Gettin' Inked

After 17 years together, 12 years of that being married and four kids later my super hardcore wife and I went out for our twelfth anniversary and got tattoos.

This was my sixth tattoo and my wife's first. Now, for a first tattoo you'd think my wife would just get some cute little butterfly no bigger than a nickel down by her ankle. But no, my beloved went for the 6 inch long tattoo on her bicep!!

One flower for each of our kids.
She's so quiet but yet just so tough.

The Real Question of WWJD

This is a response from someone that is a great friend to me. I asked him his thoughts on Christianity especially with what he sees right here in our city that we both live in and work in, the whole WWJD thing and the perspective he has on the "church" because he is not a christian but man does he "get it"!

Here it is, read it and weep:

What Would Jesus Do? a response from Steven May

We see this acronym plastered on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and hanging from key chains all in typical American fashion. And, keeping in step with typical American thought, it has become a meaningless gesture to be no more than a symbol of inclusion.

So, what would he do? A good question to be posed. First, we need to ask, are Jesus' life and words a set of stories to be told once a week to give individuals relief of their conscience as they stroll off the six other days to feed institutions that create poverty, war, and ignorance across the globe. Or, was his life and words an example, a call to action. If it is simple scripture to be quoted, then we are mere children poised on a fence gazing at an orchard, but never tasting the delicious fruit within. But, if it is in fact a call to action, the question is, what wouldn't Jesus do.

He wouldn't build a church that cost millions of dollars and took in even more in revenue, while children mere miles away picked through garbage to gain enough sustinence to live one more day.
How do I know this? Because he didn't, his church was no more than his body and the earth, and his life was dedicated to the needy.

What would he do then? He would openly defy authority in the church and in government, as he did in his time and was ultimately sentenced to death for it. And, as some churches openly display the flag of a nation built on the genocide of the indigenous people who came before, I wonder do they really consider what would Christ do. Would he wave the flag of a nation who's prisons are comprised almost exclusively of people from at or below the poverty line? The same prisons where 80% of the population is comprised of blacks, although they only make up 10% of the national population. Would he support a system that executes the mentally retarded, or anyone for that matter? For a non-white homeless man who was sentenced to death, we need to truly ask ourselves, what would Jesus do?

Does Christ hold a special place in his heart for conservative white upper-class americans, as many churches would lead you to believe? Or, does he love gay activists, communists, muslim fundamentalist bombers, abortion doctors, and drug addicts equally? I say he does, only because I've read his words and know the life he lived.

What would Jesus do? He would take action to help the poor, the imprisoned, the sick, the homeless. He would challenge the government that allows and perpetuates these social ills. He would challenge the churches who pick and choose doctrine to justify greed and material wealth, while children go hungry.

I know all these things because it is what he did, in his own life. So, maybe instead of hiding under fish symbols and acronyms, we should contemplate what Jesus did do.

Hayhurst on the mound for the Padres!

A good friend of mine, Dirk Hayhurst, started pitching Major League baseball yesterday for the San Diego Padres.

I'll be officiating his wedding in October - that'll be a story in itself, I'm sure. It's been surreal talking to Dirk as he made his debut in front almost 40,000 fans. He's such a good man, a great writer and exceptionally talented at sarcasm!

It was great sitting around a living room full of his friends as we listened to the game here in Kent as he started the game out there in San Francisco. I think we all wanted to explode in tears of joy as we tried to imagine what our friend must have been feeling like as he reached that place that every passionate baseball player strives for.

Here's how it went for him: MLB.com

Dirk was also named the Community Man of the Year in Portland just a few days ago where he was playing for the Minor League team, the Portland Beavers.

Statistics shmistics!

67.7% of all statistics
are made up
on the spot.

Crap... how the heck will folks coerce people into coming to "church" now that I've exposed the truth about statistics with statistics?!?!

Feel like wrestling?

Here is a link to an article definitely worth reading. It's written on Greg Boyd's blog and it is so very worthy of wrestling with. I've been reading lots and lots of Greg's essays, blog entries and some great "Q & A" sessions.

Here it is:
Washing Osama's Feet

Hopefully, when you go to the link and take a nice long look at the painting of Jesus washing the feet of the leaders around the world you will begin a discussion with Jesus on the great love of God. Take God's word for it... not just what your pastor says because even he/she jacks it up.

A Nice Way to Crush the Mundane Way of Things... Enjoy