Jesus...a hispanic man, in a black woman's body.

Our church hosted a Holy Week series of "Sacred Encounters" from Thursday to Sunday; in an attempt to "enter the story" as a community of Jesus. Each day was centered around the events of Jesus found in the gospels during His last few days. Through the use of re-imagined liturgy, we encountered and entered the story through: art, music both traditional and contemporary, video, spoken word, poetry, scripture readings, group recitation, hands on contemplative activities, crafts, food and singing.

We "encountered Jesus and each other...In the acts of foot washing, communion, candle procession, hammering nails, preparing a breakfast and eating together, serving and taking wine and bread, reciting creeds, mournful hymns, triumphant praise, deep prayer, personal prophecy and humble confession. It was a holy and sacred time...we truly encountered Jesus in profoundly old and new ways...together.

But one of the most powerful parts of the weekend for me was the presence of the unexpected guest.

The stranger.
Jesus showed up as a hispanic man, in a black woman's body....

At first I saw him sitting on the back pew, a small Hispanic man, obviously a homeless traveler. He was just quietly sitting there with a pleasant smile....just waiting, for something...someone.

It was the end of the evening's Good Friday Encounter and I saw him through the various people who were standing around. I pressed through the group and welcomed him, shook his hand and made sure to smile and make him feel wanted (something I learned from my father) You see, I am on a quest to find the hidden kingdom. I know God likes to play hide and seek. He comes unexpectedly, suddenly but oh so secretly...you can often pass by, ignore, forget, disdain or fear Him.

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." -Hebrews 13:2

I thought he was an angel...I've seen his kind before. They act so nonchalant, discreet, pass-by-able...but like butterflies...you can start to figure out what draws them; they love to be entertained...served, cared for...but, you just can't control them. They arrive when they want too...you never see them coming, you just discover them present and then they leave. He left that night, better clothed than he arrived...oh, and he left his socks in the bathroom. Angels wear socks, black ones in fact...I didn't know that?

Did you know Angles are hungry, talk to themselves and like two Pepsi's instead of one? I didn't either. I was sitting there eating a feast of asian food prepared by our refugee friends in our community resource center on Sunday afternoon. The place was packed with 95% carmel colored beauties and we were clear on the other side of the room, away from the door.

In comes big mama. Bags, coats, hats and a whole lot of black woman to love...you know, the kind that you hug their boobs way before they ever get their arms around you? There she stood, fanagling her way into a room full of people speaking another language. She was looking for someone...and then she found him.

We got each other's eyes. She smiled big and had that look of "Oh there he is"...she bumbled on over through, with the little people in her wake. She was completely unfazed, determined and on a mission.

"Can I eat something?" she asked.

"Of course, do you want to take it with you are sit down and eat with us?" we said.

She sat down across from us. After getting a Karen sized serving of everything, times two...she proceeded to eat, drink, talk to her invisible friends, pray and smile and then laugh unexpectedly.

The look on Sarah's face, our Ethiopian teenager friend, who was sitting next to her...was priceless. This angel was quite a heavenly manifestation.

She ate for awhile and then said she had to catch a bus....of course you do, I thought...all angels ride the bus...and off she went in a huff of mumbles, giggles and a plate with a roll on it.

As I sat here this morning...I remembered what I preached yesterday:

"Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight."-Lk 24:31

In a flash of revelation, I realized we were not visited by Angels...but the Lord.
"Come, you, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you invited me in: Naked, and you clothed me..."Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, and fed You? or thirsty, and gave you drink? When did we see you as a stranger and took You in? or naked, and clothed You?"And the King shall answer and say to them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Vanishing Jesus...sometimes He is right in front of you and you don't even realize it, until He is gone. Next time, I am going to grab Him and hug Him like I've always wished I could.

But....I imagine, I won't recognize Him again....but maybe I will, I hope so.

(cafe pic: Lena Koller and sketch by Ami)

Phase One: church garden project starts

The heavy machinery came in and leveled, uprooted and tore out all bushes, small tree stumps, cement and garbage...leaving a nice plot of ground to begin construction on the church garden. We need to beg, salvage and recycle a list of materials to build the fence and raised beds for the garden...the total cost is $1500 for all items needed to complete the project. If we can't find the items we need for free, we will purchase them if we have the money. If you want to pitch in please contact me with money donations or Daniel Dailey (dailey72@comcast.net) for material donations. This garden will provide our community resource center with fresh fruit and vegetables for our weekly dinner and for families in our neighborhood.
This is our water retrieval system that will help supplement watering of the garden with free water from the roof.

Maundy Thursday offerings....

Our betraying places...

Bitter cups, ever draining,
Prayerless saints, ever sleeping,
Clattering silver coins, ever echoing,
Weeping penitents, ever supplicating.

Holy hands and dirty feet,
The breast of the Divine, saints blissful sleep,
Dipping the cup, kissing the cheek,
Slicing the ear, rooster’s forming the meek.

Broken bread, poured out wine,
Singing voices, last whispered pleadings,
Priestly prayers and dead men’s guts, bleeding.

Penetrating glance...from all knowing face,
Risings and fallings from shunned grace;
Too many words, from us, have been spoken,
Yet, angels still visit...these betraying places,
Always healed...but ever broken.

-Eric Blauer (4.09.09)
Picture by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610)

Disneys reuse of templates....

Watch Disney Templates on CollegeHumor

I've noticed this watching the Jungle Book awhile back...I saw scenes that I could of sworn I had seen in some of the other movies...and sure enough...I have.

Doing mission for mission....

"Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’ Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests. -Matt 22:2-14

While I was having dinner tonight at our Tuesday night community dinner, my youngest son, Micah, asked me: "Dad, do you go on the street and just tell people to come in here and serve dinner?" He was looking at the serving counter and noticing that he didn't recognize or know anyone serving. The four women in the picture do not attend our church, I suppose some attend other churches, I know at least one does at our friends church in East Central, and one lady is an Iraqi refugee. They all have asked to come and volunteer on their own.

As I was reflecting on the evening I was struck by the missional nature of serving. Doing mission and inviting others to do mission can become the very act that reaches someone's heart; maybe even the one serving. I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't check to make sure the little boy who gave his two loaves and five fish was a good little Jewish boy. Sharing love, serving, caring, nurturing the life of the community we live within is a good work...one that we can join others in, even if they are not "one of our group".

I think..."The Kingdom of Heaven is like...a...feast." An open one, with a big table and in that feast you will find "good & bad". It's the King's role to determine who is wearing wedding garments, not mine. He is the one who separates people, not me. It's our role to invite the multitudes from the highways and the byways to the feast. It's our role to be inclusive and allow God to do His work with those who we find in and among. I work on preparing a scrumptious feast and work hard at being inclusive, invitational and proactive in going out and compelling them to come eat....God gets the work of determining who stays.

I like that....it makes the whole process more enjoyable, free of agenda, safe ground to just work together, love people, serve and let the Holy Spirit do His work through our embracing atmosphere and the conversations and actions that arise while we serve one another.

Tonight I had the privilege of encouraging some people, sharing truth with others who do not follow Jesus. I made a friend with someone from another faith, I shared food with some neighbors who didn't come to the dinner, saw someone else take food to a the barber, and I met a new neighbor and gave her dinner and an invitation to join us next week.

I did most of this with my youngest son, joining me and watching me and I know that he is learning how to live missionally.

That is good mission.

Desert Song...

“It is the purpose of the writer to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it.” -G.K. Chesterton

What a beautiful testimony, its amazing to see how a soul can weave an offering of worship out of a personal tragedy of this kind.

For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness -Psalms 18:28

(Props to Mel for the heads up on this song)

Masticating Marley & Me....

LeeElla, Micah, Austin and cousin Braydon and I watched Marley & Me the other night and I really enjoyed it; even though it was a modern Old Yeller in the emotional sense. The previews played it off more like a comedy, cute dog flick...but I felt it was much more than that. Dog ownership is perfectly portrayed in this film, the good, the bad and the ugly. Marriage, raising little ones and the complexities of navigating the mid life spinning compass, is nailed as well.

Now it might be that Im a dog owner/lover, have 4 kids (none nicknamed: "Whoops") and Im almost 40; but I thought there were some deep issues being outworked in this movie. Even though some of the subject matter was for more mature audiences (marital fights, miscarriage, sorrow etc) I felt it was good for my young ones to watch, feel and think about the situations presented in the movies. I will have my older ones watch it too, especially to demystify the romanticism that is often associated with relationships and marriage in most movies.

During the movie it evoked a number of questions from the kids: "Did you ever have a miscarriage? Why did the baby die? Do dogs go to heaven? Are babies really that hard? Good stuff. Of course I held Micah in my arms during the last quarter of the movie when the real drama hits, lots of tears...but I think, tears are good. Feeling sorrow is part of life, death and loss are sufferings that we all will face. Pretending that all stories have happy endings is not being honest about the world we live within. But there is nothing better than experiencing those moments together...and even films can help us prepare for the cups we will have to drink.

Becoming all flame....

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, 'Abba as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?' then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, 'If you will, you can become all flame.' -from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers

I was in the singing part of our worship yesterday morning at Jacob's Well; and during the song "Inside Out" I thought I read the line that says: "Your glory goes before all fame....as "Your glory goes before ALL FLAME". I seriously could of sworn that I saw "ALL FLAME" istead of ALL FAME, so when I got up to speak, I was going to share the above quote...but as I read the lyric back again on the screen...it didnt say ALL FLAME...it said "All FAME"...I stood there feeling a bit dumb.

Then during the evening service while we were singing it again, I was thinking about the above quote and I was looking at my hands and thinking about the fact that we have 10 fingers. I thought about the evenness of two plus two and how it adds up to 10 on our hands when both hands are together but how the fingers are added up to an odd number when each hand is by itself. I know, strange thoughts but thats me. I ruminated on the "Why-ness" of that configuration.

This morning I was reading Eugene Peterson's book "Working the Angles" and I came upon this portion:

"The five book arrangement of the Psalms is, then, strategic: for every word that God speaks TO us there must be an answering word FROM us. No word of God can go unanswered. The word of God is not complete simply by being uttered; it must be answered. For the FIVE books of God's creative/saving word (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) to us there are FIVE books of our believing/obeying (The prophets, Job, Wisdom books, Psalms, Song of songs) word to God. Five is matched by five, like the fingers of two clasped hands."

I put the book down and pondered in a fairly amazed moment of Spirit connected serendipity.



Today, with hands upraised, I pray:

"Consume me from the inside out...and let the light and glory of Jesus, shine and transform me into,
...all flame...for Your fame Oh, God.

The Dangers of Fundamentalism...

John Dominic Crossan has nailed the crux of the nasty fangs and bite that I find in the mouths of many Christians that can't seem to engage ideas, history, doctrine, experience or teachers...without turning the conversations into trials or witch hunts. Now Im wary about John's views on other subjects and I think this line of thought taken too far can undermine foundational core issues or doctrines...but the attitude or spirit he addresses is killing the pursuit of the educated mind, especially within churches. It's the same power at work in the life of Paul that had him standing there holding the coats of those who were bludgeoning Stephen to death, with rocks. When religion starts picking up stones, erecting gallows, gathering wood and blogging decrees...evil days are brewing.

"But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." -Paul (Galatians 5:15) Spoken by a man who knew where that kind of zealousness can lead.

Now here is a video where all the dialogue is text taken directly from online Christian fundamentalist forums. WARNING it contains some offensive language.As brutal, raw and offensive as that is...its a painful wake up call to the dialogue taking place within some streams of Churchianity. Some might be shocked by hearing such things...others...not really. It's an ugly conversation going on and unfortunately more words are being uttered than should be spoken and less spiritual lives are living out convincing arguments.

God help us....

Inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity...

"A sophistical rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity, and gifted with an egotistical imagination that can at all times command an interminable and inconsistent series of arguments to malign an opponent and to glorify himself." -Benjamin Disreali's wonderful description of rival William Gladstone.

Blogs can become the very egotistical idols that the above quote perfectly exposes. The very thought that anyone would want to or need to, hear anything from us; is on a certain level, born of pride or insecurity.

One wonders, if he doesn't bark...who will ever feed him?

That is very revealing and it exposes the deep brokenness or dysfunction at play within the tortured blogging soul. I am sure bloggers represent the cream of the crop of undernurtured babies who got bottles instead of boobies....and we are still craving the soothing cradle of mommie's-baby talk...ie. the comment section of blogs.

In fact, the very act of preaching, teaching, writing, poetry, the arts, acting on and on...at some levels exposes us needy artistic cats, who are always careening at cultures heals, for a pet and a stroke.

It's all so painfully psychosomatic....and yet, God, truth, community, revelation, comfort, escape, healing, awakening, conviction, transformation, life, death and a host of other seeds of experience get sown.

In the end...its all so very conflicted...but blood covers it all.

In that, I have to rest.

(Props to my father in law for always using part of the above quote, which is where I first heard of it)

Your "heading" in the wrong direction...

"Training: employing appropriate actions within our power by which we become capable of doing things currently beyond our power and by which we become people we are currently incapable of being."
-Brian Mclaren "Finding our Way Again"

I think most people live in the stalled out point between Decision + _____________ = Accomplishment or realization. Practice or training is the long boring middle that is made up of countless unseen choices, actions and plodding persistence. It's what separates those who have taken a dream and given it a vision and put that vision (plan) into action and then stay the course until completed.

The turtle gets the prize.

Potential is a virgin and a hag...she turns from one to the other, the older she becomes...if not married and loved.Can you "see" both within the one?

Too many folks let their potential go from something people see as a horizon of opportunity...into a epithet of wasted years.

Often the real spark for metamorphosis lies in the very head of the person wrestling with potentiality. They need a new mind that breeds a new attitude and is outworked in practical practices within a community of people striving towards the same goals.

Excuses are curses from conflicted and lazy souls...which we all fight with. The question for each of us is "what will be the needed catalyst for change?"

(Painting by Stephen Rue)

nuff said...

"The best criticism of the bad...is the practice of the better." - Richard Rohr

Refugee Women's Health Class

This is a picture from a recent Women's health Class hosted at our Community Resource Center and led by Karen Morrison of Odyssey World International.These types of neighborhood and city partnerships are continuing to develop as we seek out what is best for the Refugees not just certain ministries or churches. It's a slow work but a very rich and rewarding one. This event was led by Karen and a local nurse and hosted by Whitworth University students and Jacob's Well volunteers and translated by Karen volunteers....now thats working together!

What I'm pondering...?

Christology leads to Ecclessiology leads to Missiology?

OR

Christology leads to Missiology leads to Ecclesiology?

Free Music from Church of the Beloved

Church of the Beloved is a community of faith on the west-side of our state and they produced this album and giving it away for free. It's a very diverse cd, each song has moments that change and reflect a diversity of sounds. It's worth a listen, but one should do it while its quiet and contemplative to draw the sweetest nectar. Enjoy, I pray you will find some holy moments through it.

"We must first receive God's welcome, the costly inclusion that constantly comes to us in so many surprising and mundane ways, before we can, in turn, offer welcome to strangers and friends, called by God to the work of creating a place of radical hospitality." -from the Beloved's Vow at Church of the Beloved

3 movies on my got to see list...

Away We Go


500 Days of Summer


Taking WoodStock

Who are the sons of God...?

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" -Jesus (Matthew 5:9) (via)

The Unknown, known Christ...

"While Jesus was praying, the appearance of His face became different and His clothing became white and gleaming...While Peter was saying things he didn't understand...a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud...and a voice came out of the cloud and said this is my My Son, My chosen One, listen to Him!...and when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone and they kept silent and reported to no one in those days, any of the things which they had seen. " -Luke 9:28-36

Sometimes the God that never changes...changes His appearance, right in front of us...and it's usually in the midst of a prayerful life. It's often with others and involves many arduous paths up to private places of solitude.

When the Lord unveils Himself in these life altering and profoundly transforming ways; the results are the same...it opens your eyes and shuts your mouth. Clouds form before...His form is only seen.

God descends onto mountain tops still...He calls us to journey up together, then isolates us in the moment of sight blinding revelation...falling tongues of fire always seem to divide and separate onto individual minds...and yet ultimately unify...all in a rush of mysterious God storms.

When God unveils Himself...there is always a Voice.

Sometimes it's languages that you understand...but the speakers don't...sometimes it's mysteries that envelope you and hold you in a creative, sustaining visitation of communication...your sprit prays...but your mind is clueless. In the beginning is always the Word....but the Word doesn't always come in the tongues of men...often its angelic. Shouldn't the restoration of earth...include the languages of earth and heaven?

Jesus still comes in parables...the upper room was filled with parable tongues...Mary thought he was the gardener at the empty tomb...Paul was blinded by His coming and could only ask: "Who are You?"...The disciples stood on the shore as risen Jesus cooked breakfast and whispered to one another about not asking if it was Jesus...the two traveling conversationalists hiking back to Emmaus talked to walking Jesus for miles and not until He broke bread, did they see Him...but then He vanished.

John saw Him as a lamb covered in all seeing eyes, as a bloody and slain sacrifice, star holding tattooed one, slaying the earth with poetic words that kill before they ever bring to life; He who all of the eternal bards compose songs for and the One who is a baby flying in the air amdist women with wings and dragons that drink the waters of the earth.

He is still Mystery to me....and in His darkness...I am seeing more and more light.

The emotions and the experience,
the gratitude or the terror,
associated with transformation
are very different from
what transformation actually is.
-Robert Kegan

(Excerpts from yesterdays Sunday messages)

What did they do before tv...?

Jim Gaffigan - Lazy - King Baby Premieres March 29th!!

Wishing I could of said...yes.

I was walking down the street of an upper-class area on the hill, lots of manicured yards, expensive cars, recessed houses with a moat of grass. Today, as most days, there was hardly anyone outside, surely they must be tucked away inside their beautiful homes; like nervous hermit crabs.

But today there was a little girl out in front of her home. I was approaching her driveway and instead of running off like a skittish deer, she approached me with a big smile and an arm full of barbies. I glanced around to see if her parents were present or about to come out, but she was alone. I kept walking, but slowed.

"Going for a walk?" she said with almost a giggle, her big eyes sparkling with memories of previous jaunts around the neighborhood, I'm sure.

"Yah, I am" I replied with a smile.

"You want to come to my house?" She innocently said, like I was 5 or something.

"No, I'm just going to walk...bye bye..." I replied, slightly remorseful.

I was bummed, because the first thoughts I had, were how all this interaction would appear to a concerned adult...even though it was brief and I had been walking past. I really did want to stop, talk and and see whatever she felt was worth showing to a complete stranger.

But this is a darker world than the light in her eyes and smile would allow...

I kept walking, thinking about how in all my walks, there's never been a strangers invitation to share a piece of their world. No request to show off a yard, a garden, a toy...nothing. No interest in sharing all the 'stuff' they have accumulated and nobody seems to interested in sharing themselves.

The loss of innocence is a tragic part of growing old...I think Jesus mourned the same loss, when He said that kingdom entering people will be those who return to such innocence.

I long for the day when saying "Yes" to a child's request to play, will no longer even be a question...

Come, Lord, Jesus.

Signs of life...

As I was ascending my arduous climb up to the Ben Burr Trail, I was stopped dead in my tracks by this little fellow. After such a long and hard winter and a dreary few weeks, this little face was almost exciting. Quite joyful, peeking out of the earth, with his arms all open, as if praising God....or at least thats what I felt like, while looking down on his little resurrection. I felt like brother Frank, climbing around the rocks, slightly caught up in the warming of life starting to make itself known.

It reminds me of the prayer of St. Frank:

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister, Mother Earth who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs."
-Selection from the prayer/poem Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon of St. Francis of Assisi (The real father of the green movement)

I was equally thrilled to see that someone has been picking up garbage this week on the trail...I bless you, whoever you are! And across from the condom wrapper, buried condom and beer cans, that have been removed...was this little piece of art. Offered as a testimony of care, I am sure....or at least that's how I took it. Such acts matter...and when we do them, we might only think of the moment, but the ripple of that leads to many more places and actions than we ever will know, until we meet the Lord who will reveal to us the mosaic of connections our thoughts, prayers and actions accomplished or sparked.

Praise be to God for simple things...and simple people.

Where The Wild Things Are...movie.

This movie looks like its going to be awesome.

The evil beginnings of CCM...

Oh how I want this album...

Bible & Prophecy Cartographer Extraordinaire..

All the charts you will ever need to diagram, explain and let others know you have everything figured out...well, I'm not quite sure about the accuracy of everything portrayed or the theology behind it...but dang this dude could draw..these are way better than my D&D dungeons on graph paper.

Shaving accident....

Christian, my 16 year old son had a shaving mishap. He tried to clear the razor of whiskers with the tender soft flesh of his thumb...not, a good idea. I heard him downstairs with his mother, I came out of the bedroom and looked in the bathroom, because the door was open and the shower was running but nobody was in it...there was blood on the floor, the sink and in the tub. I was slightly alarmed until I got wind of how he managed to cut him self shaving...on his thumb.

The Pornification of our world...

I was taking my daily hike along the Ben Burr trail yesterday and as usual its a tip toe over and past the used condoms, beer cans, blankets and bathrobes, panties and today...a Hustler porn magazine.

It wasn't on the trail yesterday..but there it was, face down along the side of the trail. The day before I buried a condom that was right next to the trail...and then I found myself burying porn along the trail. It's careless displaying of pornography that got me into it as a kid and its was this kind of irresponsible behavior that would snare some curious kid meandering along the trail. I found myself disgusted, pissed off and mournful all at the same time. As I buried it, I was aware that it was the first time I've touched a porn mag since coming to Christ at 15.

It was surreal and vile...I was wishing for a sink to wash my hands and at the same time painfully and darkly reminiscent of the bondage I was in when I was saved. On the wall, in the room I surrendered my heart to Jesus, I had a cross made out of playboy centerfold's. I truly worshipped the flesh. It was a god to me...a slavish, demanding, foot to back of the neck, chain tightening, soul searing, woman dehumanizing...idol.

I was graced with deliverance and trained with ongoing wisdom in my unfolding walk with Christ. In Jesus, I found a strong and able exorcist for my inner cage of demons. I didn't lose the temptations, the lusts or the love of women...but the chain was broken, the captive was allowed to walk free, if I wanted too...and I did.

Porn is a big business and its claws grip both sexes...as a pastor, this reality has painfully been true.

"Every 39 seconds a new pornographic video is being made. There are 1.5 billion pornographic Internet downloads a month. Between the years 2005 and 2006 the pornography business increased by an almost a billion dollars. Men are viewed as having this addiction, but women are affected as well. 40 million adults in the United States regularly visit pornography sites. Of those 40 million only 10% (four million adults) admitted to having a sexual addiction to pornography. Of the four million adults who admitted to having a sexual addiction problem, 680,000 are women. 17% of the 680,000 women say they struggle with pornography addiction. This is the same number of women who are addicted to alcohol or drugs."

For many people porn is a drug...one that demands and derails, destroys and dements. It's both lover and abuser...it offers the world for free but takes the soul for payment.

It's a deceptive form of inner lithium.


As I reflected on burying the porn...I prayerfully remembered the Law's admonishment to bury our shit (Deuteronomy 23:13) as I walked home, past the condoms, the porn, the waste, the dog crap and the garbage...I found great wisdom in that verse. I also found a deep desire to see the Lord bury such sins in the depths of the sea.

"He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea." -Micah 7:19

If you are a sex slave...call out to Jesus. He can and will deliver you, exercise your inner demons and wash you whiter than snow and then put you on a path towards healing, restoration and purity of heart.

Here are some folks that spend a lot of time and resources on helping people find freedom and balance in their inner lives.
http://xxxchurch.com/ and here is a online program to help you begin the journey out of darkness and into the light: http://x3pure.com/

God speed.

Spokane Gentleman's Society Breakfast...

We had 18 brutha's out this morning to our SGS breakfast at Marie Calendars. There were 5 churches represented and a whole lot of man talk: Cow Mastaitis, bathroom talkers, Asian communal toilets, unintentional gay bar ministry, Pastor Peacocks, leotard bathroom controversies, theological tensions and generous orthodoxy, cults and praying naked, prayer, bad hollandaise sauce, God-Guns and Gi....and that was just our side of the table...

Last nights Community Dinner...

We served around 80 dinners last night and about 20 of those were to neighborhood visitors. Fo some reason we had a lot of people come to dinner last night that had never come before or ever been to the church. It was cool to see people utilizing our clothing area, eating food, meeting one another and even checking out the church meeting area. It's was a madhouse of activity, the kind you pray to see unfolding. I kept looking at the food to see if we were out...because the prep people had seemed to make a little under what we normally might serve, so I was a tad nervous. We are trying to do these dinners via donations, sharing and little cash if possible, so what comes in, is what we try to utilize, sometimes its more or less. In fact, I didn't eat anything, hoping that it would stretch for all. I heard someone pray over it and joke that God would have to multiply it....I really think he did. I kept going up to the counter to see if we were out...and there was always just a little more there. By the end of the evening...we had one plate left for neighborhood delivery, which the rain persuaded me to can. Not sure if that was a food miracle...but it was weird...

Homeschool Family...

Come on, don't get cranky, you know its true...or at least kinda true...sometimes...oh, and we have home-schooled too. I still think its funny.

Twitterianity

Yes, many have converted and the flock is growing, but in the midst of the world shaking, nation taking dominance of the Twitterdome...please heed the wise words offered in this video...if you do not know what Twitter is...it will inform you.

Condom Catalysts...

Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are
Princesses who are only waiting to see us act,
Just once, with beauty or courage.
Perhaps everything that frightens us is,
In its deepest essence, something
Helpless that wants our love.
-Rilke

This is a picture from the Ben Burr Trail where I exercise. Today as I was going along the far end of the trail which is about a half mile from our block, I noticed how clean the trail was. I came up to the trail from Liberty Park, and that part was a mess, with garbage strewn all over from the long winter. But as I got on the trail, I noticed all the litter had been removed. The trail was clean, greening and looked natural. I was enjoying the labor of someone else for sure. But as I approached the half way mark, the covered bridge, I wondered what the other half of the trail would be like. A major road sepperates both sides of East Central and one side is often different than the other.

Sure enough, soon as I came out of the covered bridge onto my side of the neighborhood...the garbage was there. In fact, there was a number of beer cans littered across the trail, a garbage bag and of course...a used condom and wrapper.

I was disgusted, but not surprised, its a common site around here. In fact I saw another one by the time I had exited the park. People get it on in 'dem thar woods. In fact I found a condom in the wrapper in my drive way the other morning too...got to love it.

I found myself a bit frustrated as I covered the condom with a big rock...what do people think when they are just strewing such a beautiful place with such crap? Below is the beautiful part of the trail...as it should be and how our end should also be with care and consideration. So in response to this little experience and series of observations, I am going to organize a UnderHill Park & Ben Burr Trail Clean Up Day in the coming weeks.
This will accomplish two things:
1. Expose people to the wonderful Park & Trail and hopefully encourage people to include it in their recreation and...
2. Help maintain a sense of pride and responsability in caring for our neighborhood and the treasures such trails are.

Amazing what a condom can do...

Simply amazing...

Thanks Jim for the heads up.

Holding hands....

You were pretty as a picture
It was all there to see
Then your face caught up with your psychology
With a mouth full of teeth
You ate all your friends
And you broke every heart thinking every heart mends

You speak of signs and wonders
But I need something other
I would believe if I was able
But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table
-U2, lyrics from the song: Crumbs from your Table

I've been thinking about a simple gesture that is often absent in the rhythms of our church life...It's the act of holding the hand of someone next to you...whether it be in corporate prayer, or in a unifying act of presence.

Oh, I know theres hand shaking, it's done in greeting...or as a proper hello among semi-acquainted people...but that often seems so cold and impersonal in most instances. It just doesn't seem to embody the true feeling or expression I feel.

Then there's hugs, but they also get redundant, meaningless or become some kind of awkward anti-sexual endeavor: the pat on the back, the side hug, or the equally odd lean forward, butt out, absolutely no boobie touch thing. It's comical to watch and looks dumb...but I know it's a creation of fundamentalist fear of igniting sexual experience within the holy place. So we play out these mannequin like gestures of supposed intimacy or implied affection...in the end, we miss it more than express it.

I find myself aware of the isolation that is present in the crowds of worshippers. People have internalized the "Jesus & me" religion and now journey alone in churches. Sure we gather but it's more often the back of someone's head not their eyes that we are getting to know.

The act of reaching out and holding your neighbor's hand is a act of community. It's an expression of the fact that we are in this together. The road ahead is one that we will face as a family. It's sacramental in the sense that I connect with Jesus in you and you with Jesus in me. It's a reflection of identifying His Presence among us.

It's a humble confession of need. I need the person next to me...not just the songs and words being offered from the front.

I plan on finding ways to enculture these values more and more in my own life and the life of our community. It's a step...a far cry from the call of scripture which tells the church to exhibit a greater visibility of love when it encourages us to:

Greet one another with a holy kiss.- 2 Corinthians 13:12

But we got to start somewhere...

Eden's dream....

I took this picture on my way down to Portland from the car window. I love the covenantal truths and just plain artistic wonder of rainbows. They are glimpses of God's flamboyant extravagance and unabashed love of beauty. How they are found only in or after moments of darkness, gloom or dreariness or on the heals of heat drenching rains that quench the ground and douse August foreheads is so very motherly of God.

Nature is sacramental to me. He reveals Himself in and through it...or as Paul put it: "...since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made...-Romans 1:20

I think we can draw wisdom from His creative ways in the Earth and use those values to reconnect our communities and churches back to creation values that restore, replenish and rejuvenate. We can creatively work to surround ourselves with ways of living and being that produce "sabbath" moments. In hectic cities, there need to be not only parks and green spots but sacred places that provide truth, contemplation and prayerful opportunities...."public monasteries" if you will.

I plan on continuing the goals of incorporating the artistic work of faith into our church block, garden and buildings. The missional and artistic influence of my Celtic, Orthodox and Catholic brothers have taught me to value nature, sculpture and beauty as a work of creating sanctuary. A garden is an experience of grace in itself but there are additional ways to incorporate contemplative aspects into space. I always enjoyed the Catholic gardens, monastery and chapels at my favorite place in Portland OR...The Grotto...their gardens, plants, sculptures, ponds and prayer spots, were a sooting place of reprieve in various moments of my young adult life. I would go there, walk, pray, draw, write or just breath and leave feeling more whole, or at least more gathered.

I think the Church as an expression of the Kingdom of God; should outwork in a visible way, tangible opportunities to encounter biblical truths. We can do this by providing invitational and experiential opportunities to encounter the blessings of the Kingdom...art, sculpture, music, space, architecture, food, gardens, writing and design can all facilitate or spark such moments. Peace, joy, love, depth, meaning, wonder, mystery, passion, wisdom, time, eternity, culture and sounds are all material to work with. They are universal languages to be used in communicating with the people God has called us to care for and influence.

Gardens can become that kind of sanctuary by providing peaceful meditative spots, enjoyment of beauty as a sacramental experience and food as a gift of pleasure. They are healing gifts that a local community of faith can incorporate in its work of caring for the space God has called them to live and worship within and around.

All these actions are part of the Domestic Arts and too many people have been ignorant of their powerful means to introduce people to the Kingdom and then to the King of such a glorious place. Such should be the process of one standing in the beauty of this natural world...it should lead one from the creation...to the Creator.

Neighborhood Creation Care and Mission Focused Industry...

"Build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce." -Jeremiah 29:5

If you look behind our church van and measure from the left where the two trees, the one closest to the van and the other one across the yard; then all the yard to the right, all the way to the wooden fence on the right, is the area that will be our new Jacob's Well garden. We will remove the fence behind the van and stretch it across the yard or build a wood fence to mark off this new project. We will remove the cement path and the old metal shed as well. We are arranging plans now for the work and materials and layout. The landlords of the house have arranged for the separation of the yard to allow us the opportunity to begin this garden...they attend the church and are leading the project.

We look forward to producing fresh food on the church block and sharing it though our Community Resource Center and incorporating the produce into our Tuesday night (5-7PM) community dinner. One of the challenges in neighborhoods that access Government food programs; is the lack of fresh produce. This is one of our attempts to supplement those needs. We are also working on a relationship with some CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture); which are farm based programs where you buy a share in the harvest for a certain amount of money. We are aiming to partner with Brian at St. Margaret's Community garden in Vinegar Flats, to provide additional access to fresh produce this season.
This is stage one of our rain water retrieval project that will help water our garden by collecting rain run off from the roofs on our buildings. The barrels were donated by another church. This is the mastermind behind the project, Daniel Dailey, he's building this water retrieval system and working on our "Alternative energy project" which includes possible wind energy and solar panels that will help (if everything works out with the fabrication and implementation of the first panel) us reduce our energy costs and model purposeful Creation Care as a local church.

We are also working on plans for some Neighborhood Recycle Bins as options for neighbors to discard used appliances, various metals and other material that we can sell at a local recycle center for cash. This will help in improving the neighborhood by removing unsightly household waste and help us raise funds through earth friendly industry.

I get such joy seeing different gifts and talents, visions and passions merging together in a cooperative synergy for mission, it's an exciting work to be part of. Please pray for us as we aim to not just "Move" but "Mobilize" one another for mission, in practical, creative and fruitful, God glorifying ways.

Ancient paths....

"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' -Jeremiah 6:16

One of my hearts desires in planting a church, was to be able to corporately resurrect the dead and invite them back into the life of the community of faith. To sit again at the feet of the masters, hear the ancient poets, minstrels and sages whose paths have been too hidden in these days. I longed to break open the books, journals and writings of faithful men and women who have gone before us on this long and difficult path. There's such a great cloud of witnesses that have both sung and testified, proclaimed and produced some of the best offerings of truth the church has seen or heard.

They are as David called them:" Ancient doors" that need to be opened...or like Jeremiah said: Paths that need to be rediscovered and followed.

I've sought to unearth the great truths of the Reformation in our teaching life as a body, not that the reformers were the pinnacle of thought and theology in my opinion but they are desperately worth reviving and learning from. But there are other voices, eras and teachers and saints that we should hear again.

This is also true of the ancient Bards and Troubadours. It's not as easy to reweave or revisit music from past eras...but it can be done and we are prayerfully and honestly seeking how to reconnect with the Old as well as the New wine in worship, practice and truth.

This article is a great discussion about Worship if that is one of your passions and call.

One of my favorite Hymns is O Sacred Head, now Wounded" and Fernando Ortega's version strikes me in deep places and evokes wonder and worship. Check out his 'Beginning's" hymn collection if you desire some rich music.

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown
How pale thou art with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish
which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,
T'was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love for Thee.

Peter Rollins & Phyllis Tickle

Plumbing problems again...

My buddy Daniel in the pit of despair, helping me repair a broken
sewer pipe. These 100 year old houses can be a lot of work. This pipe
problem keeps happening, roots, old & wrong materials used, all
contribute to this ongoing mess. So far we have not had to dig up the
major line but I'm nervous. We will see what the next plumber says
today...easy fix or major.

Modernized Hymns

Check out these great modernized Hymns for a new generation. free for a limited time.

Net Ninjas, webcasting witchcraft, spiritual porn and community...

A Dialogue is different than a monologue and one has to determine as a commentator on a blog, if you are seriously interested in conversation or would rather engage in proclamation. They really are different beasts, both are valuable and have their place..the trick is realizing when one is working against the flow of the purposed endeavor.

Some blogs or blog posts are meant to become anvils that will draw the blows of hammers. But not just for hammering sake...hopefully some item of thought, some value, doctrine or issue is drawing those blows to refine, sharpen, blunt or thin the chunky unformed idea or belief. The work of the strong forceful thundering makes something in the foundry of bloggerville.

But other blogs or posts are meant to facilitate something more than just the forming, reforming or refining of things. These blogs become a further conversation rooted to real people. They are extensions to having face to face relationships furthered not intended to be replaced by the blog. These are conversations that are meant to build up the body local. Places where a group of people are enfleshing the ideas, putting skin on them...not just trumpeting phrases, quotes and ideas out into the net air. These places become "open-sourced" endeavors that combine the wisdom of the many into the life of a community wrestling with truth and life. They are ingredients in the ongoing fermentation of communal life that needs all kinds of catalysts to become what God intends us to be. The blog serves "us"...

Its the balance of not allowing technology to rule us and not becoming servants of the technology.

Visible church, day to day community becomes a safeguard against the temptations associated with internet anonymity. Too many people hide in the internet, they become "net ninjas" who only come out of the shadows to strike, slash, burn and stab. They lurk behind the conversations and posts. Stealth, secrecy and obscurity are their cloak. Their comments come like arrows shot from some dark corner of the roof from which they have perched themselves to look down on the ignorant masses...or victims to be.

Their comments are not rooted in the work of localized, community building; which has the boundaries of accountability, place, context and continuity...we see each other this week. These safeguards, become the sides of the riverbank, they hold the flow of conversational water....and the river has less chance of becoming a death dealing flood, instead of a life giving source.

Some of my blogs are meant to be a "free for all" type of experience...others, like the Christ & Culture" blog are for in-house church relationships that have the disciplines in place mentioned above.

The beauty and tragic thing about blogs is that they often represent both the abundance that is present in ones private or community life...or they represent the poverty. In some places, especially churches, there is hardly many people willing to engage issues, ideas, movements, films, books, music or sadly, even God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and scriptures. Blogs can become unhealthy substitutes, alternatives, overdosed-supplements or even for some their daily bread.

Blogs can end up being pumped breast milk from surrogate mommies in the faith. There is a absence of touch, breath, warmth, voice, eyes looking at you, hands and arms coddling you. Blogs or video venues, tv and webcasts become our modern form of incantations...we bring up the dead, or we commune with people in modern forms of astra projection...going places, transporting into one another's presence...but its almost dangers on an unholy lack of boundary. We have to be careful that we are not practicing an advanced form of technological witchcraft or high tech necromancy.

Some times death is God's way of putting an end to conversations that shouldnt continue beyond their context of time.

Now obviously all of this thought should be tempered with the realties of some peoples lives. Shut in, people living in spiritual deserts, missionaries, or physically challenged, handicapped or people dealing with health issues are all able to derive life sustaining help from these forms of technology. But other people can cheat on one another with this cheap, easy, always waiting, stimulating mental and spiritual pornography...all pleasure...no commitments or faithfulness required.

Place, time, life, faces and relationships...help ground us in the ancient practice of localized community.

Christ & Culture events blog...

Ok, we launched our first "Christ & Culture" Discussion event at Jacob's Well; with a showing of the film: "Lord Save Us From Your Followers". We had around 25 people show up and about 15 stayed for coffee & conversation. I think it was a wild ride for sure, great thoughts, sharp disagreement, valid concerns and opposite positions. Over all it was civil, but more tense than I would of liked, but considering the hot button issues addressed in the film, I understand.

I've started a Christ & Culture blog that will be for anyone, anonymous or not, post event ruminations and ongoing dialogue for those so interested. Some people sit and listen but need time to chew on things and maybe this can be a format for unpacking stuff more. But let me please say, dont use the blog as a smoke screen to hurt people or stab them in the back anonymously. Sometimes bloggers get a little more bold than they would be face to face...that can be good and bad.

So be kind.

So let the comments begin if you desire to engage more on various issues brought up by the film by going here.

And to get the water boiling here is an article written by a Christian who calls himself a celibate, christian gay man and his thoughts on the loneliness such a position has demanded.

The Wittenburg Door...

If you experience a gagging reflex, episodes of rage or prolonged self-pity; if you experience a sudden decrease of irony or a dead certainty about your beliefs, consult with your minister, guru or spiritual practitioner immediately. The Door is not advised for Pharisees, Fundies, High Church Whiskeypalians or those who have experienced a recent upsurge in attendance at seances. The Door website should not be taken with The Purpose-Driven Life or Catholic Digest. A rare side effect in women who attend Marilyn Hickey seminars has been determined to be harmful to the ability to read Pauline epistles without extreme homophobia. Men who march in Fred Phelps demonstrations should not take The Door. Men who are members of Promise Keepers should enter the 21st century. If you experience a paroxysm of LOL that lasts for more than four hours, call Benny Hinn and give him all your money. —Legal disclaimer prepared by Dr. Skippy R, Dr. J.B. Briggs, and Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the artificial heart mentioned in the apocryphal book of Britney

Go here and read at your own risk...

The story we find ourselves in...

"Confine not yourself always to one sort of company, or to persons of the same party or opinion, either in matters of learning, religion, or the civil life, lest, if you should happen to be nursed up or educated in early mistake, you should be confirmed and established in the same mistake, by conversing only with persons of the same sentiments. It is said, when the King of Siam first conversed with some European merchants, who sought the favor of trading on his coast, he inquired of them some of the common appearances of summer and winter in their country; and when they told him of water growing so hard in their rivers that men and horses and laden carriages passed over it, and that rain sometimes fell down almost as white and light as feathers, and sometimes almost as hard as stones, he would not believe a syllable they said, for ice, snow, and hail, were names and things utterly unknown to him and to his subjects in that hot climate. He renounced all traffic with such shameful liars, and would not allow them to trade with his people. See here the natural effects of gross ignorance." -Isaac Watts

It amazes me the more I ponder the wonder of the scriptures and the fact that they are stuffed full of mystery, humanity, sacredness and a multiplicity of journeys that all seem to weave together like a divine mosiac that say something eternal and yet...so relevant to earth. The use of story and all the elements, genres and ingredients of the craft are called upon to tell something more profound than anything ever spoken and yet as common as anything ever experienced.

The kingdom of God is like...
There once was a man...
Camels crawling through needles...
Boys eating in pig pens...
Finding buried treasures...
Dragons, four faced-multi-eyed angels,
gates of pearls, cities without suns, dead people coming alive, naked people having picknics in the garden, people eating thier children, old folks making babies, talking animals, men going to the bottom of the ocean in sea creatures bellies, flying pegasus of fire carrying prophets into space, fortune tellers, witches and ghosts from beyond, sordid love affairs, heart breaking murders, vile sinners and inspiring saints...

Who wouldn't be intrigued about such a path...?

All the stories we know or themes that we retell...seem to be shadows of the greatest story unfolding...the characters, villains, heros all seem to be but a reflection of their greater counterparts. In fact the more we read and come to understand within the scriptures the more we see that we too are found within its pages.

Simply amazing if you really meditate on it.

(props to Fred and Melanie for the quote and added inspiration in this post)

pleasant places...

"You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me." -Psalms 16:5-6

Coming off of a weekend of hanging out in the already lushing beauty of Portland; with its funky cool houses, hip architecture, gardens full of sculptures', art and various evergreen flora...it makes for a hard walk in East Central.

The beauty around here has to be rediscovered. It takes baptized eyes to truly see glory in broken pots. One has to have his heart infused with redemptive light to see flesh growing over rusted out cars, garbage strewn streets, the old couches in yards and porches...the retched, old city bones.
In my morning devotions I read this celtic prayer for my own:

"The vitality of God be mine this day,
the vitality of the God of life.
The passion of Christ be mine this day,
the passion of the Christ of love.
The wakefulness of the Spirit be mine this day,
the wakefulness of the Spirit of justice.
The vitality and passion and wakefulness of God be mine,
that I may be fully alive this day.
The vitality and passion and wakefulness of God, that I may be fully alive."
I found myself seeing the side streets more in this light and vision, as I carried the above verse and prayer in my mind and heart. I found myself inviting a sense of gratitude for the treasure found in discarded vessels all around me. Prayers for places of gathered worship form as I walked past empty churches. Longing, yearning, dreaming, hope sprouting, mustard seed sized faith replacing prolonged dreariness. Moments of apprehension and gentle revelation find their way into uttered supplications and spiritual thoughts woven with spiritual words.

This inheritance becoming truly beautiful to me.

Sunlight Photograph from http://blanklinestudios.com/

Most of the people drown....

Wine....in the promised land.

On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields. -2 Kings 25:8-12

I am reading "What did the Ancient Israelites Eat" and in one of the chapters, it mentioned this verse in referencing the famous wine production of the promised land. It was so good...the Babylonians made sure to keep the wine makers busy at work. Im not a huge fan of wine, except with a real good meal that would complement the kind of wine served. But I thought the above verse was interesting.

They will meet cruel enemies...

"Those who say that children must not be frightened may mean two things. They may mean (1) that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless: in fact, phobias. His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can't bear to think of. Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil. If they mean the first I agree with them: but not if they mean the second. The second would indeed be to give children a false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense. There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to the...atomic bomb. Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker." -C.S. Lewis

A great Hobbit picture from here http://quickhidehere.blogspot.com