This is the American Dream: Work. Buy. Display. Repeat. -C. S. Lewis
(from Jason Evans)

Merry Christmas regardless. Today we remember a child born long ago, recognize his arrival, and adore our king!

Was irritated and angered...
Yesterday I was driving thru our community, and I stopped at a traffic light. Next to me pulls up this vehicle and on the back of it are three of those cling on ribbons supporting our troops in this Iraq thing. One I hadn't seen previously.

It was yellow, had the words, "Pray for our troops," and the prominent image across the entire ribbon was the cross --> that would be the cross representing Jesus Christ and the gospel message.

Here is my problem. Why are we as Christ followers NOT outraged by this kind of thing? Have we slipped so far into believing that we are a "Christian" nation that we now believe this is a holy war? Have we slipped so far into believing that our country represents the gospel for the entire world to see that we have utterly forsaken the gospel message?

Reminder --> America does NOT equal gospel. America does NOT represent Jesus Christ.
News flash --> Jesus Christ was born to lowly peasants in a manger. He came to the least and the lowest, and he came to save us from our hopelessness and grabs for godliness in forms of powers and principalities.

If we believe this is a holy war, then... (sigh)... I will refrain from words except to say - God help us! (and yes, I am outraged that we don't speak out against this kind of thing because it utterly destroys our witness to the gospel message.)

For kicks and giggles...


I inked it for a mallsearch I was involved with. It's a 'tongue of fire' tribal design. I was thinking of doing it for real, but Torie said she'd make me wear long sleeve shirts for the rest of my life.

could gospel be like good t.v. ???

Last night I watched a Sunday nights episode of "Boston Legal." I nearly cried, laughed myself silly, and yet was deeply captivated... all within 40 minutes (without commercials) of television. Tonight I watched last nights episode of "NYPD Blue" as well as "The West Wing."

I was deeply moved with each of the above. It seems that television, much better than the church, has captivated its audience (us) with good stories (much like our lives) along with a good mixture of both thoughtfulness and emotions, and usually the mixture is pretty true to life in terms of the rationing of each.

So, I am wondering if we as the church have usually run the error of either being too intellectual such as the Calvinist (my tradition) or too emotional without good thought such as the Pentecostal?

What if we could tell the stories of our lives and the stories of the lives of others with the same kind of skill that the writers of good television stories use? Perhaps we are simply too scared to be this real with people? Or perhaps their passion for their art of television runs deeper than our passion for seeing real lives transformed into more intentional kingdom creatures?

...?

death penalty vedict...

If we cheered over the Scott Peterson death penalty today, we're really not 'pro-life.' We may be anti-something, but that doesn't mean that we defend life in all cases. We still like to take justice into our own hands... I am saddened that we cheer or believe real justice takes place when we kill people. Perhaps it is our best form of justice in this world... perhaps. But regardless, it isn't the way God intended...

Love 1 another - page 1
I keep wondering... what if we got serious about loving one another? We've been moving thru I Peter (in the Bible) over the past couple of months, and Peter continues to use language that talks about how we are to treat one another... such as "Love one another deeply from the heart." The book is filled with this kind of language.

Somehow we've put so much emphasis on "Love God" and we've put so little on "Love one another." I'm beginning to wonder if we've messed up the "Love God" part by putting so much emphasis on it, and in turn we've failed to adequately "Love One Another."

What if the first command isn't actually primary to our understanding of faith but... what if love of others/neighbor is of equal significance. Somehow we've put a level of priortity on the first part, and I wonder if we put too little emphasis on the second part; I'm not convinced that was ever God's intent.

What if we really cared about fellow man/woman/child as created in God's image... what if we utterly detested all war, all poverty, lack of adequate water supply for millions of people and lack of health care... what if we cared as much about those things as we do about funding another church building project?

Sympathy & prayers

Got this e-mail while doing early Christmas in Green Bay. Please keep the Doll family in your prayers...

Hello All,

Sorry not to be able to send you each a personal email or phone call but I know you will understand.

Ron’s mom, Jean Doll passed away suddenly this morning (Friday) at about 7:30 a.m. At this point, it appears she had a stroke complicated by an intestinal blockage. Of course, arrangements are still pending. Since we will not have computer access at Dad Doll’s, please check on line as the obituary will be posted on the Cadillac News site: http://www.cadillacnews.com/obituaries

It is a great comfort and gives the family peace that we know she is with her Heavenly Father, free now from her Parkinson’s disease. We are also very thankful for the support and prayers of all of you, our friends and family.

Ron and DeAnna