I don't always like lent (a season of fasting to prepare for Easter), but I do like Isaiah 58, which gets a lot of reading during the season. Here it is (verses 6-9), from the message translation.

"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am."

Do this and your lives will turn around at once. Wow. Too bad so few people (and I include myself and a million other Christians actually choose to try it.)

This year, for lent, I am going to memorize this, and try to live it.

Too bad (for you) none of you owe me money--because it's debt canceling season!

I'll have to talk with Janelle about inviting the homeless poor into our home, but maybe we can find a way.

Ok, so I love politics but I don't talk about them in public too much because it isn't good for me professionally. But I can say that I am happy for tomorrow. So they are, 10 Things I like about Super Tuesday.

1. My primary vote counts. This is the first time in my life that my primary vote ever mattered in a presidential election.

2. I don't feel like I am choosing "the lessor of two evils."

3. I can walk to my polling place.

4. I haven't been turned off by ugly attack ads (this has surprised me. I think maybe they are all on cable?)

5. It's a double event day, since it matches up with Mardi Gras.

6. It's the same week as the Super bowl, and really, there isn't too much else that is described as "super" any more, so we get it all in one week (if only a superman movie were released tomorrow).

7. There will be record voter turnout. The more people participate in democracy, the better it is.

8. Not having given money means not getting campaign phone calls. Ditto having vonage, I think.

9. Making punny jokes about "poll workers."

10. Listening to Derek Webb sing Savior on Capitol hill, and remembering that no matter who wins, they will likely let me down. (I guess I don't like that fact, but I love the song.)

This month, I turn 30. That feels old. But I will go and see some older people that still rock, and it will make me feel better. I will journey into the suburbs (Williamsville) where there is a 3D concert film of the greatest band in the history of earth. I am going on the 25th (after my birthday, but my sister will be in town), and anybody who wants to join (and maybe hang out afterward) is welcome.

No presents are expected--just come and join the fun!

Wow.

Paul, you clearly showed how religion can be a key ingredient to a whole host of problems. Sadly, this is not the first time I have heard a story like this. I have a friend who basically shared my values, but would never go to church with me because it caused her to have panic attacks. Another friend avoids church because during a bi-polar break she talked to God in a way that was not healthy at all.

Enknot, I would love to hear more of your story--maybe over coffee instead of through the internets, that way we don't have to worry about what other people might read. At the very least, maybe I can help you find the Bible stories that you wish to find. Probably the best story to teach honesty is the story of Annias and Saphira, who lied to the apostles and were struck dead, but that's not exactly the kind of thing we want to share with kids.

One of my favorite theologians once said, "You know we've gone and messed up Christianity when we started thinking it's someihing good for our kids."

I think what he meant by that is that the Bible isn't really the best way to get kids to grow up in the way that the American dream teaches people to grow up. To "succeed" in the the US, you have to go along with the ways and values of our empire. But Christ taught a way of life that values entirely different things. So Christians are called to love justice, and to find it, not through violence, but through love. When we seek justice instead of power and accolades and stuff, the ways of the empire seem insignificant. But the whole world lives according to the ways of the empire--this is why Jesus and so many of the first Christians were killed.

Do you want to raise a kid to believe something so radical and dangerous? I think it is a fair question, and because of it, it is important that parents think twice before they baptize their kid.

On the other hand, if this new way of living is good and better (and I obviously believe that it is) then it is worth sharing with your kids. And while I appreciate the sentiment of waiting until they are old enough to choose, remember that not everyone else will wait. If your kid watches tv, they are going to be hit with thousands of images that tell them that stuff will make them happy. If they grow up in the U.S., the news will show them that the way to peace and security is through violence (or the threat of it). If they play video games, they will learn that consequences aren't real--a simple reset button will let them start over easily (and while I love video games, I have found that this is not the case in real life. For all the cops I might shoot in Grand Theft Auto, I would only get the chance to shoot one in real life--note: I have not and will not shoot cops, this is just an example :) )

I guess what I am saying is that if you want if you want your kids to be different than the average kid (and I think the average kid is messed up), than you have to work on him/her from the start. Yes, it can have bad effects (see Paul's post), but so can doing nothing.

I wish I had more time these upcoming days to explore this further. I think I will be away from a computer until Wednesday night, but if I can get a hold of a laptop, I will check in. Until then, please forgive any lack of further response.

And I promise I will never quote Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young again.

I guess I have not been a good peep. Maybe I am depressed because I was so severely thrashed at Balderdash by (e:Jim). Really, that's my game and I am not used to losing, let alone being dominated.

Seriously, I think it has just been a lot of stuff happening at the church. I thought that this was going to be my week to catch up, but it only takes one memorial service to change that.

Anyway, on to the question at hand. I have been invited to apply to be on the board of a certain village association. I am leaning towards doing this (pending a talk with (e:Janelle)), but have not decided yet. Frankly, I like much of what they do, but not all of it. The way I see it, is it is better to get involved than to complain, but really, not getting involved is so much easier.

What say the peeps?

Every white Christian should read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" regularly. It still makes me shiver. This quote seems to have been downright prophetic:

So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Ok, everything about the trip was great. I did some good work, met some good people, and had some good thoughts. But another thing sticks in my mind, too. The Red Fish Grill.

Everybody told me to eat there, which, in normally means that I would not eat there. But we were walking through the French Quarter with Vic (I should post about him, too) and he suggested it, and I was not in a mood to suggest something else. I am glad I did not.

I have not eaten a better meal in a LONG time. Fortunately, the recipe for what I ate is available on their website, so I can hopefully eat it again without spending big bucks. Here it is:

I honestly have not had seafood so good. Kook can back me up on this. It didn't taste fishy, but instead it was smokey-rich-spicy-sweet. Amazing.

Got back from New Orleans. It was great. I should give more information but Janelle and I are watching Simpsons DVDs, and I don't feel like thinking.

I am tired, and I have a long list of things to do. I have church stuff 3 evenings this week, and all of them are kind of time consuming. And I have decided to launch TWO new classes in February, so I have that coming up, too. That and there are a couple of other new initiatives that I don't want to blog about, yet. Oh yeah, and I am supposed to help another church begin a process of transformation

I still haven't written thank you notes, I am working with two couples that are going to get married, and there is a woman that is very sick. I need to visit her often, and I really should get out to see the other homebound people soon.

Oh right, I have to lead worship/preach on Sunday, too.

This is just me on Sunday night feeling tired. I'm sure it will all get done.

I'm on a borrowed computer, so all I can say now is that there is an update on elmwoodjesus.org

As you have heard, we are here. I am not going to update too much here though, because I will be posting on elmwoodjesus.org, hopefully with pics.