The Code

Front yards are interestingly dirty - plants cut in strange ways and dust being the essence of it all. Buildings cost us, and the soul's of people are a weight that cannot find their own balance. Darkness is often denied, but very difficult to be in denial about. Light has found us, and we don't know what to do with it. Fear crushes us, and we are lost for words. Success alludes us but finds all of our friends. Money solves everything and emptiness eats money. So paper-rock-weird cutting devise the whole darn thing. Play your banjo if you can, and love your parent while they plan a symphony for the dead dreams that are your forgotten creation. Runaway!! Drink the pure milk. Find the Stone and grab hold of the kindness of 2000 years ago. Be an Alien. Let your eyes grow to twice their size. Paint your skin green and yell form the roof tops that life is foreign. Declare the Glory - the weight of it all and all. He is coming. He will appear.

Not a lot of Time

Not a lot of "Time" - so I posted this song.

Passover by Joe Day.

My Tuesday So Far

I woke up early today . . . 5:30ish and couldn't fall back to sleep. I think I managed to jump out of bed around 6:30am. Sometime after that I went to Safeway to purchase coffee and half-n-half, came home and read some Religious Affections, and took Ashton and Anna to school. Once Sue and Elliott got up, we ate breakfast and headed off to Kindergarten together. I enjoy hanging with Elliott's class, and Mrs. Flint is an amazing teacher, but a hour and half is all I can manage when it comes to the Kinder folk.

This afternoon, I started working on the second chapter of the Pilgrim Group. It is on identity. In particular, the identity that comes from Christ when we choose to believe in Him. I notice a few problems with the questions in the bible study. Some of them need more explanation or were written with a different translation of scripture in mind. More importantly, I was struck by Peter's explanation of my identity in Christ. If I become a living stone . . . part of the temple of God - built with Jesus as the corner stone - I am choosing to become a foreigner in this land. All of a sudden this world is not where I belong. The value systems of world are not mine, and yet, Peter encourages me to not be a troublemaker in this world so that the world will praise God when he appears. (1 peter 2)

Lists on Monday

1. Loved cooking at the Village yesterday. Nothing like pot roast, potatoes, carrots, onions, green beans, and good bread.
2. The Music rocked last night.
3. Thrift Store Bureaucracy played Poison Tree for the first time.
4. Please show Mike Wise's Song some love: This World Just Breaks My Heart
5. We finished the Gospel Of Mark last Night.
6. Check-out our splash videos and other cool media from the Village.

A Quick Paragraph or Two

The Gospel is the word Evangelion in the greek. It means good news or victories. The gospel of a particular roman general is simply the story of his Victories or at least the good news he brings back from the front lines. When Jesus followers talk about the Gospel, they are referring to the victories and good news of Jesus. My community, the Village, is at the beginning of a study exploring the different aspects of the Gospel. Most recently, we have been looking at Jesus' story in light of John 1:1-18.

John tells Jesus' story upfront before he even begins his Gospel. Jesus, or the word, was in the beginning. He created everything. He was the light of the world. We reject the Light. He conquers darkness and offers us an opportunity to be made into the children of God - if we are willing to receive and believe Him. The Ancients gave us laws to obey. Jesus came and gave us the gift of life and truth. He came and took up residence with us. If we see and experience him - we have experienced the Father.

This simple story is so powerful and life transforming - as a person who is sure he can't get it right - I find Jesus' story freeing. The rules, the getting it right, the performance, and the darkness of my life are all taken away by Jesus' Story.

Websites of the Week

Net Bible: I like this bible translation
Open Audio: Copyright going old school. None of that Creative Commons stuff.
NT Wright Page: I visit this page often. Can't get enough of good old NT. He definitely influences the way I think about the New Testament.
Corrie Wise: This girl knows how to write - plus she goes to my church.

O.k., so I have a terrible case of "Spring Fever." All I want to do is take naps in the park, take long walks, sit and drink coffee on the porch, sword fight with my son, and tease and tickle my 9 year old daughter.

Tomorrow and Saturday are going to be long days. On Friday I have a Pilgrim Group in the morning, a strategy meeting with Rod and James, Pilgrim Group at lunch time, and High School Group dinner is at my house. On Saturday the family has a baby shower and two birthdays to attend and shuffle kids to. I'm also cooking for church on Sunday evening, and I'm also doing the cooking for Friday Night.

Plus, I have a song in my head that I need to write, but that's gonna take some time.

Poison Tree

I love this song. The Village will be learning it this Sunday. I can't wait.

In The Beginning

I'm not much of a writer. I spend most of my time trying not to write. I have a severe learning disability that makes it difficult for me to construct sentences. But recently, I've decided to just put my thoughts out there - in hopes that I might make sense of things.

For the last 9 years of my life I've been a pastor. My church is located in Tucson, and we go by the name - The Village. Being a pastor is an odd job to have because there isn't an "off button" - especially at the Village. Our community is just that, a community. We spend a lot of time together, and people are in and out of each others homes. Early on this was tiring because my house was the main hub for most activities. But things have changed over the years, and we have seen others open their homes and move into neighborhoods together to minister to their friends.

At present, our community is exploring the Gospel as a way of life. With help from people like Tim Keller, churches like Marshill and Soma, and books by Larry Crabb - we wrote a bible study that explores what we call the Three aspects of the Gospel: Story, Identity, Kingdom. Jesus' story being his birth, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Identity being what is given to us as a result of the story, and the Kingdom part is our response to the Story and the Identity given to us - see Romans 12:1.