I seriously have soo much to talk about and simply don't want to sit down to write it all out. But today I happened upon a really awesome youtube video and wanted to share it, plus mention the book that I finished months ago!
My friend Lauren from the Pink House got me interested in slam poetry so now I LOVE it! And this youtube video I found is spoken word by Chris Tse. He apologizes for being a christian. I think a lot of Christians (more conservative ones) may be offended by this video, but I've realized how important it is to say 'i'm sorry,' whether it's warranted or not.
I was so affected by reading Don Miller's Blue like Jazz when he set up a confessional booth at his college and when ever folks came in to sit down, instead of them confessing their sins, Don confessed the sins of the church. And then in another book I read, Lord, Save us from your followers Dan Merchant talks about setting up a confessional booth similar to Don's at a Gay and Lesbian parade in which he apologizes as a Christian for not sharing Jesus' love to that community. I think folks like these are revolutionaries. If only we'd, as Christians, be so quick to seek forgiveness, to humble ourselves instead of boasting about our righteousness.
On to my book.
Under the overpass; A journey of faith on the streets of America by Mike Yankoski 224 pages.
This book just continued my desperate desire to serve and be with the poor in our country (and maybe someday in another part of the world). By the 2nd page Mike has said something that I've thought many, many times before, "But we were created to be and to do, not merely to discuss. The hypocrisy in my life troubled me. No, I wasn't in the grip of rampant sin, but at the same time, for the life of me I couldn't find a connecting thread of radical, living obedience between what I siad about my world and how I lived in it. Sure, I claimed that Christ was my stronghold, m peace, my sustenance, my joy. But I did all that from the safety of my comfortable upper-middle-class life. I never really had to put my claims to the test." So, this guy and his friend leave for 5 months. Thestart at the rescue mission in Denver, CO then off to the streets of Washingto, DC.; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Phoenix, AR; and fnally San Diego, CA. It's fascinating getting to read from his Christian perspective, dealing with the church while being homeless. It's sad that rarely did the church step up in their interactions with church-folk.
Although now that I'm on the topic of homelessness, I can share my new friend. My church fixes sandwiches every Tues. morning and we head over to the park and pass them out to the folks there. I noticed this one guy probably in October, maybe even September. He was always there to get a sandwich. He'd eat there and then normally head off in the direction of downtown. I started specifically saying hello to him and that moved to a hug every time I saw him and usually a short conversation about the weather and how he was doing. I wish I could remember the time line of all this but somewhere in there I decided I'd make him a crocheted scarf. By the time Christmas came he hadn't been to the park. The first few weeks of January he wasn't there when I was and then I missed a couple Tuesdays and I heard he was there! Finally we were both there on a Tues. It was raining so he just took the package and had to leave. I had attached a short note saying Merry Christmas so the next Tues. it was raining again and he slipped me a letter and then had to leave again. That began our friendship and our letters back and forth. Now we normally see each other 2 or 3 times a week and I'm super excited because his birthday is a day before mine so I'm treating him to fried chicken (a fundraiser at my church this Sunday) to celebrate our birthdays together. Hopefully I'll take pictures and post them for y'all...or for you, Candy :)
Okay, that's all for now. Let's hope for another update soon!
Peace y'all.
Read more!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
a weekend and a baptism....
It was a very full weekend for me. I can't really remember what Friday consisted of but Saturday I was up early to head over to the church and help set up for our ladies luncheon on Sun. We set up tables and made a backdrop for Amanda to stand infront of to speak and finished wrapping up journals that all the women were going to receive as gifts. Then I headed over to the grocery store to get the stuff for the desserts that I was planning on serving at my Open House later in the day. I am still a member of Procrastinators Anonymous. Sometimes I doubt that will ever change, sadly. I went and had lunch with my mom and we started baking brownies, which we took over with us to my place and finished cooking chocolate chip cookies. Folks started comin over at about 2 and the last of them didn't leave till past 5. There were people who didn't come who I wished really would have put in the effort, but the folks that were there were the ones who needed to be there. It was the coolest that my 2nd cousin David showed up and then I got a good visit with Renee and Kevin. That made it all worth it!
Sunday ended up being quite eventful. Rosanna got up at the end of the service and surprised us all by giving her testimony and then getting re-baptized, along with Jeff. As I watched them both getting baptized I was really reminded of how important and beautiful baptism is to the Christian faith. As far as I know there isn't any other religions that do baptism, but as Christians it's vital to our faith. Of course, the most well known and awesome baptism story is Jesus' baptism; 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
I think that Jesus was baptized as an example for us and this was also the sort f "send off" for the very beginning of his 3 years of ministry in which he called out His disciples and showed Himself as the Son of Man. But I think it's different for us, as His followers. Baptism is death and resurrection. We die to the old creation; our sinful nature dies and in it's place, as we're raised out of the water, we're resurrected as new creatures. 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come' 1 Cor. 5:17 I seriously got this beautiful image in my mind as Rosanna and Jeff were being baptized as all this grime, caked on dirt and muck were being washed away as the came out of that water. Jesus provided a way, in His death (taking on of all that dirt) and resurrection (a washing), to be LIKE HIM through baptism. I read a book where the girl described her baptism and she was wearing a white gown. I really like that.
Jesus' blood cleanses us. During this time of Lent it's been so easy for me to just go about my day, not get on FB or Twitter, fast on Fridays and go about doing what I always do but lately I've really been convicted about truly setting aside these 40 days to contemplate and meditate about what this season is really about; repentance.
http://rachelheldevans.com/lent-calvin
I really love the way this blogger writes about Lent and our response to our Heavenly Father. I especially appreciated when she said, "For if we are worthless to God, our sins agaist him are inconsequential; if we are but pesky isects or venomous sertpents, our rebellion would not grieve him." I read a book that used the metaphor of a family out on a picnic. Mom and dad has set up this delicious feast of amazing food and it's a beautiful day. Mom makes a plate full of all the yummy items that she made specifically for her child, things that he enjoys and sits the plate in front of the child. Instead of going for all the goodness in front of him, he grabs a fistful of rocks and dirt, pushing it into his mouth as his parents sit horrified, finally finding their voice to tell him to stop but he continues. Soon his teeth are chipping, blood is pouring from his ripped open gums. There's lots to say about this metaphor but the thing that I thought about while reading the above blog was the fact that God desires the very best for his kids, he's a daddy offering what we want and how often I reach for things that aren't His best, things that hurt me. He doesn't sit there and say, "I told you so" when that happens, He grieves. It hurts Him. So, I think that Lent is a time in which we intentionally decide to enter into a time of repentance for those moments we chose the rocks and dirt, instead of the delicious feast and as Rachel said, "It is the beginning of restoration and redemption and all the beautiful things that God does through people who know they came from dust."
It was also cool reading this blog and getting to the quote from the liturgy and remembering being apart of that on Ash Wednesday!
Okay, well this is a nice long post that's been long in coming! I hope you enjoyed it.
Shalom! Read more!
Sunday ended up being quite eventful. Rosanna got up at the end of the service and surprised us all by giving her testimony and then getting re-baptized, along with Jeff. As I watched them both getting baptized I was really reminded of how important and beautiful baptism is to the Christian faith. As far as I know there isn't any other religions that do baptism, but as Christians it's vital to our faith. Of course, the most well known and awesome baptism story is Jesus' baptism; 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
I think that Jesus was baptized as an example for us and this was also the sort f "send off" for the very beginning of his 3 years of ministry in which he called out His disciples and showed Himself as the Son of Man. But I think it's different for us, as His followers. Baptism is death and resurrection. We die to the old creation; our sinful nature dies and in it's place, as we're raised out of the water, we're resurrected as new creatures. 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come' 1 Cor. 5:17 I seriously got this beautiful image in my mind as Rosanna and Jeff were being baptized as all this grime, caked on dirt and muck were being washed away as the came out of that water. Jesus provided a way, in His death (taking on of all that dirt) and resurrection (a washing), to be LIKE HIM through baptism. I read a book where the girl described her baptism and she was wearing a white gown. I really like that.
Jesus' blood cleanses us. During this time of Lent it's been so easy for me to just go about my day, not get on FB or Twitter, fast on Fridays and go about doing what I always do but lately I've really been convicted about truly setting aside these 40 days to contemplate and meditate about what this season is really about; repentance.
http://rachelheldevans.com/lent-calvin
I really love the way this blogger writes about Lent and our response to our Heavenly Father. I especially appreciated when she said, "For if we are worthless to God, our sins agaist him are inconsequential; if we are but pesky isects or venomous sertpents, our rebellion would not grieve him." I read a book that used the metaphor of a family out on a picnic. Mom and dad has set up this delicious feast of amazing food and it's a beautiful day. Mom makes a plate full of all the yummy items that she made specifically for her child, things that he enjoys and sits the plate in front of the child. Instead of going for all the goodness in front of him, he grabs a fistful of rocks and dirt, pushing it into his mouth as his parents sit horrified, finally finding their voice to tell him to stop but he continues. Soon his teeth are chipping, blood is pouring from his ripped open gums. There's lots to say about this metaphor but the thing that I thought about while reading the above blog was the fact that God desires the very best for his kids, he's a daddy offering what we want and how often I reach for things that aren't His best, things that hurt me. He doesn't sit there and say, "I told you so" when that happens, He grieves. It hurts Him. So, I think that Lent is a time in which we intentionally decide to enter into a time of repentance for those moments we chose the rocks and dirt, instead of the delicious feast and as Rachel said, "It is the beginning of restoration and redemption and all the beautiful things that God does through people who know they came from dust."
It was also cool reading this blog and getting to the quote from the liturgy and remembering being apart of that on Ash Wednesday!
Okay, well this is a nice long post that's been long in coming! I hope you enjoyed it.
Shalom! Read more!
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