E.Y. Mullins on the Church

“It is easily seen that they reversed the principle of church organization. That principle was no longer inward, but outward. The temporal and political environment imposed its laws upon a spiritual body. Thus, the church ceased to be an organism and became a mechanism. It was a contrivance for achieving temporal ends rather than a spiritual body adapted to the ends of a life-giving Spirit. Hitherto the church had been a tree of life, full of sap and power and yielding abundant fruit for mankind. Now the tree was cut down and fashioned into a battering ram for warlike purposes. Battering rams are useful in their time and for the purposes for which they are built, but they have no roots and bear no fruit” E.Y. Mullins, The Axioms of Religion (1997 reprint, p. 123).

Late Lenten Prayer

God of Justice and Hope,
Journey with us
as we begin our way to the cross this Lenten season
As we reflect on your life,
Your example calls out our personal and corporate sins
From Bethlehem to Nazareth,
we see where we have forgotten who we are
from Jordan to Jericho,
we see where we have ignored people out of fear of the “other”
from Bethany to Jerusalem,
we see where we have distorted what it means to have faith.
Even as we now are painfully reminded of these sins and more…
We thank you that as we walk the road of regret,
your presence sustains us.
Help us let go of our past, that we may turn toward you
and live again the life of faith.
Help us call out our fear and hatred, our anger and self-pity….
Lift the burden they place on our shoulders.
Help us set aside our guilt and enter a season of healing.
As we pray and fast today, help us become simple people,
that we may see you plainly.
May our fasting be hunger for justice;
our gifts and contributions, a making of peace;
our prayer, be the chant of humble and grateful hearts.
As we wear the mark of ashes,
rekindle the sign of hope within our eyes.
Let us draw near to you even now
And as we come wearing ashes
we bring our sin and all our baggage,
and we fall into your loving arms this day
looking to you, O God, as the one
who endlessly loves us
and the one in whom the hope of new life rests. Amen

Country Music Marathon--Nashville

Deedra and I rested as we watched the full marathon runners pass by. They were on mile 20 at that point.

We ran the half marathon in just under 3 hours (2:54:36). I'm thankful to Deedra that she stuck with me even though my knees began to hurt a little over half-way. We could have finished with a much better time had I not been hurting toward the end. Anyway, we persevered and finished--and got our cheesy medals, too!

I took a picture of Deedra fixing us breakfast just as we parked the car at 5am. I took the picture and remarked that it said to me, "It's 5am!" Deedra's reply was a flat, "That's not all it says." I hope I can get permission to put it up!

Wow....

"Those eager to exploit differences between blacks and whites in America ignore the fact that the differences have all but vanished. One might as well complain about the gas mileage of a 1959 Edsel."

New White House Press Secretary (former Fox news anchor), Tony Snow, speaking on the issue of Race in America.

Just when you thought you had ignorance defined…

Poem for Holy Week

In his book Cry of Jesus, Cry of the Oppressed, Jose Comblin writes: Then Jesus cries out. It is a cry of freedom. A cry of hope. A cry of handing over. It is a cry of giving back. Giving back all his work, his dreams, his love, life, breath, spirit. It is a cry of pain and agony. It is a cry of resistance to evil. It is a cry against violence and death . . . That cry tears loose anything that holds back God or the kingdom of God from coming among us . . . It is a cry layered and fraught with meaning. It is a cry to God for justice, for security, for defense and for faithfulness that will not be undone by others' hate and persecution. It is a cry of anguish for all that was lost, for all life that was torn to shreds, all that life denied to others, all that hope cast away.. It is the Cry of Mercy being poured out and Mercy being caught up into the arms of the Father. It is the Cry of God when we don't see Him."

Cloudland canyon

My fiance, Deedra, and I went to Cloudland Canyon State park last week.

This is a picture of us at the canyon rim 

Here we go

With each bump and curve in the road, the dashboard Jesus bobbles and sways as if to remind you that he feels everything.