death in his grave

if you haven't heard of john mark mcmillan, you should be ashamed of yourself.

here's a taste.
new album out july 6th!

Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Though the Earth cried out for blood
Satisfied her hunger was
Billows calmed on raging seas
for the souls of men she craved

Sun and moon from balcony
Turned their head in disbelief
Their precious Love would taste the sting
disfigured and disdained

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But woke with the keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ laid
Death in his grave

So 3 days in darkness slept
The Morning Sun of righteousness
But rose to shame the throws of death
And overturn his rule

Now daughters and the sons of men
Would pay not their dues again
The debt of blood they owed was rent
When the day rolled a new

On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke holding keys
To Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave

He has cheated Hell and seated us above the fall
In desperate places he paid our wages one time once and for all

peter rollins

lately i have been challenged by the thoughts of peter rollins and his approach to following Jesus.

a big one being, and i'm paraphrasing, but he says that if we truly believed in God our lives will be transformed. if we truly believed in God we will be changed.

and if our lives aren't transformed, if being a Christian is just going to church, reading the bible, praying, singing songs, being nice, then maybe we really aren't following God.

chew on that.

this is ridiculous!

when are things going to change!

copy and paste the link below to see what i am talking about...

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-billion-dollar-gram/

the korogwe project...

my friend jesse is going to africa.

i could try and explain how he is going to build relationships and help farmers in a small village be more profitable with their crops but you should be smart and find out for yourself at www.thekorogweproject.com

to spread the word and involve people in this journey we are having a benefit concert at the gig harbor forza (next to harbor greens) on july 7th from 6:00 to 10:00 pm

you should come and learn how you can have an effect on someone else's life across the world.

watch. think. react.

what do we do? how do we respond?

let the conversations begin because i have a lot to learn...

your god sucks.

"I have something to say to the fast faith, consumerist churches of America. It’s not something that you want to hear, but something that I believe you need to hear. I definitely needed to hear it. I used to try to fit God into my own broken paradigm, instead of fitting into God’s way of seeing the world. I used to relegate Christianity to political stances and moralism. And I was missing out. It took me awhile to realize that it was my theology, my view of God, that needed fixing.

Maybe that’s where you are. If such is the case, then it’s time to face the facts: Your god sucks.

Your god dwells in man-made, concrete buildings. He likes frilly things like Easter brunches and well-decorated narthexes. He appreciates a good program and applauds any effort put forth to get people to come inside the building. When the congregants leave the building, he retires to the pastor’s office until the next scheduled activity.

Your god gets mad at you for no good reason like a fickle, teenage girl, and all you can do to make it up to him is try to be really, really good or at least do your best to hide all your faults. You return the favor, doing unto others as has been done unto you, compelling your “brothers and sisters” to perform religious acts of obligation, regardless of what’s in their hearts.

Your god doesn’t care particularly for the poor or the downtrodden. Anything that’s happening on the other side of the world is of little relevance to him; he knows that the Western world is where all the real, Holy Spirit action is happening.

He has a soft spot in his heart for rich people and appreciates the excess of time they have time to dedicate to going to church. He’s quite pleased that they’re not caught up in where their next meal will come from, so as not to bother him with such pathetic requests. He has a strong ethic about only helping people that first help themselves. He’s a fan of capitalism, listens to conservative radio, and doesn’t have time for weaklings.

When I think about it, your god looks a lot like Donald Trump.

Like I said, your god sucks.

Your god inspired a theology that says bad things happen to people just because they do and that it’s your job to deal with it.

According to him, the world’s problems are part of “the plan.” He allows pain in people’s lives, because they’re sinful and it’s their own fault. He doesn’t like to intervene, because that would upset the nature of the universe. His expectation is that you will diligently perform your duties and not bother him with petty requests like alleviating the suffering of the oppressed. He’s just too busy and aloof to redeem difficult and hopeless situations.

Your god is a one-size-fits-all, prepackaged sort of god that could be sold as an impulse buy in the Wal-mart checkout line next to the King-sized candy bars. Your god doesn’t want a contrite heart, but just some really good sacrifices. Your god is more concerned about whether you dragged yourself to church on Sunday than he is about what you did for the guy standing on the street corner. Your god uses felt boards and attendance sheets. His idea of grace is letting slide those few times you fell asleep during the sermon, so long as you’ve made up for it with plenty of other activities.

Your god is a black-and-white god with principles, agendas, and schedules that can’t be broken or bent. He isn’t interested in relationship or communication. Your god doesn’t move or speak in personal ways anymore; that was before the Reformation and the printing press.

Again, I say: your god sucks.

Your god sucks because he’s controllable. Your god sucks because he’s tame and predictable. Most of all, your god sucks, because he looks nothing like Jesus, and I’m convinced he’s not the real God at all."
- written by jeff goins,
article found on relevant magazine website

calling all youth pastors...

...or anyone who works with kids, has kids, or is planning on having kids.

"imagine just how much is available to them. they have more at their fingertips than any generation in the history of the world-more information, more entertainment, more ideas, more ways to kill time, more options.

many of them own more than one pair of shoes.

there are even some among them who have eaten at least one meal every day of their lives.

so we are talking about a miniscule minority of kids in the world.

at the exit off the highway near their church is a best buy and a chili's and a circuit city and a mcdonalds and a wal-mart and a bed, bath and beyond, much like the other towns in their state and in their country. the music they listen to is distributed by one of five major corporations, which also own the movie studios that create the movies they watch, which are also connected to the corporations that create the food they eat and the commercials they watch, which also have significant ties to the clothes they wear and the cell phones they own, and the ring tone on their cell phones, the one by the artist who is signed to the record label that is owned by the same company that owns the cell phone company and the advertising agency that announced the artist's new album, which is owned by the same company that owns the beverage company in whose advertisement the artist appeared, drinking that particular beverage, singing the song that is now a ring tone on the students' phones that they purchased at the mall across the street from the olive garden nest door to the home depot on the other side of the starbucks.

and so each week gather to hear a talk from the pastor.

their pastor tells them of the Jesus revolution.

about Jesus resisting the system.

about the blood on the cross.

about many of the first christians getting arrested.

about Jesus having dinner with prostitutes and tax collectors.

about people sharing their possessions.

about Jesus telling a man to sell everything.

about the uniqueness of their story in the larger story of redemption.

how do children of the empire understand the savior who was killed by an empire?

how does a twelve-year-old who has never had hunger pangs that lasted more than an hour understand a story about a twelve-year-old providing fish and bread for thousands of chronically hungry people?

how do kids who are surrounded by more abundance than in any other generation in the history of humanity take seriously a messiah who said, "i have been anointed to preach good news to the poor"?

how do they fathom that half the world is too poor to feed its kids when their church just spent two years raising money to build an addition to their building?

they gather, they sing, they hear a talk from the pastor, and then they get back in the car with their parents and they go home; the garage door opens up, the car goes in, and the garage door goes down.

this is the revolution?

this is what Jesus had in mind?"
- rob bell, Jesus wants to save christians (pg. 136-138)

any thoughts?