go to willow creek's website here and watch the preview. i've seen this almost a dozen times [including sunday] and it's still fascinating. every time.

[for the record... when you get to it... it's not a mushroom cloud. you'll see what i mean]. 

in the "free/giveaway" section of a local paper:

WORST DOG EVER Free to good home. Not fixed, doesn't come when called, runs away, kills chickens and has foul smell. 

Do you feel the darkness tremble
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokenness

[from Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble? by delirious]

ok. so, i have to admit, i dismissed this song quite a few years ago. it was overplayed in college and it just got to be a little overdramatic at times. i wrote it off, assuming it was just a phase, and would die off like "the happy song" and "i will not forget you", never to be heard again.

however. we have played it a couple of times in the last few months at church. and while the chorus doesn't do much for me [dancers who dance upon injustice? the hell?], that last verse? i forgot about that last verse. that last verse is hard to get through.

there is something powerful about knowing that christ died for little old me. but there is something far more intense and powerful and sacred in knowing that christ died for all. our brokenness... it is overwhelming and it is grand and it is frightening and it is beautiful. it is constant and we cannot run from it. what is staggering to me is that the river is forever moving and it is always powerful and it leaves nothing behind. all is washed away in its mighty fury. our weaknesses, our fears, our failures, our struggles and our sins... they are swept up and taken away. we are reminded that his mercies are new every morning. this river is patient and kind and keeps no record of wrongs. it is continuous and cleansing and the gates of hell tremble before its power and the power of those caught up in its mercy and strength. the river, this love, our God, never fails.

brokenness is weird. to refuse its presence, we are nothing. but when we acknowledge it, we gain power beyond measure.

go here. trust me! it will be fun.

i have this on a t-shirt. in my apartment. somewhere. it is nice.

i feel like i should have something profound to say, but i got nothing.

happy easter.

hallelujah. 

i wonder how long he's been sitting on this joke.