing better, follows her lead. The result is what is historically called the Fall of humankind. There were several curses that came about due to the Fall. These curses demonstrate areas of brokenness in our world. The four areas of brokenness are:

1) Abundance: God called Adam and Eve to work the garden, through which they had abundant resources (Gen. 1:28) for their well-being. With the Fall, work has become difficult and these resources became scarce (Gen. 3:17).

2) Relationships: God created Eve as it was not good for people to live alone. We were created for fruitful relationships. With the Fall, these relationships became contentious (Gen. 3:16).