Paul (the one who wrote stuff in the Bible) made an interesting comment once that, in my translation, when it comes to talking about Jesus he cares less about peoples motives than the simple fact that they’re preaching about the right person. I may have misunderstood what Paul meant, but if I’m right I think that I’m learning better what he means.
Let me explain.
I don’t try to rebel against the establishment or anything like that. I’m just me and I like being me. I do, however, prefer not to do what everybody else is doing just because I hate the idea of people thinking that I’m trying to be like everyone else.
Enter one.org
I’ve been involved with one.org for quite a while (involved on a much lower level then I’d prefer, but involved none the less). Recently, however, Jess and I wanted to deepen our involvement by promoting their cause through awareness (i.e. wearing the bracelets and purchasing a shirt). Right after we purchased the stuff though I started seeing them everywhere, on TV, etc. I nearly regretted my decision to buy the stuff because it would seem like I was just trying to do what all the celebrities and such were doing…then I thought, wait a second, who gives a rip? What if it became the cool thing to support ending extreme poverty and the aids crisis in Africa? How great would that be? Who cares about the motivation, it would still serve a great purpose.
On to the final aspect of my story.
I wore the bracelet to my work and within a week had four people ask about them. Within a week and a day I’d given out ten of them. Someone even commented, “whats with the bracelets? Is that like the cool thing to wear now?”…i hope so

*If you’d like a bracelet, email me your address and I’ll send you one gladly. ryan@renovatus.com

Here’s a song we’ve just started singing at Renovatus. It’s quite different and strange and yet I find it appealing. Read the words and tell me what you think:
I will sing a song to you
And you will shake the ground for me
And the birds and bees and old fruit trees
Will spit out songs like gushing streams

And Jesus will come through the ground so dirty
With worms in his hair and a hand so sturdy
To call us his magic we call him worthy
Jesus came up through the ground do dirty

I will sing a song for to you
And you will stomp your feet for me
And the bears and bees and banana trees
Will play kazoos and tambourines

And Jesus will dance while we drink his wine
With soldiers and thieves and a sword in his side
And we will be joy and we will be right
Jesus will dance while we drink his wine

Jesus will come through the ground so dirty
With worms in his hair and a hand so sturdy
To call us his magic we call him worthy
Jesus came up through the ground so dirty

I’ve sat down to write a blog about six different times on six different topics. I got interrupted six different times and have now forgotten six different topics. So here I am now with nothing to post because I’ve forgotten all my “good” ideas (I think it’s evident why good is in quotations).
I’m tired…
Have I said that I love my church in a while? Well even if I have…I do. I love it. I’m supposed to be on staff part time but since Jess got prego I don’t feel like I’ve done much of anything. Irregardless I love being a part of the growing process. Let me be honest with you, though, it’s been frustrating that we haven’t grow as fast as I expected. I thought that at this point we’d easily exceed one hundred and I’m seriously not sure why we haven’t. I don’t get too caught up on numbers though, they are often very misleading.
Anyway…here’s the question I want to pose to you today…
Lets say, hypothetically, there were a restaurant who just recently decided to imposed a new charge upon their serving staff in order to bring in a few bucks. Lets say, hypothetically, that running credit card transactions are quite spendy, that it can range anywhere from 1.9-4.0 percent on the dollar paid in fees. The restaurant pays those fees to the credit card companies so that it can then accept those credit cards in exchange for services/food rendered. Lets now say, hypothetically, that the restaurant is now making the servers pay that fee back to the restaurant on all their credit card tips.
Is that right?
The restaurant has a contract with the credit card companies, but is choosing to pawn off the fees on their employees. If the employees were contracted out it would be a different story, the rules change. But as standard minimum wage employee can the restaurant require the servers to pay a bill that belongs to the company. It would be the equivalent of the restaurant requiring the servers to pay out for the floors to get cleaned every night…right?
So here’s the options: Unethical but legal. Illegal. It is neither unethical or illegal, just cheap.

Have you ever eaten a Mexican papaya?
I have a home community that meets at my house on Thursday nights. It’s one of my favorite that I’ve ever been a part of. Not because of what we talk about, not because of the leadership provided, or anything like that. But the group itself is filled with people who are truly intrigued by spirituality and learning. The whole foundation of this group is that we are exploring spirituality together and the process is as important as the outcome. So many of those who come (or will soon be coming) are not Christ followers. It’s cool.
Every week we have a creative snack. One week we provided milk and everyone else had to bring something to go with it. This week Jess and I will bring the ice cream and everyone else must bring a topping. It’s fun and creative. I like it…except for when we had everyone bring a cool or interesting fruit/veggie and one couple brought a Mexican papaya. Have you ever eaten one of these? Have you smelled one? They smell and taste like sweat! No joke.
I’ve got nothing against anyone bringing a smelly fruit to my house. I mean, I even tried to make everyone eat a piece. But they left it in my fridge! So now I’ve got stinky butt fruit fridge (and you can quote me on that).
Thank you Chris and Gina for your creativity. But whatever you do next week please don’t bring stinky butt ice cream toppings or else I might end up with stinky butt ice cream topping fridge next week.
Peace out.

This is found at the beginning of my mini Gideon New Testament that I was given by a noble soul at Clark College some years ago:

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the
doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its
precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.
read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It
contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer
you…Here is paradise restored, heaven open, and the gates of hell
disclosed…it is given you in life, it will be opened at the judgement, and be
remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the
greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

What is your reaction to those words? Good? Bad? I cut out some in the middle but left the beginning and end in tact, So what do you think?