Father, forgive me for I have sinned...it's been 2 weeks since my last post...

Yea, well I've been busy. I have refinished a hardwood floor (for someone who doesn't have a handy bone in his body this is no small feat) and it doesn't look to bad. Not as good as Vineyard Central's....but it was my first shot.

I have been working a demo of a song that Trish is going to give to Garth Brooks. I wrote a Christmas song a few years ago that gets rave reviews. Trish is going to a Dental conference where Garth is playing and set it up with the director to get it into Garth's hands.....I'm not holding my breath, but who knows...

I've also been writing some music again. Trish and I were asked to open up for Morning Vision at a fundraiser. I felt like God was wanting me to share where my heart is right now on this long journey.... Here is one of the offerings:

Love

I’ve tried my best to find you here
Where faith and reason seem to dissappear
If I could just believe
Beyond the suffering
Is Love....Your love

There’s something more than I can see
Beyond the senses, just out of reach
A holy mystery
Beyond theology
There’s love....Your love

I’ve tried to turn it
Into something I could earn
But I could never do enough
I could never do enough
I’m losing expectations
Trading obligations
For simple trust
Simple trust

There’s something more than I can see
Beyond the senses
Just out of reach
A holy mystery
Beyond theology
There’s love....Your love

Once again U2 is my favorite "worship" album... I love the double meaning in the chorus of this song.

All Because of You

I was born a child of grace
Nothing else about the place
Everything was ugly but your beautiful face
And it left me no illusion

I saw you in the curve of the moon
In the shadow cast across my room
You heard me in my tune
When I just heard confusion

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am...I am

I like the sound of my own voice
I didn't give anyone else a choice
An intellectual tortoise
Racing with your bullet train

Some people get squashed crossing the tracks
Some people got high rises on their backs
I'm not broke but you can see the cracks
You can make me perfect again

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am...I am

I'm alive
I'm being born
I just arrived, I'm at the door
Of the place I started out from
And I want back inside

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am

St. Stanislaus

Since many of you don't live in St. Louis you may not be familiar with the controversy going on over a Polish Catholic Church here. St. Stanislaus was founded by Polish Catholics in 1891 and has controlled their own property and finances since that time. They have done quite well without being under the control of the Catholic hierarchy but, there is a new Archbishop in town (can you here the Spaghetti Western music?).... He has decided that St. Stanislaus needs to be controlled by the Catholic Church and needs to turn all of their money and assets over, a total of about $9.2 million.

Needless to say, the parishioners feel differently. The board has fought the archbishop, because he really can't force them to turn over the assets. So, what does he do? He pulls their priest. That's okay. The parishioners fly in their own priest to celebrate Christmas mass. Now what would any self-respecting, power hungry archbishop do to get this church under control? Oh yeah! Threaten to withhold the sacraments and essentially excommunicate them if they don't "see the error of their ways and come back into the fold of the Catholic church." Well, the members took a vote and decided overwhelmingly to thumb their nose at the archbishop. It will be interesting to see how this power-play works out...

Money, power and property. I just wonder if the parishioners are seeing that there are better ways to be the church? Unfortunately, probably not.

Read about it here and here.

Christian fellowship is so much more than polite conversation at a missionary tea or looking at the back of people's heads in the pews in front of you. Most people don't understand the differnce between true fellowship and attending church services, and that is tragic because these two things often have so little in common.

Biblical fellowship involves people sharing together the reality of their spiritual journey. They trade insights into his ways and seek counsel in difficult circumstances, encouraging each other to greater trust in Father's working. They serve each other even when it is inconvenient, are honest with each other even when it is difficult, and pull together instead of pulling each other apart.

- Wayne Jacobsen (The Naked Church)

What is so interesting to me is how much of this I experienced in 12-step fellowships when I was younger. I caught glimpses of it in the church where we first started following Jesus, but since then....well, not much...

It is so nice to have a group of people to journey with and who accept each other for who we are. We haven't gathered for a few weeks so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night!

I'm back. I took a Christmas hiatus from the blogworld. I've been reading, just busy with other things....

We had a great Christmas and New Year. Good times with family and friend. Now it is time to job hunt and finish projects around the house. Maybe I can find time to write a song or two...I feel something coming on...