Please, Lord, help us have compassion for those on the other end of a pointed finger. Hate is not holy. Love is why you came.

88 years was still not long enough. Say a prayer, Mama Bear. You're resting with Jesus tonight. Rest in peace, Jan Berenstain.

Floccinaucinihilipilification: the act of describing something as worthless. The longest non-technical word in English.

This message brought to you by the armistice between comcast & verizon. We have internet again!! And there was much rejoicing!!

@LifeWayWomen: "True religion is all hands on deck and all heads out of the sand." -Beth Moore, James

Halfway through day 1 of the coffee fast & so far so good. I miss it, but I *can* do this. Going through a heck of a lot of earl grey.

Starting the am w/some Earl Grey tea. Yes, fellow trekkers, its hot. Day 1 of the coffee fast for social justice. What will you fast from?

Today is my last day of coffee before the 40 day fast for social justice. What can you go w/o to stand up for those who need a voice?

My church is doing a 40 day fast for social justice. I am fasting from :::gasp::: coffee. I am going to need * a lot* of prayer & support.

I have this. Bad. RT@mental_floss: According to the @LATimes, Nomophobia-the fear of being without your cellphone, or "no-mobile-phobia"-is on the rise.

Think you're beyond God's reach? Think again. God used a prostitute 2 help Israel take Jericho. Even put her in Jesus' lineage. She's Rahab.

I refuse to believe that I am a 2nd class Christian because I have xx chromosomes. Just sayin.

God is for you, even if He gets a bit confrontational with you...like any good parent who confronts & corrects their children.

Me: How 'bout that rain today, Kieron?
Kieron: it stopped. :::dryly:::
Love conversing with a 12 yo autistic boy. <3

Nor is He a celestial vending machine. RT@StephenMiller: Jesus is not your personal assistant... He is your King.

Get over yourself, Church.

Casting Crowns, "If We Are The Body" video

One very wise and clever blogger friend of mine wrote about a mass exodus from The Church and the reasons and excuses behind it.

Some walk into a church with unrealistic expectations.  Saved ex-gang members oft walk in and are bitterly disappointed that the Church isn't more like the one they have read about in the New Testament.  More like the gang they left; where loyalty and support was key...in a dysfunctional and demented sort of way, but it worked.

Some expect a Utopian sort of unbelievable lightness of being place where its all unicorns, glitter and pumped sunshine from sunup to sundown.  When this never happens they and their faith are shattered, just like the impossible illusion they built up in their head.

Mostly, however, its more a case of what Casting Crowns sing about in "If We Are The Body".

Church cliques who grew old but never grew out of the sophomoric exclusion games can chase eager seekers away fast.  Overly judgmental and overly pious people who were too busy being all in someone else's business to notice they left their own closet door open.  And all their own skeletons came tumbling out.

I know, because I've been there.  Its the reason my "Old Church" is my old, as in former, church.

Frankly, they need to get over themselves and quick.  Their friends may be impressed with their skill and execution of alienating the new person, or they may share high-fives over marginalizing a person who to them doesn't belong.  Who's not good enough, pretty enough, or been in a church long enough to share space with them.  Its sad, really.

Jesus made a habit of reaching out to the very people that society had cast out and given up on.  And now they're turning their back and making sport of those that need The Church the most.

The Body.  His hands and feet.

Get over yourselves, Church.  Start doing the work you were sent here to do.

It would be a refreshing change.

Hold onto your hats, boys.

I've been quiet of late.  Been trying to figure out what direction to go.

Pens are great.  I spend more than my share at Jetpens-dot-com.  But there is more to life than a pen.

Even really cool ones with deep, black emulsion ink that don't smear...

But I digress.

So, after about thirty seconds of deep, pensive thought, I thought I'd write about pens AND deeper spiritual things.

Hold onto your hats, boys.

Its about to get interesting.