I Still Don't Get It...

Dang it.

One day --when the dust settles--I will write an incessantly long blog about how things continue to happen in my life. I have a 'chance encounter' with someone, and the next day....BAM! God thumps me on the head like a 6th grader and says, "Dude. You totally missed it."

This morning, I read this.

The greatest part is this quote:
"I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the market place as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on a town garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin... at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. That is where churchmen ought to be, and what churchmen ought to be about."

Here's where I got thumped:
Yesterday, I walked to Pizza Hut with a group of high schoolers (you know who you are). Some of them didn't want to walk, because we'd have to walk through the crowd of skaters/smokers/potheads dressed in black hanging out in front of Subway.

"Cool. Then let's walk." I said.

As we got closer to 'them', my group became more and more quiet. Anxious. Walking and staring at the ground. One of the guys in black had long hair and smelled like a mix of Camels and stale grass. And he spoke to one of the highschoolers I was with.

"Hey, dude." he said.

"Hey."

Once we got out of earshot, hunkychristianman whispered, "He's in one of my classes..."

Good. We should have friends outside our little Christian Country Club.

We went in, ate pizza, watched a pathetic clown and headed back to church for FUEL.

(Here comes the thump)
After FUEL, my wife says to me, "Why didn't you just invite the skaters in for pizza, no strings attached?"

Dang it. A simple expression of love.

Jesus said, "And whoever offers these little ones even a cold cup of water [maybe pizza?] will not lose his reward."

Convictions #1 and #2

The first: Students are looking for a soul-shaking, heart-waking, world-changing God to fall in love with; and if they do not find that God in the Christian Church, they will most likely settle for lesser gods elsewhere. The second conviction: so will we.

Blog for Sale--Any Takers?

My blog is worth $3,951.78.
How much is your blog worth?

Bono Said It

In his latest Rolling Stone interview, that is.
"Even though I'm a believer, I still find it really hard to be around other believers: They make me nervous, they make me twitch. I sorta watch my back."

(p.s. Kudos to my bro who scored U2 tickets this weekend in Houston....)

28 Days

Mark your calendars for December 29-31, 2005 !

Where? Three Mountain Ranch

Why? Our annual New Years Retreat!

What's the story with '28 Days'? Once upon a time, there was a movie about a guy named Jim (see his pic below). Jim was a bicycle courier who awoke one day from a coma. As he begins wandering the halls of the hospital, he notices a LOT of change in the world around him. Something has infected him....and a lot of other people as well. Within 28 days, the infection is complete and no one is ever the same.

What if that were true spiritually? What if you could take 28 days to focus your spiritual life and jumpstart your relationship with God? What if there were things...specific things....you could do for 28 days that would change you on the inside so that you'd never be the same again? Ever. What if you could become something other that what you are?

That's what we're working towards. With the help of our SALT team, we're getting ready for an experience that we hope will change us.

We're praying for something to infect us. Something that changes the way we act. The way we think. The way we live.

How will the story end? That depends on what happens in 28 Days...