#except for the murder and organized crime stuff but that's just a background piece

[ddarker-dreams]

i had a dream that all of my MCs got so fed up with the awful situations i put them in that they unionized ...

[mediabasedlife]

2017 Year in Review

     This past year was, to put it mildly, rather tumultuous. For every high point of the year, there seemed to be low points all around it. But now the year has ended, and hopefully, this next one brings more good and a hell of a lot less bad than its predecessor. However, as said; 2017 wasn't all bad, and this is what I've decided to write about today. Finding myself inspired by the myriad of posts about people's top five or ten games, movies, shows, and so on, I've decided to continue that trend and catalogue the media I found to be exceptional, the media that helped me through the ups and downs of these twelve long months we just experienced. Some I may have written about before, and some will be new, but all of them deserve praise and recognition abound...at least, in my opinion. So without further ado; here are my most enjoyed pieces of media I experienced in 2017.

     We'll start this article off by discussing a category I haven't really discussed on this blog before - music. The reason I don't usually write about music is due to how disparate my preferences can be for this particular media medium. Some days, I'm all about hard and the heavy, while others I'll dip into instrumentals, jazz, or video game soundtracks. Hence, the music I'll be listing here won't have much of a comparable flow - I just thought it was all pretty good.

     This first album ties into one of my favorite games from 2017, easily a contender for my choice for Game of the Year; the soundtrack to the superb indie game Night in the Woods, as orchestrated by Alec Holowka. The soundtrack is beautifully mellow, pleasantly tuned for ambiance. In the game, the music accentuates and emphasizes all of the game's themes, emotional depth, and down-to-earth feel. Out of the game, the soundtrack is perfect for chilling out, studying, writing, or any such easy-going activity. I frequently found myself playing it in the background whilst reading or doing the few articles I wrote, or using it to relax after a particularly trying moment. Continuing the theme of game soundtracks, another that caught my fancy was the Persona 5 OST, composed by Shoji Meguro. An eclectic mashup of genres, the soundtrack bounces between somber piano, energized guitar, and jazz compositions, with a handful of excellent vocal tracks thrown in for good measure. This album is great for a variety of moods or activities thanks to the numerous tones and tempos the music flows between. And with nearly four hours worth of music to sift through, it stands to reason you'll be able to find something you like.

     Moving from video game music, another album I found myself enjoying through the year was Alestorm's No Grave but the Sea. If you're unfamiliar with Alestorm, they fill a rather particular music niche; Pirate Metal, a fusion of piratical slang and heavy metal. Alestorm further accentuates their distinct sound with frequent usage of brass and string instruments, as well as a synthesized accordion. I found myself intrigued by their music several years ago when the band released the album Back through Time, and have followed them since. No grave but the Sea is relatively short, coming in at under an hour across its ten tracks. If you're a fan of niche genres, or just a metal fan looking for something new, I'd recommend you give it a listen. Closing out the music section is Linkin Park's One More Light. OML released only a few weeks after Alestorm's No Grave but the Sea but usurped it in my music library almost instantly for a brief time before the unfortunate suicide of Chester Bennington. In fact, I would call One more Light one of Linkin Park's best albums, despite it being the starkest departure from the band's hard rock sound to date. That isn't to say the album isn't heavy, though. One More Light is heavy in tone, as opposed to sound; If you want an example, listen to the premier single "Heavy" or the titular "One More Light", and you'll get a firm grasp on how the album feels. One more Light clocks in at a short but sweet thirty-five minutes, and I would wholeheartedly recommend taking the time to sit down and listen to it in full.

     TV shows take the second slot, though I'll be honest; I definitely don't watch a lot of television. Not live, anyway. Most of what I watch is through streaming services, so a few of these aren't technically from 2017, at least not in full. But since I first watched these shows in 2017 it counts. Without further ado, here are my favorite television shows I started or finished in 2017.

     Kicking off the television roster is Twin Peaks. If you're unfamiliar with the show, Twin Peaks was written and directed by David Lynch. It stars Kyle MacLachlan as the charming and amusing Special Agent Dale Cooper, a federal investigator sent to the enigmatic small town of Twin Peaks to solve the murder of local sweetheart Laura Palmer. Not much can be said about the plot of this show without spoiling it or just plain confusing somebody, but suffice it to say that all they appear to be. Everybody has a secret, and the show doesn't take too long to spiral into the surreal in typical Lynchian fashion. Twin Peaks initially debuted in 1990, earning two seasons and a cult following that lasted the 26-year gap until its third season released in 2017. Long story short; the show is great - It has intrigue, comedy, a wide cast of interesting characters, and a story that will keep you guessing until the end and beyond. The show isn't without its faults and can be flat out baffling at times, but despite all of that the show and its story is a fantastic experience to behold.

     The next show on my list both compliments and contrasts Twin Peaks; Broadchurch. Broadchurch is a crime serial taking place in the fictional (and titular) town of Broadchurch, starring David Tennant as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, and Olivia Colman co-stars as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller. The series kicks off by investigating the murder of local youth Daniel Latimer, before moving on through its three-season run to investigate another murder case and finally a sexual assault, all the while weaving a compelling tale of a small town trying to cope with and move on from these horrible crimes. Broadchurch is a heavy experience, with very little levity to break up the tension of each investigation. That being said, It's still an excellent show with a genuinely compelling narrative backed up by the top-notch acting of the cast.

     Setting aside the crime drama, we come to the next show - Voltron: Legendary Defender. Technically, the series' first season debuted in 2016, but 2017 saw the release of the second, third, and fourth seasons, meaning it was a pretty Voltron filled year. Legendary Defender is the latest in the long line of Voltron adaptations, following the Paladins of Voltron as they fight to defend the galaxy from the evil Galra Empire. Now I've never watched any of the other Voltron shows, so I can't speak for their quality (or lack thereof). As far as first impressions to a series go, Legendary Defender couldn't be better. Helmed by DreamWorks and Netflix, and written by the creative minds behind Avatar the last Airbender and its sequel Legend of Korra, Legendary Defender was probably the best-animated show I watched all year. In terms of quality, the show is top notch. Excellent voice acting, great animation, and a fun but serious story that has me eagerly anticipating wherever it goes in 2018.

     Wrapping up this section are the many, many Netflix Marvel series. This includes Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and finally The Punisher. I had already seen some of these before but went in for a rewatch in preparation for all the new stuff coming out in 2017. If you're not familiar with these shows, however unlikely that is, I'll summarize each show in a sentence or two. Daredevil follows Matthew Murdoch who, after losing his sight but gaining superhuman senses as a child, fights crime in hell's kitchen on two fronts; as a lawyer, and as the vigilante Daredevil. Jessica Jones follows former street hero turned private-eye, Jessica Jones, as she tries to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic incident in her past while an old foe comes back to haunt her. Luke Cage follows Ex-Con and titular character Luke Cage as he tries to clean up the streets of Harlem and free it from corruption. Iron Fist follows Danny Rand, boy billionaire and sworn defender of Kun Lun as he tries to combat a mysterious organization known as The Hand. The Defenders finally unites these four heroes for the first time, as they all come together to battle the aforementioned Hand in an attempt to stop them once and for all. Finally, we come to The Punisher, which follows war veteran turned vigilante Frank Castle as he hunts the people responsible for the murder of his wife and children. I won't go into an extended review here, so to keep it simple; Daredevil is amazing (though its second season has some flaws), Jessica Jones is great, Luke Cage is great, Iron Fist is fine, The Defenders is amazing, and the Punisher is fantastic...to summarize, pretty much all of these shows are worth a watch.

     Now, as I said at the beginning of this article, 2017 was a pretty shaky year. A lot of ups, and a lot of downs. Many of these ups, at least for me, are in the next category; 2017 was a pretty great year for movies, in my opinion. It was a busy year for movies, but when isn't it? For every one movie I watched, there were three more I had to wait on, but pretty much every film I watched in 2017 knocked it out of the park. From comic book films to horror flicks, each one of these movies takes the cake.

     The premier movie for this article is Get Out, one of the contenders for my favorite movies of the year. Helmed by Jordan Peele, Get Out is a genuinely uncomfortable horror/thriller about a black boyfriend meeting the family of his white girlfriend. It tells a heavy but undeniably compelling story, one that keeps you guessing and inspires a fair amount of thought after the fact. I won't go into too much here, but I will say that if you haven't seen this movie, you absolutely should. Speaking of movies that make you think, Bright is up next, the new racially-conscious Netflix movie starring will smith and....no, not really. Actually, The Lego Batman Movie is up next; a goofy, charming, and stark contrast to all of the gritty DC movies that have been churned out over the past few years. This movie was genuinely funny and felt fun to watch...something that can't be said about some of the more recent DC films. I've written about this movie before, and my thoughts today still echo that review; This was one of the best Batman movies I've seen. Following The Lego Batman Movie, the next film on my list is John Wick: Chapter 2. There's not much to say about this movie other than the fact that it's a top-notch sequel that keeps all of the pros of its predecessor, and in some cases, improves on them. It isn't a terribly different story than its predecessor; Somebody messes with John Wick, so John Wick messes back by going on a vengeance-fueled spree. It's an action-filled thrill ride that doesn't disappoint.

     Another action-filled thrill ride takes the form of Logan, and....wow. Logan is another contender for my favorite film of the year. The movie serves as equal parts finale for both Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman as Charles Xavier and Wolverine respectively, and it does so perfectly. Logan is a shining example of what Comic Book films should aspire to, with an outstanding script, Oscar-worthy acting, and a top-notch story to close out this era of the X-Men cinematic universe. Finally, we come to one of the last movies released in 2017; Star Wars The Last Jedi. I'm sure if you're reading this, you've probably seen this movie. Maybe you liked it, Maybe not. I, however, thought this movie was pretty damn good. One of the better Star Wars films, I think Rian Johnson did well at what he set out to do. I won't say it's the best movie of the year, but it makes my list of favorites.

     Finally, we come to the last section of this year in review: Video Games. I actually got to play a fair few of these this year and liked basically all of them. But, this isn't "Year in Review, things I thought were passable". This is "Year in Review, my favorites", and so what follows are my favorite games of 2017. From AAA titles to simple indie games, each one of these had the right amount of fun, charm, and entertainment to keep me hooked and keep me coming back to them time and again.

     We'll kick this list off with a game that embodies charming simplicity; Slime Rancher. This game debuted back in 2016 as an early access title but finally released in an official capacity in August of 2017. I didn't think much of it when it came out, just grabbed it since it was free through Xbox Live's games with gold program. Color me surprised, then, when it turned out to be one of my favorite games of the year. I previously wrote about this so you can see my full review here, but what I'll say here is that Slime Rancher is a surefire recommendation on my part. The next two games are anything but simple, at least in terms of story; Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD (PS4). I had played these games before, on the PS2 and PS3, but what can I say? Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite gaming franchises out there, and the ability to play it again on modern consoles was a treat. With the release of Kingdom Hearts III on the horizon (hopefully), going back to experience the franchise in full was a fantastic refresher. If you've never played Kingdom Hearts before, getting the modern gen remasters is your best way to experience these games right now. 

     Following Kingdom Hearts is Persona 5, one of two games I would strongly consider as Game of the Year. I had never played a persona game before this, at least not in full, and this game almost made me regret that. Persona 5 is near perfect, with a great story, smooth and snappy gameplay, and a top-notch aesthetic balanced between its visuals and its sound design. Atlus has a history of making quality games, and Persona 5 is no exception. Continuing from there, we come to Night in the Woods, the second of my two Game of the Year contenders. In fact, were it not for Persona 5, Night in the woods would be the winner for 2017, at least in my book. This is another game I've written about in full and I would recommend reading that review here because I had a fair amount to say. Night in the Woods saw two releases in 2017, once at the start of the year, and once at the end of it. Because of this, the game both kicked off and closed down my 2017 year, and I couldn't have asked for a better game to do so.

     That about wraps up my Year in Review. 2017 was a full year for media, and I have a lot to catch up on, but luckily I was able to experience just about as much as I missed. Not everything I did this year appeared in this review, but these were the things that elevated themselves above the competition and took the titles of favorites for 2017. I extend my thanks to anybody who stuck with this blog, or even read just one of my articles in the last year, and hope that the new year is kind to all of you. This year promises to be just as good, if not better for media purposes, so I eagerly await whatever comes next. Here's to a great 2018, folks.

[thomaspredestined-blog]

Untitled (The Table at Cana Event I).

(This was written in two hours and completely unedited.  I apologize for how poorly written it is and that I didn’t come up with a witty, clever title.)

Welcome out to Event I for The Table at Cana.  Please give a huge round of applause to your bar staff!  We didn’t know what to expect tonight, so please bear with them as they pour your beers, grab your Coke and popcorn, and so on.  Personally, I want to thank each of you for coming out tonight.  It means way more than I can express.  

So, starting out, I guess we should address the first elephant in the room.  The print out in front of you says “Grant Butler.”  I’m not Grant.  Due to some issues that I’ll let him speak on, he had to cancel.  Today.  I wrote this at 2:30pm at a bar while drinking a beer, anxiously sweating, and listening to a metal band called Necrot.  I would have written it at home, but it was way too easy to watch the new episode of SNL and nap there.

And the second elephant… What is this?  Why is this?  

This, this thing, The Table at Cana, was born about a dozen years ago.  Sundance Channel aired a documentary series about a dude named Jay Bakker.  From those Bakker’s, yes.  Jim and Tammy Faye were his parents.  When their empire fell apart, he fell with them.  Ended up with a pretty gnarly drug addiction.  The documentary picks up shortly after he gets clean and comes back into the faith he grew up in.  Only he’d changed.  He started his ministry, Revolution Church, in a bar in Phoenix, AZ, moved it to Atlanta, and then New York, before finally ending up in Minnesota, of all places.  

Revolution Church focused on meeting people where they were, using real conversations about real life with honest, real, frank language.  Some dirty.  And since people are always in bars, that’s where they began.  His church has always been focused on LGTBQ+ inclusion and rights.  

I stole his idea during college.  The only difference was we added a cover band that would play Tom Petty followed by Hillsong tracks.  Someone would get up and speak.  We had an anonymous text line, like we do now, for people to send in any questions they had about any topic, struggle, issue, etc.  

I took my favorite parts of that and decided to build this.  Which is a really polite way of saying I completely stole his idea this time around.  Currently, it’s set up to happen once a month.  If we build a following that wants something more, bigger, whatever, then we will revisit that.  Given that this is a 21+ venue, I assumed once a month would allow for people to get sitters for their kids and whatnot.

For someone who grew up in the church, and left it over a number of important issues, this feels more tangible to me.  There’s no worship band playing incredibly boring, uninspired ballads that could either be about God or a girl.  And that’s not knocking the worship team where I currently go to church.  They’re solid players and even better people.  However, the music itself is just…blah.  

And then there’s the announcements and the greeting and the teaching and the altar calls and all of that.  There’s no discussion.  It’s one opinion, and unfortunately, sometimes there’s no application or take-away.  Plus, the person speaking, typically, has to answer to a board of elders or a council or other words that American capitalistic Christianity has co-opted.  It’s a business and Sunday mornings feel like a product launch or press release.  

This is not that.  I don’t want it to be that.  If it gets to that point, I will shut it down.  I have scheduled a number of different folks with different backgrounds, theological points of view, and teaching styles to come here and hang out with us for an hour and a half once a month.  I’m not asking them to do specific topics or speak to specific issues.  They have free reign to say what they want, knowing that the only requirement is they have to be open to discuss and, possibly, defend their point of view after the teaching portion is complete.  

They’re also invited to stick around for the Q&A after the discussion.  Which is entirely open to whatever you wanna talk about, by the way.  It would be super easy for me (well, not today) to get up here with a prepared lesson, a fully defensible stance, backed up with scripture and quotes and so on, and feel good about what I’d taught and what I’d done.  But, when we leave the lesson and venture into real lives, that’s where it becomes solely about the relationships that we’re building.  Which is ultimately the goal.  I want us to grow into a community.

As this evolves, I see us doing events in town.  I’d like for us to partner with Guardian when they go out and paint houses.  I’d like for us to have some sort of space at something like Brewfest or Muncie Gras or somewhere where we can meet specific, in the moment, tangible needs.  I want this to grow into a force in town.  

And the first way that we show love, be a force, do good as a community is by tipping well.  Very, very well.

So, all of this was born out of distaste for how the church operates in today’s world.  It was born out of how the church, seemingly, fails to meet people where they are.  I work in a bar and meet people every day that don’t expect me to be religious or a professed Christian because of how I make my money.  They catch flak from their specific faith communities for having a beer or getting some dinner in a place that sells beer.  I meet people all the time that have horror stories about the nonsense they’ve put up with from the church.  Grant, the dude who was originally scheduled to speak tonight, caught hell from one of the elders in his church for having a beer in public on the night Grant’s wife died.  

Even with this thinly veiled contempt for the American Church, I am actively pursuing a career in ministry.  And, almost as a precursor to me having to speak today, yesterday afternoon, I received an email from a church who’d seen my resume and heard my teachings and wanted me to fill our their application.  Question #6 under the “Christian Involvement” section on their application was, “After reading the following documents linked below, is there anything in those statements that you would object to?”  They then provided links to The Nashville Statement, which is a hate crime dressed in cherry picked scripture, The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and The Cambridge Declaration, which are both laughable ideas of the Bible, not literally, but you know, literally, being God.  

I was almost offended that someone could have heard me teach, read my resume, and statement of faith, and think that I would be cool with those statements.  

I wrote back the following:

Unfortunately, given the amount of hardcore pornography I view on a semi-regular basis (none of that gay stuff, though), I am unable to open the links you provided me.  With how progressive Nashville, Chicago, and Massachusetts are, or at least how I perceive them to be, I bet all those links are full of that gay loving, snowflake praising, participation trophy giving kinda Christianity.  And to that, I say no thank you.  I want my God to be angry and my Bible to be better than Him.

And after I sent them the application back, welling with pride at my capacity for artful snark, I realized how wrong I was.  My response was beyond uncalled for.  I was fighting a violent, misogynistic, homophobic, douchey church with sarcasm, snark, and my own blend of douchery and hate.  

I immediately thought of Matthew 9, when Jesus calls Matthew.  

Matthew, a tax collector, is sitting at his tax collection booth.  You know, just collecting taxes and being generally hated, when Jesus walks by.  In my mind, this is a weird version of the farmer’s market here in town.  Except more people and less deodorant.  People with booths selling things and others milling about, thumbing though the booths.  But, you know, no sausage sandwiches with pepper jelly, or delicious vegan baked goods, or free-range, organic, non-murdered meat options.

So, Jesus sees Matthew sitting there, tells Matthew to follow him, and Matthew gets up and follows.  Boom.  Done.  

This is also the book of Matthew, so I highly doubt he’s gonna point out how many stupid questions he asked Jesus or how they argued or how long he took to close up the booth before following Jesus.  

And that night, Matthew invites his new pal Jesus over for dinner.  So, they’re breaking bread, sharing a beer (maybe they ordered some pizza from Cousin Vinny’s who has online ordering and delivers here) and the leaders of the church see this and then ask Jesus’s disciples, “Why’s your boy eating with sinners and tax collectors?”  

Essentially, they’re saying, “Why’s he associating with the kind of people WE have decided are unclean?  Unworthy?  Not us?  Why does your teacher not adhere to the binary thinking that we deem to be holy?”

Jesus flexes his superhuman ability here and hears them ask the question.  His response is hilarious, biting, and perfect.

He says, “It’s not the sick who need a doctor.  Go and learn what Hosea 6:6 means.”  I’m paraphrasing, by the way.  I had a few hours to knock this out.  Get off my back, Josh.

So, because we’re not biblical scholars like the Pharisees were, and we don’t have the whole of the Jewish scriptures memorized, especially the first book of the minor prophets, we go to Hosea.  

And, because I firmly believe in a contextual understanding and reading of the text, we start in Hosea 6:4 -

What can I do with you, Ephraim?    What can I do with you, Judah?

This is God speaking through Hosea here.  It’s got the ring of a disappointed parent, right?  I imagine Hosea delivering this line with his fists on his hips…

Your love is like the morning mist,    like the early dew that disappears. Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,    I killed you with the words of my mouth—    then my judgments go forth like the sun.

And now, Hosea 6:6, the killing blow, the Pharisees emasculation by the Christ, the Christ’s sickest burn is delivered when he says to learn what this means…

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Boom.  Take that, ya’ dummies!  

Jesus just told you that God wanted mercy over legalism.  God wants your heart more than your actions.  You bunch of idiots.  

Hahaha.  

You suck.  Jesus just told you how you missed the whole point.  How it’s mercy, not your stupid way of understanding the rules.  

Mercy trumps intelligence, you dumb shi…

Yeah.  That’s when the irony hit me.  Here I was completely justifying being a jerk to people I’d never met because I’m 99.99% positive that they’re wrong.  I was using how right I was, how well I was interpreting the text, how good I was for showing mercy to everyone (except the dicks who didn’t show mercy to those I did) as my own form of legalism.

Lately, I’ve been dealing quite a bit with just how much I hate the church.  How badly I want to see the institution of American Christianity burn to the ground.  How I’d love to be the one who nails the doors shut, pours out the gasoline, and lights the match.  We’ve turned the temple into the savior.  We’ve turned the institution into what it’s supposed to point toward.  And in doing so, we’ve failed our communities and each other.

My desire to see it destroyed, my anger, has become my god.  I’ve found myself sacrificing on the altar of hating the church.  I’ve gone out of my way to destroy the grotesque, antiquated, conservative, outdated, banal Christianity that is so prevalent in America today.  I got into an argument with a missionary on a Facebook comment thread because I just knew I was in the right.  Yeah.  I’m not proud of it, either.  I literally ended the argument with, “This conversation is pointless.  I’ll go ahead and remove the speck from my eye and will pray you can remove the log.  With love, brother.”

Here’s to burnt offerings without acknowledgment.

12 years ago, I started this thing in hopes to subvert the campus church I was being forced to attend twice a week.  I wanted nothing to do with this corporate, business model church that operated with a budget and bottom line and board and so on.  I wanted a punk rock revolution in the church.  I wanted that DIY spirit to find itself manifested within a group of people that lived within a community and did more for the community, in the name of that community, in the spirit of that community than the church did.  

But, if we keep shopping at Walmart because of the savings, Walmart keeps winning.  And, in my previous experience with this, the monopoly beat out the mom and pop.  The school threatened to expel those of us involved in our bar community.  They used their law to subvert our mercy.  And we shrank away, hoarding kindling for the fire.

I firmly believe that Hosea 6:4-6 stands as clearly for us today as it did for the kingdoms of Israel.  The love of the church evaporates as quickly as morning fog or dew.  It’s painfully fickle.  When you’re following what your particular church’s doctrine allows, all is well.  But, the minute that you find yourself questioning penal substitutionary atonement, five point calvinism, or why listening to GWAR is of the devil, you suddenly find yourself on the outside of a community you used to enjoy.  

We are a people of rule and law.  We take comfort in the simple black and white, dualistic nature of rules.  You do this, you’re good.  You do that, you’re bad.  But, the Bible, the teachings of Jesus, life, they all have grey areas.  They have multiple dimensions.  They have variables that are unaccounted for in a black and white understanding of things.  

We are called to show mercy over sacrifice.  We are called to move always towards love over law.  And, given the current social and political climate, what could be more powerful?  When the church leaders of the Christ’s day were too cowardly to come to him and ask what he was doing, when they asked why he was eating with those they deemed unclean, when they questioned why he wasn’t following the LAW, he responded by telling them to get bent.  Well, you know, nicer.  He tells them to understand what Hosea 6:6 means.  He told a group of people who prided themselves on understanding scripture to go learn the meaning of scripture.  Absolutely hilarious.  And brutal.  The kids today would say it was “hashtag savage.”

I hate Joel Osteen and his particular brand of get-rich biblical nonsense.  I hate Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell (Jr. and Sr.) because they seem to think that Christianity should be legislated.  It should become the fourth branch of the government.  They fail to realize that Christ stood in direct opposition to Empire.  I hate Franklin Graham and the fact he’s riding daddy’s coattails into the conservative, xenophobic, Christian faith hall of fame.  Get your own schtick, man.

Denny Burk. John Piper. James Dobson. JP Moreland. JI Packer. Tony Perkins.

And every other coward who signed the Nashville Statement is offering sacrifice over mercy.  And every moment I spend hating them, hating what they stand for, hating the church and Christ that they represent to the world at large is a moment of me not understanding Hosea 6:6.  It’s a moment of me aligning myself, at least in action, with their brand of anti-inclusive douchery.

If you’re a church leader in here and you’ve got an open position, know that I’ll never agree with that pile of steaming dog crap, nor will I agree with the cowards who are so untrusting of God’s plan that they have to document their bigotry.  With that being said, though, I have been convicted to show them mercy.  Which is why I stopped at dog crap and didn’t go on to call them any of the other “C” words I know.

I’m not afraid of atheists or skeptics turning the world away from God.  I’m worried about those focused more on the law, the legalistic, exclusive, fundamentalist, conservative talking points.  I’m worried about those who do not bestow mercy.  I’m worried about those who do not acknowledge how big, loving, inclusive, strong God can be.  I’m worried about those that would compartmentalize the creator of all into a gay bashing, gender conforming, bearded white dude.  

The minute that we use our freedom, whether it be one we’re allegedly born into, or one we are born again into, to marginalize, subjugate, or enslave those outside that freedom, we have gone astray.   The Table at Cana has meaning.  It has purpose.  It has a design.  

The Table is an inclusive place where all are welcome to sit.  All.  Whether it be the asexual, the agender, the transgender, the gay, the straight, the white, the black, the oppressor, or the oppressed.  All are welcome to come and sit.  All are welcome to pull up a chair and buy me a pint of Frank the Tank.

Cana was where the Christ performed his first recorded miracle.  It’s where he turned water into wine.  It’s where he kicked the party into a higher gear.  

So, we are an inclusive community, welcoming all, to party with us.  I would ask, if you choose to continue growing with this community, hold me to the Hosea 6:6 standard.  Do not let me get too caught up in my own form of legalism.  Hold yourself to that same standard.  Do not let your tendencies, thoughts, or actions dissuade you from welcoming all who would show up.  Unless they’re a Pearl Jam fan.  Pearl Jam fans are every bit as awful of those who signed the Nashville Statement and twice as pretentious.  

Jesus was brutal with the Pharisees.  That’s because they knew the scriptures.  He held them to a higher standard.  They made their living, a good, comfortable living, off the backs and minds and hearts of those in their community.  And he called them out when they weren’t doing right by that community.  They knew how God had, time and again, shown the Israelites mercy and grace, and they were unwilling to show that same kindness to their communities.  And because of that, he made fools of them over and over.  

He didn’t burn down the temple.  He didn’t smite them.  He didn’t even remove them from power.  He simply pointed out how wrong they were and gave them the chance to correct their behavior.  

And, that’s where I wanna be.  That’s where I want this and us to be.  Given what happened with Grant today, it’s incredibly easy to continue the cycle of hatred and anger towards the church.  Especially in this place, outside of the church.  But, we’re called to live above and beyond that.  We’re called to mercy, not law.  We’re called to acknowledge and follow the one above it all, as opposed to merely go through the motions of holiness.

I’m sorry for how unprepared this has been.  I’m sorry that it’s jumped all over the place and seems like I wrote it this afternoon.  I finished it two hours ago and haven’t had time to edit it or really organize it like I normally would.  

We’re gonna open things up for a discussion now.  The discussion is to be aimed more at what I spoke about, at least initially.  The anonymous text line number is on the paper in front of you.  That’s a Google Voice number tied to a dummy Google account that has no contacts in.  So, unless I have your number memorized, which is my mom and my wife, I won’t know who’s texting me.  If you don’t want to ask your question out loud, if you’re nervous or afraid or whatever, use the number.  Join in on the conversation how you can.  As you go through your week, you can also use that number if you need to vent, talk, send pictures of your pet, or whatever.

If the discussion wanes, or if no one is interested in that, we’ll move into a question and answer time.  This is solely directed by y’all.  Whatever you have questions about, as it pertains to faith, God, the church, the Christ, etc., feel free to ask.  I’m not gonna explain where babies come from and I’m sure as hell not going to tell you what beer you should get next.  They’re all delicious.  

I’m gonna pray a prayer of benediction over us before we end this time of “teaching” and move on.  You don’t have to bow your head, close your eyes, or take off your hat if you don’t want to.  

As much as I hate Paul, I’m pulling this benediction from Romans 15.  Let us be benedicted:

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.