Our good friend Jamie planned a Thanksgiving Dinner for the less fortunate at our church this year. We had volunteers from six churches in our area to cook the food and serve as volunteers at the event. In our little town it is a miracle to get six churches together to do anything! Heck, the Southern Baptist Church wouldn't come to the Commmunity Thanksgiving Service because a woman was speaking....guess, you gotta take a stand somewhere (insert sarcasm).

Anyway, the dinner was awesome! We had truly needy people show up to eat and have some fellowship. Rich, the gentleman that we sat with, is going to lose his apartment in 2 weeks if he doesn't find a job. He wanted to talk more than eat, and I was happy to oblige. He shared with us the miracles that he sees God doing in his life... Then Jamie packed up to-go boxes with food and sent the teenagers out to the hospital and gas stations to give then a Thanksgiving Dinner. In my opinion, this is one of the few times I've seen our church, or any church in our area, express the heart of Jesus.

Let me tell you about Jamie. Jamie is a fireball. She is the kind of person that won't let anyone stand in her way. I love that about her! She loves to laugh and is the life of the party, and has a heart for the less fortunate. God is doing some cool things in her life! Though our church staff made it difficult to pull this off she forced it through, and once again, God was present when the church existed to bless people with no ulterior motive.

Questions

In his book "Dangerous Wonder," Mike Yaconelli discusses risky curiosity. The risk of asking questions. Mike suggests that people are afraid to ask questions for the following reasons:

1. Questions can be embarrassing.
2. Questions can make people uncomfortable.
3. Questions can be dangerous.
4. People think there are "right and wrong" questions.

This is a character trait that I don't lack. I love to ask questions. I don't really care if the questions make others uncomfortable either. I believe good questions are vital to the spiritual journey.

What happens when people ask questions? Often times they get isolated from others. The four reasons given above causes others to be uncomortable around people who dare to ask questions. I've experienced this many, many times. Just go to a church ministry meeting and start asking question. . . Mike says, "Our questions may chase everyone else away, but they attract Jesus. We may be stuck with our questions, but we are also stuck with Jesus. If our questions leave us alone with Jesus, then lonely isn't a bad place to be."

Here are some of the questions I'm asking, and will continue to ask. Feel free to add to the list....

• What does it mean to love, and be loved by Jesus?
• What does it mean to be the Church, the Bride of Christ?
• What helps me recognize the presence of Jesus in my life?
• What does it mean to have relationships? With others? With Jesus?
  
• Where is Jesus leading me? The others that I'm journeying with?
• How is Jesus expressing himself through me? The others I'm journeying with?

On a personal note, there are some other questions:

• Jesus, when will I find a job!
• Jesus, could you give me some more direct direction.

Kinda, kidding.....

We went to Columbia, Mo. yesterday to hang out with some brothers and sisters of the same Father. Matt, Amy, Matt and Cindy are some great folks on a similar journey. It was great being able to hear their stories about how they have come to believe in a "simple" faith. Though our stories differ, we have a definate connection...JESUS! It was so refreshing hanging out with some folks that take the journey to love, and be loved, seriously.

We ate (and drank) at the Flat Branch Pub and Brewery where we tried a sampler of the various brews they offered. The green chile beer pretty good! We learned about each other's journey, ate some food and drank some beer together. Sounds like "church" to me....

Then Matt took us to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park which was very cool. Some great paths to hike complete with caves for the kids to "explore." We talked about everything under the sun...movies, parenting, church.... We had a great time and hope to do it again sometime....

We are so grateful that God is continuing to put people into our lives to journey with. Geographical distance doesn't seem like such an issue. God continues to use the internet to make connections and make the world a lot smaller...

Maybe next time we can get George, Bruce, Eddie, Tom, Deb. . .to join us! I get the feeling someday we all may get to hang out together....

I'll try to post some pictures if I can figure it out.

Predicatability and faith cannot coexist. What characterized Jesus and his disciples was unpredictability. Jesus was always surprising the disciples by eating at the wrong houses (those of sinners), hanging around the wrong people (tax collectors, adulterers, prostitutes, lepers), and healing people on the wrong day (the Sabbath). There was no Day Timer, no strategic plan, no mission statement; there was only the eager anticipation of the present moment. The Pharisees wanted Jesus to the same as they were. his truth should be the same truth that they had spent centuries taming. But truth is unpredictable. When Jesus is present, everyone is uncomfortable yet mysteriously glad at the same time. People do not like surprises - even church people - and they don't want to be uncomfortable. They want a nice tame Jesus.

You know what? Tameness is not an option.

Take surprise out of faith and all that is left is dry and dead religion. Take away the mystery from the gospel and all that is left is frozen petrified dogma. Lose your awe of God and you are left with an impotenet deity. Abandon astonishment and you are left with meaningless piety. When religion is characterized by sameness, when faith is franchised, when the genuiness of our experience with God is evaluated by its similarities to others' faith, then the uniqueness of God's people is dead and the church is lost.

Mike Yaconelli (Dangerous Wonder)

Preach it brother!

God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

This is getting close to how I feel about politics.

God is so faithful....no, no job yet. It'll come. But, God keeps putting people in our lives to journey with after a long time of loneliness. For instance, I'm giving guitar lessons to help make ends meet and a lady from church came over with her son. She talked to Trish while I gave the lesson. By the time I came upstairs they were chatting about our little group of misfits and how she would love to hang out with us.

We are going to Columbia, Mo. to hang out with some friends we haven't met yet. Matt and Matt are on a similar spiritual journey and we are really looking forward to spending some time with them. It is awesome how God is using the internet to bring people together as an expression of His body.