I am beginning to wonder if the real problem is an inability on the part of many protestants to find an authority outside reason. Lacking a sacramental perspective, we unconsciously attempt to locate authority in the individual observer. We really do start with Descartes, though we claim to begin with Jesus. Any assault on the sacred turf of reason is regarded as an assault on Jesus. Colson needs to read Colossians Remixed.

read the rest of len's critique here.

do you want to stand out? then step down

Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

Pastors' Wives
Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
The majority of pastor's wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

reminds me why i tell people to flee the pastoral life unless they just have to do it. if in doubt, get a real life. it's not the work, it's an slack job. it's the emotional toll.

stolen from eric who ripped it off someone else.

lately there has been a great deal of 'emergent' bashing, often by those who have never read a book on emergent theology or praxis, often by those neo-fundamentalists that love to tear apart without really understanding about what has been happening in the post-modern movement. often by those who believe a single individual like mclaren speaks for all of us. often by those who for some reason believe that we have diverged from orthodoxy, or even solid christian faith. and often by pseudo-intellectuals who, with their modicum of ammunition, refuse to open-mindedly consider anything that threatens their "purpose-driven living", safety in conformity, pharisaical, oppositional fear-based belief system.

i have read some great critiques of emergent ministry from some amazing teachers. much of what they talk about many of us can agree with. they do not use words like "herasy" and "compromise". they speak through the window of grace and with a true desire to understand and grow. unfortunately many others choose to shoot first and understand never.

tony jones offers a bit of sanity in a village that has decided to shoot it's wounded:
via jordon

Is Emergent the new Christian Left?

Leadership Journal asks...
In December, Brian McLaren was arrested along with 115 other activists while peacefully protesting the federal budget that he believes unfairly treats the poor. As one of the most visible participants in Emergent Village, McLaren’s increasingly outspoken political views has some wondering—is Emergent a new camp for Christian liberalism?

Tony Jones responds
Honestly, I care little about these critiques. They come from those who either have no idea what Emergent is all about and/or could not possibly be persuaded from their position anyway.
On the other hand, I'm currently hearing and reading that Emergent is part of the "New Christian Left." Mark Driscoll, for instance, has recently drawn a line in the sand between "emerging evangelicals" and "emergent liberals." He places himself in the former camp, and I assume he'd assign me to the latter. Others, like Ed Stetzer, have similarly attempted to divvy up the emerging church. Stetzer gives three labels: relevants, reconstructionists, and revisionists. Again, I can assume that I'm among the lattermost, whose "prescriptions fail to take into account the full teaching of the Word of God," according to Stetzer. Yet another Christian leader has recently accused us of becoming one with Jim Wallis, Sojourners, and the Christian Left.

The problem with all of these critiques is that they fundamentally misunderstand the nature of Emergent Village. We are a group of friends—about 20 in 1997, and now in the thousands—who are committed to doing God's Kingdom work together, regardless of our theological, ideological, and political differences. Are we friends with Jim Wallis? Yes! And are there Bush-loving neocons among us? Yes! Emergent is a loose collection of folks who feel that true, robust conversation about issues that matter has been chilled out of modern Christian institutions (seminaries, mega-churches, denominations, and para-church groups, to name a few). We're trying to make a place to bring conversation back.

Thus, we have friends among us who think that small government, free market economies are the solution to poverty, and others who favor federal programs and higher taxes—honestly, this is an ongoing conversation within the Emergent friendship. But we all agree that something must be done about extreme poverty, especially in Africa.

Within Emergent are Texas Baptists who don't allow women to preach and New England lesbian Episcopal priests. We have Southern California YWAMers and Midwest Lutherans. We have those who hold to biblical inerrancy, and others trying to demythologize the scripture. We have environmental, peacenik lefties, "crunchy cons," and right wing hawks.

I suppose it's easy for those who stand outside of Emergent Village looking in to credit the politics or theology of a few to the whole group, but that's inaccurate. And I can understand the frustration of those who want to criticize us and box us in when we say that we don't play by the old rules, that we can't be categorized as "left" or "right," "evangelical" or "mainline."

But, I think those same critics will only be more frustrated as the tide of those rebelling against a commodified and domesticated Jesus gain momentum. If the mainstream media is a harbinger, then I'd say that recent columns by Gary Wills and Andrew Sullivan show that a tipping point is just around the corner. Jesus really wasn't a Democrat or a Republican, and he won't be domesticated by political agendas. I do, however, believe that he will inhabit the robust and respectful dialogue about ideas that matter.

learn the awful truth here.

"What churches need are not more entrepreneurial leaders with wonderful plans for their congregation’s life, but poets with the imagination and gifting to cultivate environments within which people might again understand how their traditional narratives apply to them today…. Many of the programs on church health can only lead the churches down more of the same utilitarian and technological dead ends that have contributed to the current malaise.”

via len, who is smarter than me.

"To love anyone is to hope in him always. From the moment at which we begin to judge anyone, to limit our confidence in him, from the moment at which we identify [pigeon-hole] him, and so reduce him to that, we cease to love him, and he ceases to be able to become better. We must dare to love in a world that does not know how to love."

from biscotti

"Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts. "As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes-He did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right!

I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999 , at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA - I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone! My daughter's death will not be in vain!"

i'm not sure how i feel about school prayer but know that no one has the right to censor someone who has gone through what this family has.
more here.

I'll be honest, the first time I heard this I thought to myself, "You've got to be kidding; this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." I was so full of hurt and anger at that time in my life. I actually thought angry things and joked to myself about how I could make fun of this stupid practice.

Then, the group came to me. I paused and said, "My name is Jeff." Not surprisingly, the group said, "Hi Jeff!” The reaction I felt was not what I expected. I was so taken by the experience. It surprised me. At that moment something cut through all the hurt, pain and anger I had come to expect. I felt a genuine twinge of love from these people (who I was just jeering at in my head). It wasn't sympathy, it wasn't bravado, it wasn't fake and it wasn't someone's lame attempt to prop up my ego with empty words. It was real love that I felt. It was simply wonderful!After almost a year of having attended many such meetings, it is still the one thing that I look forward to hearing. It still surprises me except now I'm joining others by giving the love when I greet each person.

more here.

last night at the club i talked about what a faithful friend looked like. there are many people who say they are your friend until you upset them, then their true colors come out. real friends are harder to find than we may imagine. they are not surprised by your failings. they may want to beat the crap out of you sometimes, but they stick by you no matter what.

i have known a few people like that in my life. i have a few of them now. you know who you are. i would not presume to mention names, lest i forget someone and hurt. but last night, as i sat by the bar watching my son clean up, i thought about how true of a friend he is.

my son seems lazy to the untrained eye. he loves the computer. he doesn't seem to want to go on grandiose adventures. that is not how god wired him up. he loves being home. he enjoys the familiarity of a few friends. he is not reckless. he is about people.

few people know this but my son comes to club, virtually every time it is open, 3 or 4 hours before hand. he is also the last to leave. i try to pay him and he sneaks the money into the tip jar. he never complains, never whines, never argues. i cannot remember when in the last decade he and i have had a fight. he is solid.

the thing about ben is that he is always looking out for me. he hesitated last night before agreeing to go to the movies because he didn't want to make me stay up to get him. he didn't want to ask for money. he's weird that way.

he loves annette. i think it's because he loves people. they taunt each other like siblings. they insult and flirt and play and laugh and argue like family. he knows she is a part of our lives and he is determined that i will be happy. he would feel that way even if the cost to himself was higher than it ought to be. when it comes to family ben rarely counts the cost. you know, when all others have abandoned you, that he will be there, quietly wrapping cords or hanging around or whatever.

i'm lucky to have the kids i do. my eldest is a firebrand. he is driven and motivated and passionate and powerful. like his father he lets nothing stand in his way. he is opinionated and crazy. he is fearless. he is an overachiever in a world of lesser beings. i adore him.

ben is a lover. a faithful friend. an artist. creative. hilarious. sharp and insightful. he is committed and possesses an internal strength i can only envy. he is vulnerable yet powerful.

i talk alot about commitmement. thinking about this subject reminded me again of an earlier post i made in march:

talk is cheap.
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others...

love doesn't force itself, love cares more for others than for self.
love doesn't keep score of the sins of others.
tough words but it's a little easier when i see it modelled every day...

"What the hell is an aluminum falcon?!!"

**warning, people saying bad words.

i read this somewhere:

Simon Wiesenthal lost 89 relatives in Hitler’s death camps. He has devoted his life to finding Nazi criminals and bringing them to justice. He is often asked when he will give up. After all, he is hunting down men in their 70’s and 80’s for crimes committed half a century ago. Wiesenthal answered by writing a book.

The book begins with a true experience he had while he himself was a concentration camp prisoner. One day he was yanked out of a work detail and taken up aback stairway to a dark hospital room. A nurse led him into the room, then left him alone with a figure wrapped in white, lying on a bed. The figure was a badly wounded German soldier, whose entire face was covered with bandages. His name was Karl.

With a trembling voice, the German made a kind of confession to Wiesenthal. He told how he had been brought up in a Nazi family, the fighting he had experienced on the Russian front, and the brutal measures his S.S. unit had taken against Jews. And then he told of a terrible atrocity. All the Jews in a town were herded into a wooden building that was then set on fire.Karl had taken an active part in the crime.Several times Wiesenthal tried to leave the room, but each time the ghost-like figure would reach out and beg him to stay. Finally, after 2 hours, Karl told Wiesenthal why he had been summoned. The soldier had asked a nurse if any Jews still existed. If so, he wanted one brought to his room so he could clear his conscience.

He then said to Wiesenthal - "I am left here with my guilt. I do not know who you are, I know only that you are a Jew and that is enough."I know that what I am asking is almost too much for you. But without your answer I cannot die in peace." Karl asked for forgiveness for all the Jews he had killed.He asked for forgiveness, from a man who might soon die. Wiesenthal sat in silence for some time. He stared at the man’s bandaged face. At last, without saying a word, he stood up and left the room. He left the soldier in torment, unforgiven.

Had Simon Wiesenthal done the best he could? He himself seemed dissatisfied with his action. He went over it with his companions. He visited the dead soldier’s mother. In his book, he asks 32 rabbis, Christian theologians, and secular philosophers to comment on it. "What would YOU have done?" is the question he posed. It is impossible to put ourselves in the place of a man who lost 89 loved ones. Out of 32 respondents, majority said he had done right in leaving the soldier unforgiven. Only 6 said he had done wrong. Yet Bible says we have the privilege of granting forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

Why is forgiveness so hard for us? Maybe because forgiveness doesn’t make sense.

i love this

here's a picture of our engagement day on vancouver island.
private plane, private hanger. car waiting. picnic on the pier. shiny appendage wrap.

william gladstone, in announcing the death of princess alice to the house of commons, told a touching story.

the little daughter of the princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. the doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her life by breathing the child’s breath.

once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one in her arms to keep her from choking to death. rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, “momma, kiss me!” without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. she got diphtheria and some days thereafter she died.

real love forgets self. real love knows no danger. real love doesn’t count the cost.

the bible says, "many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."

From Jared’s post on the emerging church…
“Outler described Wesley’s system of “knowing” and theological reflection as a quadrilateral; Scripture being the primary beginning point supported by Tradition, Reason, and Experience. The emerging church demonstrates a similar model for theological reflection. This is evidenced by a serious commitment to Tradition (ie – return of liturgical services, use of lectionary, establishment of urban monastic communities, and the popularity of meditative prayer forms like labyrinth, lectio divina, spiritual direction), Reason (ie – prolific theological discourse and reflection in blogs, books, conferences, conversation groups, etc…) and Experience (ie – sensual worship, visual arts, interactive media, etc…).”

via len

The culture and mind of the emerging church movement consists of tension between opposites and non-resolving ideas. It’s out of these realities that the truth and shape of emerging church ecclesiology will arise. Most misunderstandings of the emerging church movement arise from the curious expecting precise answers in which tensions resolve and ledgers balance.

I believe that the emerging church is some form of corrective guidance, on the part of the Holy Spirit, designed to help us re-establish the direction and heading of our mission field and to form basic responses to that changing mission field. Thirdly, the emerging church seems to be a conscious desire, on the part of the church, to be permanently provisional.

from jared via jordon

my son turned 19 this weekend. he's treeplanting right now up north, a man.

happy birthday son. i love you more than life.

from ct:

You've said that the church "uses love as a commodity." What do you mean?
Miller: We sometimes take a Darwinian approach with love—if we are against somebody's ideas, we starve them out. If we disagree with somebody's political ideas, or sexual identity, we just don't "pay" them. We refuse to "condone the behavior" by offering any love.
This approach has created a Christian culture that is completely unaware what the greater culture thinks of us. We don't interact with people who don't validate our ideas. There is nothing revolutionary here. This mindset is hardly a breath of fresh air to a world that uses the exact same kinds of techniques.

last night both 'the family guy' and 'the simpsons' took on the creation/evolution debate. at one point they showed the alternate theory, creationism, as portrayed by "i dream of jeannie", sort of a magic show version of creation. in the simpsons, the antics of homer seemed to convince everyone that we had indeed descended from apes. or at least homer had.

i have long been fascinated with the need for christians to defend creationism, as if the very existence of god is tied to certain claims regarding the origin of the species and the geological timetable. i never really understood how any thinking individual, in light of obvious evidence and the way god works in history, could believe that the earth is only 6000 years old. it seemed to me, even as a minister, to be too much a flight of neurotic fantasy. i have really never had a problem with the idea that humans may have descended from apes either. it seems to me that god can use any method he desires. the whole debate diminished christian scientific credibility, not god's credibility.

i remember the debates when i was in a christian boarding school, from time to time. the heated dismissal of carbon-dating. the 'chic books' that equated evolution with satanic worship. the bizarre theology that somehow equated belief in creationism with salvation.

i was not offended by either program last night, though i am sure many were. i am also not offended by the whole debate over that certain movie coming out which must not be named either. i read the book, it was a decent work of fiction. that it would polarize people of faith or create a religious scandal seems silly.

i guess i believe in evolution. i'll probably rot in hell with the rest of the pagans, hypocrites, quickstar salespeople, and post millenial rapturists (don't get me started on the rapture), but i'm ok with the tension.

thank god for grace.

i'm glad this wasn't a felony when i was younger...

annette tells the world i'm impotent here.

from emerging grace

i have been listening again to an old tape by guy doud, teacher of the year some time ago. he reads a poem that i have oft quoted. it meant a great deal today, for some reason:

Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the mask I wear.
For I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I'm afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.
Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled.
For God's sake don't be fooled.

I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled,
within me and without,
that confidence is my name and coolness is my game,
that the water's calm, and I'm in command,
and that I need no one.
But don't believe me.
My surface may seem smooth
but my surface is my mask,
ever changing, ever concealing.

Beneath lies no complacence nor peace.
Beneath
lies confusion and fear and aloneness.
But I hide this.
I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness
and fear being exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask
to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.

I'm afraid you will think less of me, that you'll laugh,
and your laugh will hurt me deeply.
I'm afraid that deep down I am nothing,
that I'm just no good to anyone - even myself,
and that you will see this and reject me.
So I play my game, my desperate pretending game,
with a facade of assurance without
-and a trembling lonely child within.

So begins the glittering but empty parade of masks,
and my life becomes a front.
I chatter to you in the idle tones of suave talk,
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's crying within me.

So when I'm going through my routine,
do not be fooled by what I am saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying,
what I would like to say,what I need to say for survival,
and what my fear won't allow me to say.
I don't like to hide.
I don't like to play superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and myself,
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when it's the last thing I seem to want.

It's irrational, but despite what the books say,
I am often irrational.
I fight against the very thing that I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls,
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down these walls with firm hands,
but with gentle hands,
for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well,
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.

check out the new gig pics at

i have a 'hands on' relationship with more than 80 computers everyday and so i get to see first-hand what is screwing up computers everyday. i am not going to suggest sweet tweaks for your computer.

i am talking about the most basic help ever.

here are ten things i run across almost everyday that can be done to help your computer thrive and survive.

1. get to know your 'msconfig'. it's a little word that you throw in the run command off your start menu. go there. look at what is in your startup and get rid of all the useless crap like office and findfast, acrobat etc. don't get rid of anything you don't recognize though. the fewer things that start up when you do, the better.

2. use crap cleaner (ccleaner), adaware (the one from www.lavasoft.de) and spybot every week. don't just load it and leave it. use them religiously.

3. backup your files. if you don't have a network go and buy a usb2 external drive and do it. just do it.

4. update your virus protection. especially if you have norton. norton is notorious for letting you think it is updating when it is not. open the program and see when it was last updated.

5. use the "safe to remove hardware" feature everytime you unplug pretty much any peripheral. especially your new usb2 external hard drive. otherwise you may find that you cannot use that port again. that sucks.

6. save everything all the time. i never go more than ten minutes without saving. i have already copied this page 2 times. i don't paste it anywhere, i just - ctrl a/ctrl c -like a madman. i've been burned too many times.

7. buy more ram. it doesn't matter how much you have, it isn't enough. if you don't have at least a gig, you are not using a real computer. buy 2 if you have 1. dell will sell you 16 gigs of ram for your server for only $28,170. ok, maybe that is overkill but think about it...

8. vacuum your computer out. the insides will not bite you. open the thing and spray it or vacuum it at least once every couple of months. i have a permanent overheating problem on one of my desktops because we didn't.

9. delete your freakin emails. i did a computer this morning with over 10,000 emails in it. if you have over 100 in your computer dont' ask me for help. oh ya, and back up emails using the export function. backup contacts using the "csv" save option.

10. restart your computer. you would be amazed how many times this is the solution to the most basic of problems. just a few minutes ago it fixed a pdf. problem on an engineering computer. i can't tell you the number of times...

there you go. not egghead stuff. you'll be glad you did and it will stop me having to fix a bunch of my friends neglected computers for free.

...oh ya, and turn off your preview screen in outlook. just trust me on that one...

it's been a challenging week.

i realize i'm stressed out a bit. money is a huge issue in my life now. with a few debts to pay, a wedding to pay for, a honeymoon, and a part-time job; not to mention a lease payment on the club beginning in august, it is easy to lose the forest for the trees. to forget why you do the things you do.

there are a few people in my life who scratch their head and wonder why i stretch myself so thin, why i have so many plates spinning, and why i never seem to get ahead financially. when i was a real pastor i would usually quit a church around the time that it became financially viable. the minute they saw some stability i tended to lose interest. in my last church i think i lost interest years before i actually quit. i hated being a wet-nurse and a suburban pastor. i couldn't stand board meetings and doctrinal arguments or sunday school planning meetings or bible studies that didn't seem to go anywhere. i had a hard time getting up for men's breakfasts and could barely pretend i didn't want to strangle myself when asked to attend ministerial meetings or promise keepers or city prayer times or some such. it wasn't anyone's fault but mine. i'm just not cut out to be a regular guy.

last night at club three work friends showed up. two of them i have known for a very long time. from time to time we have discussed goals and aspirations, often they have shaken their head at my way of thinking. they live in a different world, a world of security and affluence. from time to time i envy them their lives. from time to time they may envy mine. but i doubt it.

i realize again that i live in a world of unsecurity.

last night on the way back from club i asked my son ben how he was doing. i pondered with him how he felt about the fact that we have very little money and enquired whether or not he felt i should abandon the trajectory i am on now, in order to build some security in our lives and for our futures.

he looked at me like i was smoking crack.

ben is a quietly profound dude. he is my best friend. he just looked across the car and asked me in no uncertain terms whether i wanted a boring life or not. he didn't envy those other guys, he pitied them. what good was money, he said, if you weren't doing something radical?

i hate it when people use my own material against me...

last night at the club 3 guys walked into the punk concert to hear one of the bands, a country punk band called the stag reels, wearing colours. i have seen my fair share of bike gangs, have even been in a few gang houses, but had not heard of this group, the "scumbags". they had the mess of regular badges, on denim not leather, and the traditional 'don't screw with me' facial expressions. i silently wondered if there was going to be trouble until...

...until they walked by me and the last jacket had an addendum to the gang name. it read, "scumbags... skate team". skateboarders.

i found that mildly amusing. i mean, don't piss them off or they'll darkslide you. oh ya, and jump your rail. (add your bad allusion here)

this is the woman who is always in front of me at the grocery store.

everyone wants to know how to read the sexual body language

via darryl (who looks like jordon):
Christ didn't die so we could have worship services that meet our needs.
Christ didn't die so we could be treated with kid gloves like a fickle consumer on sunday mornings.
Christ didn't die so we could get something out of bible study or small group.
Christ didn't die so the church could be active and busy.
The central theme for far too many churches seems to be comfort and customer satisfaction.
The central theme for christianity is suffering, the executioner's cross, the blood spilled and body broken of Eucharist, baptism's metaphor of death burial and resurrection.

via jordon:
But here’s the thing: back then, it made sense for people to travel miles to hear someone talk about God. After all, people were mostly illiterate, Bibles were expensive, and Sunday morning was often the only time people could expand their horizons. Teaching was a rare commodity.

That’s no longer true today. Teaching is available everywhere—on television, radio, online. The local church no longer has the corner on the market.

The situation reminds of the banking industry. At one time, if you wanted to deposit or withdraw money, you had to go to the bank and stand in line. You had to fill out a slip and wait for someone to serve you. Today, there are independent ATMs capable of instantly dispensing cash everywhere—from grocery stores and restaurants, to sports stadiums and bars. I can’t remember the last time I actually “went to the bank.” It’s not that I’ve stopped needing money; it’s just that I choose to get it in other ways.

it's easy to compete, even when it comes to church. i've done it, more times than i remember. ministers and leaders position themselves, get drawn into the numbers game, compete for parishioners and dollars. it's sad really, but undeniably true.

i was at the club this morning and met the pastor of the biggest church in town, a church of thousands that holds a service on saturday nites, i guess in competition for the 30 people we have attend clubchurch. we laughed about it, but there was something there, under the surface.

someone called me this week and told me that they wouldn't be attending clubchurch anymore. someone in another church told them they had to 'choose' although they don't even have a service at the same time as ours.

it's very human, but very sad. we are all tempted to draw lines in the sand, choose teams and feel threatened by that which we don't approve of or feel threatened by. i think that's why i thought about going to church on saturday nite in the first place, so as to not polarize. it was a good idea but in retrospective a nieve one.