This is blasphemy...this is madness...this is church

the long boring sermon went on and one*no humor*no purpose*just rambling options about what he though was right and what he thought was wrong*but then the faint sound of snoring from the back captures my attention and i laugh a little on the inside*i am not alone* one more story and i will be done -- the fourth time he has made that statement and yet i still do not believe him* my butt is starting to hurt* it feels like it is 60 degrees in here* ahhhhh* why does she keep looking at me rolling her eyes*get me out of here now

whispers*did you know that sarah just stopped coming* i heard she now goes to the lake on sundays* really* i thought she was just embarrassed about being impregnated for the second time by the man she is not married to but sleeps with*huh* she doesn't even take care of that baby she has got right now* she left it a few weeks ago in a hot car all by itself* i heard cps almost took the baby from her* you know she is doing drugs again* well she better not come around my house that little slut drug dealer* hopefully she will not bring that spirit in this church* (sarah who has never done drugs and has never had sex walks out of the hospital sunday afternoon after donating a kidney to her diabetic brother)

beautiful aesthetics* lots of programs and events* friendly greeters at the door* expensive suits choir robes electronic equipment* large steeples* exciting fellowship gatherings* financial campaigns* coffee shops and restaurants* flyers mailouts promotionals* websites and podcasts* all inside

drunkards* homeless* lonely* radicals* liberals* atheists* agnostics* pagans and wicans* buddhists* homosexuals* thieves* murders* child molesters* rock and rap music* intellectuals* all outside

what seems so pretty on the inside really belongs on the outside and what seems so ugly on the outside should be on the inside* is this blasphemy...is this madness...no this is church* jesus came to seek and save what is lost not lose what could be saved* the church needs to be radical* it needs to tear down wall and barriers* it needs to be relevant* or it does not need to be at all

I Cried in the Wilderness

david sped up* faster*faster* his breath visible in the cold air as he gasped for every inhalation possible*no time for looking back* branches breaking under his feet as he journeyed deeper and deeper into the woods* away from civilization* away from people*away from the pain and suffering

just a single tree stood in the wooded area* old* weathered* enduring time* yet now withering away* the leaves had all fallen off its branches long ago and the bark on its trunk rots as the days go by*forgotten*abandoned*hope resting on the thought that one might just pass by


she was handed the paper by her teacher* he knew she had cheated on her final exam*F* the grade was obvious* had she have ever thought she would be caught the attempt would have never even been contemplated*but it was* guilt*humiliation *fear *hopelessness *a feeling of loneliness as if secluded in a vast and dangerous wilderness crossed her mind

i cried in the wilderness* no one was there* i so longed that someone would hear my plea* no one was there* tears fell in my wilderness* they never hit the ground* caught up in my frustrations they simply faded with time* anger in my wilderness* no one to blame* just my own ambition* neglect* choices* mistakes* why is none found in my wilderness*

a simple plea and there it is* a light shining through the darkness of the forest* a glimmering sign of hope* joy* peace* and there in the depths of my mind a small voice saying i am here in your wilderness* so i run to as fast as i can from the doubt that consumes my soul to the edge of my wilderness where life comes into view* i turn to see my wilderness behind me and without hesitation we return to life