Common Saint

Larry Norman was responsible for the first Christian rock album. For years he was spurned by the mainstream christian music scene and record lablels. However he stood by his convictions and was eventually recognized for his unprecedented contribution to Christian music. His motives were conveyed in the title of one of his better known songs, "Why should the devil have all the good music?" I remember the first time I heard it. Larry went home to be with the Lord this week. I was listening to the radio and the announcer stated that the day before his death he told friends, "I feel like the prize in a box of Cracker Jacks and I sense the hand of God reaching down to pick me up." I thought that statement was so beautiful, especially coming from a man who experienced the "cold shoulder" for so many years from the mainstream Christian movement because he stood for his convictions and then battled ongoing physical illness toward the end. It made me stop and thin...

I have to say that I am so excited about this past weekend. I took a couple of days at the end of last week to hang out with the elders of the church in a mini-retreat to pray, study, relax, plan, etc. For me it was a very meaningful time and I really enjoyed experiencing how God moved and for the work that we accomplished over those two days. God is doing something that is nothing short of awesome in our local congregation and I am so excited to simply be a part of it! On Saturday, we worked all morning hanging a new projector at the church. I was sure that it would take only about 30 minutes, and I was dumb enough to make that prediction to Cherie in our conversation as I was leaving the house. Somewhere between the third and forth hour of the project I decided that I'm not going to make anymore assessments as to the time it will take to do projects in the future! Overall though, the thing that I am so happy about is the recent change that we have made in the meeting on Sundays ...

Dear... , This is really hard for me to say, but things have just not been working out between us lately. I have hit your links on numerous occasions but its just not the same between us. You seem so despondent, so distant. So after a lot of thinking...I have come to a very difficult decision. I feel it is time for us to unlink. It's not you, it's me....I just need more. I want you to know that I will never forget you. I will always cherish the memories that we made and really enjoyed our time together. The moments we had were special, but I think it is just time for us to move on. You are heading in other directions and I would only be holding you back. This doesn't have to be forever, and I still want us to be friends. It's just.....well.....I have met some people who enjoy the same things that I do. They have been posting since the first of the year and I think I really need to spend some time linking with them. I know this is hard, but if you search your heart...I k...

When I became a Christian I said, "Lord, now fill me in, Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin." And He said, "Well, Your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink, Do you still want to follow me?" I said, "Amen! – I think. I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen, I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again? You say, my body may be killed and left to rot and stink, Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen – I think. But, Lord look, there must be other ways to follow you,” I said, “I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed." "Well, yes," he said, "you could put up with sneers and scorn and spit, Do you still want to follow me?" And I said, "Amen! – a bit. A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen, I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again? You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit, Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say Amen! – a bit....

I always liked the Van Morrison song, "Into the mystic", but gotta admit, I don't understand what in the world it is about. Aside from that, when I hear the word "mystic" or more directly "mysticism", it conjures up in my brain images of beaded, peace sign tatooed, nature fetished hippie types, hugging trees for some undefined type of "spiritual experience". Pretty weird, huh? I really need to work on these stereotypes I have floating around in my head. As I have been reading more and more on the missional vs. emergent thing, this whole concept of "mysticism" keeps popping up. What I can't seem to get my brain around is if the term has been adulterated in practice within the emergent movement to be more reflective of my bad stereotype or is it really about making doctrine secondary to feelings? I am not making a statement, it is really the question I have, since there appears to be such disparity between the different congregati...

I have had several conversations lately about what it means to be missional. Michael Frost answers that question. Please take the time to watch this. I look forward to hearing your comments.

I think I know what Hank Williams Jr. was feeling when he wrote, "all my rowdy friends have just rowdied on down." (is "rowdied" really a verb?) Anywho, I'm just going through my links to see what all my blogging friends are writing about and guess what? Bosephus says, "I think I know what my father meant when he sang about a lost highway". I am really not a Hank Jr fan at all, but after looking at the pitiful sight of inactive blogs, I'm thinking about downloading a whole anthology of that depressing music and mourning the loss of my blogging friends. I hope you guys come back soon! :(