Explaining the Title

Here's where the title of the blog comes from:

The title "Borrowed Words" comes from the song "Mockingbird" by Derek Webb. As a disclaimer, I don't agree with some of the views expressed in Webb's recent work. But a few years ago, he was putting out very biblical, creative material (he's still extremely creative, just less biblical). I saw Webb in concert at The Master's College with my wife, and he explained his song, "Mockingbird." The song opens the album by the same name, and says, "I am like a mockingbird: I've got no new song to sing/I am like an amplifier: I just tell you what I've heard."

This idea embodies how I think about my blog, and was what I wanted the title to communicate. Basically, all of our ideas come as revelation. As human beings, we don't come up with anything that's really "original," we just think thoughts after God. He is the originator, and the source. We're like mockingbirds, never actually saying anything new. Whether our thoughts and ideas align with God's redemptive purposes and lead people to truth, or our ideas form in opposition to God, we are thinking and acting upon things that already have their form and existence in the person of God, Who "gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:25).

And in case you were wondering, I still consider myself a Derek Webb fan.