"The members of the Church of the Savior (in Washington, D.C.) pursue both the inward journey of faith and the outward journey of social justice. Gordon Cosby and his wife, Mary, lead this community to find the substance of their lives in pursuing Christ and ministering to the broken in their neighborhood. When someone in the church senses a call from God for service, the church prays about it, and if God is in it, the vision is refined and a handful of members commit to bringing it to fruition.

Over a cup of soup at the Potter's House, a coffeehouse run by the church, eighty-plus-year-old Gordon shared with me how much more can be accomplished by ten people who discover their call than one hundred who are unsure. His desire is to lead people to living from the focused center of God's kingdom and then following the call God gives them. When I asked him why more churches don't follow his example and better their cities, he responded with a rather sobering comment: "Because the servant leadership Jesus offers us is a leadership toward unimpressiveness."

- from Buck Naked Faith by Eric Sandras

What would it be like if Christians embraced their niche and call and together transformed a city with "unimpressive" servant leadership?

Oh Lord let me be a nobody used for You!!

I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port of air.

It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.

- Wallace Stevens

"Modern man believes he is fruitful and productive when his ego is aggressively affirmed, when he is visibly active, and when his action produces obvious results."
Thomas Merton

How true is that even of churches and pastors - not just business oriented people?

I find myself fitting in that mold.

I really need to go to bed - I have to do some walking in the morning - in the "hills" - I must put the new "toy" down.

This site that I found about this guy who is a preacher that uses his blog as a psuedo-confessional is great. This guy is so real and authentic - and plus he tells really cool stories. I like the one that he has on there about the three sisters - see if you can find it on the site. Man I hope to start to tell stories - and effectively - again. I want to leave a legacy for my son - of not only my faith but my creativity as well. Plus I want a way to communicate my heart for life and Jesus.

I have a love for quotes - I guess that I like someone who can say what is in my heart before I can verbalize it (especially in one sentence)

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.

-- Martin Luther (1483-1546)

It has pleased God that divine verities should not enter the heart through the understanding, but the understanding through the heart.

-- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

The last quote is especially good for me - considering my love of study.