"We need the church because it contains the truth (found in the creeds), because it has the songs that teach us about the faith (found in the hymns), and because we need to hear the Word of God, which according to Romans 10, is the means of the faith (found in the Bible). For some, like Rich [Mullins], it also offers us the body and blood of Christ, the spiritual nourishment needed to sustain life. But there is something more we need: we need to see Christ in one another.

God works through many means to reach us, but His primary means is through each other. We carry Christ to one another. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer explained and Rich believed, I need the Christ that is in you, and you need the Christ that is in me. We need each other."

- from Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven


bought here in america yesterday. will be watching the dvd soon.


update: okay, so i didn't know that the percussion on "screen door" consisted solely of the cup game [play at speed, in quicktime, on loop, to get the idea]. i love that he made a song about a highly debated passage of the bible, and set it to a silly party game. also, i'm now fascinated with the dulcimer. i shall somehow attempt to learn the instrument before i die.

and to think: all the songs that have gone unwritten since 1997.

and i believe that what i believe
is what makes me what i am
i did not make it, no it is making me
it is the very truth of God
and not the invention of any man...

today was impromptu shopping spree day [i spent HOW much??]. at one point in the day three or four women, obviously good friends, happened to be trying on their hopeful purchases at the same time i was. many pants were being tried on, from the sounds of things. during one moment of truth, i could only imagine the expressions and the scene:

woman #1: well... what do you think?
woman #2: oh, wow. i like those.
woman #3: those look GREAT!
woman #1: ooo. you think they look okay, then?
woman #2: oh, yeah.
woman #3: i mean... they're perfect. just look at your butt in those!

there was a definite murmur of agreement about her butt. hell, i almost peeked out myself, just to see how good it looked. at any rate, there was a woman #4 of the group in the stall beside my own. i'm not sure if she witnessed the fantastic butt pants or not, but i'm pretty sure she didn't know there was an outsider in the dressing room.

the way she perfectly captured the inflection and the lilt of woman #3 -- "just look at your butt!" -- repeated at least two, possibly three times, in an absent-minded, slightly exaggerated, parrot-like aside... i had to stop and sit down because i was laughing so hard.

"julie", wherever you are: you totally made my day.

- eating waaaaay too much [i.e., ANY] monkey bread and no-bake cookies at 8:30am at the office; subsequently sugar-crashing half an hour later
- eating waaaaay too much at the office potluck; subsequently falling into a food coma upon digestion
- playing in an outdoor concert at 7pm in six hundred percent humidity

oh gosh. i can't remember how i got to this site, but it's freaking funny.

what IS it with people giving their kids ridiculous names?

ah... nothing quite like a fresh set of guitar strings.

ooo. shiny.

Phil: "There's something I want to say to you, and I want you to listen very closely. Because it's very important. The man we just chased from here--"
Bob: [shaking his head] "We didn't chase anybody."
Phil: "The man who just left the room a moment ago, is a very good friend of mine. Is it because I've known him for a long time? Well, there are a lot of people who I have known for quite awhile. And some of them, I wouldn't let wipe my dog's ass. Others I can take or leave; they don't matter to me. But Larry matters very much. The reason being, I can trust him. I know I can trust him. He's honest."
Bob: "Is he honest? Or is he just blunt?"
Phil: "He's honest, Bob. He's blunt as well. That's sometimes part of being honest. Because there are a lot of people who are blunt but not honest. Larry is not one of those. Larry is an honest man.  [takes a drag from his cigarette]  You too are an honest man, Bob. I believe that. Somewhere down deep inside of you is something that strives to be honest. The question that you have to ask yourself is: 'Has it touched the whole of my life?'"
Bob: "What does that mean?"
Phil: "That means that you preaching Jesus is no different than Larry or anybody else preaching lubricants. It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus, or Buddha, or civil rights, or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down'. That doesn't make you a human being. It makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being... ask 'em about his kids. Find out what his dreams are. Just to find out -- for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it's not a conversation anymore. It's a pitch. And you're not a human being. You're a marketing rep."

- from The Big Kahuna [1999]


"The loss of confidence in previously entrenched certainties, coupled with a growing suspicion of the institutions built around those certainties, has led to a new openness to explore alternative explanations of the world of experience. However, for Christians to engage people who are earnestly seeking alternative explanations that are more convincing and comprehensive requires a commitment to listen patiently and discerningly. It necessitates an unconditional acceptance of those who are content to live with ambiguity, and it requires the humility to communicate in open dialogue with those who hold a pluralistic worldview. The confidence of the witness must be in Christ alone and not in religious institutions or in the impregnability of a Christian apologetic. Any hint that the witness is motivated by a desire to enhance an institution or to monopolize conversation will cause the people with whom he or she is in contact to turn away uttering expletives as they go!"

- from ChurchNext: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry by Eddie Gibbs


"'As church leaders we would do well to study the various characteristics of postmodern culture. But our goal is not to uncritically adopt the trends. It is to understand what the people pursuing the trends are hungering for. What people are really hungering for is community, authenticity, and genuine faith.' So says Rah Soong-Chan in his article 'Navigating the Cultural Currents.'

Young people today are looking for truth that applies to their lives. In the past, Christian evangelism assumed that non-Christians needed to be convinced about biblical truth through a logical argument. Today's university students are rarely convinced about Christian beliefs through well-reasoned arguments and traditional Christian apologetics. In his article 'What Good is Truth?' William Dyrness says, 'People have come to instinctively distrust universal claims and are longing for more visible evidence of truth.' What they are looking for is truth evident in the life of another person."

- from Witnessing Communities & the kingdom of God [IVCF]




[yes, rachel, i'm finally reading it.]

i never thought that tacking just one more hour onto my workday would leave me so exhausted. and why don't they tell you in your accounting classes about all the extra crap you have to deal with in actual working situations? accounting. i want to do ACCOUNTING. i don't want to redirect mail, i don't want to pull teeth to get information from co-workers, i don't want to correct mistakes from two or three different parties. accounts, funds, debits, credits: this, i can deal with. this, i want. this, i am thinking, is a dream world.

and it gets me to wondering... what would it be like to have my own business someday? and what kind of business might that look like?