so much for that whole girl thing...

(editor's note: these posts were recollected and written on december 28th in the early am while keeping myself awake through a graveyard shift at work. the post date reflects the day of the actual event.)

After getting diverted at practically the last second last week, i was pretty excited to finally go to Grace Community Church for a couple of reasons. One, i was excited to see my friend Will Reagan, who leads worship there; and Two, the possibility of seeing a girl who actually recognized me by name after at least 4 years, and getting to follow up with that. 

So i get there about 10 minutes early, and there's still not a lot of people there, but Will is there, and i make small talk with him about how he just got back in the country(he's quite the globetrotting fellow...it seems like he's always either about to leave for somewhere foreign, or he's just come back), while scanning the room for the aforementioned girl. As the service begins, there's no sign. I shouldn't have been surprised. We settle into the music. There are some simple songs (that i'm assuming that Will himself has written) that are quite powerful, and some old standard contemporary stuff and a hymn mixed in. The people of the congregation are all friendly, and all want to know who i am and what i do, which can be kind of intimidating, not to mention repetitive, what with saying "hi, how are you" over and over again. 

I don't remember much of the verbatim of the pastor's sermon, but i do have a song from it. The previous week, something the pastor at Redeemer said sparked an idea, so i wrote that image down, and when i got home, i ended up adding some lines to it. I should go back and edit that post to include those lyrics. At any rate-here's the song from Grace Community Church.

Peace Will Come(John 14:27)

baking in the desert sand and sun

reeling from a life lived on the run

in this life of chaos

i am begging for a change

i've always been your wayward son

with words of war upon my tongue

i will swing this sword

until my thirst is quenched

oh God your hand avails for me

you made me friend not enemy

and in the midst of struggle

you have overcome

so let not my heart be troubled

let not my sin destroy this hope

peace will come oh peace will come

peace will come

Next up is Crossings Church, and the conclusion of "The Great Church Search of '08".

Really? A Retreat?

(editor's note: these posts were recollected and written on december 28th in the early am while keeping myself awake through a graveyard shift at work. the post date reflects the day of the actual event.)

I went to Grace Community the first sunday, and got there about 15 minutes before start time for their service, only to be bewildered as to where all the cars were. Seriously, it was 15 minutes before service, and there were 5 cars in the parking lot. So i sat in my Jeep for about 2 minutes listening to NPR before i decided to go in. I was met by the fellow that was running the service that day, who introduced himself (because he hadn't seen me before, and i have the feeling that a random person dropping into a small church service is rather uncommon), and i asked him, "So...there's like three people here. What gives?" He then informed me that most of the church was on a weekend retreat, but i was welcome to come in for the service. I politely declined, but said that i would be back the next week for service.

Now...I am all about retreats...but that must have been some retreat to knock out nearly the entire church for a sunday.

If you're paying attention, you are likely wondering, "where on earth did you go to church? did you even go to church?"

In answer to your hypothetical question, yes, i did. I moved Redeemer Presbyterian up a week, and had 15 minutes to get there, which if you've seen/heard/felt the recent state of my Jeep lately, you know that in and of itself is a bit of a dodgy proposition.

But i did manage to heave my Jeep from Fountain City to Fort Sanders in time to park in a visitor space and walk in before the music started (i'm running low on suspense tonight, sorry). I walked in, looking for anyone that i knew, and ended up seeing my former manager at River Sports, Matt McSpadden, and ended up sitting beside him and his mom. 

Now for the review part of the service: I liked the music, very indelible grace/ruf inspired, and enjoyed that they did liturgy(which i don't get to partake in very often), and generally liked the pastor. Plus they did communion. Big deal. 

I think you should do communion every service, and you should make it a big deal, and i like churches that do that. 

Also...this post marks the first installment of the Sermon Song/Poem of The Week. I'm trying to use my sleep-deprivedness as a catalyst for art to unfold its wings during the sermon i hear each week. Plus, this should help me internalize the sermon by doing some auto-application in the form of writing the song. Here's this week's.

barking like a dog on a chain

screaming with my bad eyes for relief

i'm bathing in the mud like a swine been given wings

touch me with your hand and set me free

i'm hungry for the food on my tv

but in my house there's enough to eat

i long to entertain the lie that i don't have all i need

touch my lips and set me free

set me free from the things that steal and kill

set me free to embrace my joy in you

set me free to embrace my joy in you

It's quite unfinished, and needs at least another verse and a bridge, but anyway...tune in in a couple hours for the story of the next week.