...intergenerational worship/church?

38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

For some strange reason, people in the world think justice was done tonight.

God, help us.

Last year, my sister posted the lyrics to her favorite Christmas song on her blog, which I thought was a great idea. My good friend Dave posted a small section of a relatively unknown verse of a Christmas song the other day, too, and it all reminds me how much I enjoy Christmas music. Whether it's Harry Connick Jr.'s first Christmas CD, with new tunes like "I Pray on Christmas" and "It Must've Been Ol' Santa Claus,"or his rendition of classics like "O Holy Night;" or MercyMe's The Christmas Sessions with the great song "Joseph's Lullaby" and the meaningful "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day;" or the classic soundtrack to the Peanuts Christmas special, with "Linus and Lucy," "Skating," "Christmastime is Here," and "O Christmas Tree;" or my Dad singing "Gesu Bambino" and "10,000 Joys" with my aunt, or any of the other songs that just bring a smile to my face, like "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," "We Are the Reason," "Christmas Eve in my Hometown," "Breath of Heaven," and so many others.

If you don't know the story of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," I posted the story last Christmas. You can read about it here. It is remarkable, and brought a completely new level of meaning to the song for me.

Here are the lyrics to my favorite Christmas song of all time, "Hand of Sweet Release," recorded by the Gaither Vocal Band (shocker, I know). Even if you don't at all like Southern Gospel music, I recommend giving this one a try. It's available on iTunes.

Come thou long expected Jesus,
come illuminate the mysteries of life.
Come redeem us from the refuse,
bring an end to endless suffering and strife.
Be the star that shines so brightly
that it draws our weary eyes to the sky,
to Heaven's sky.
Dearest child of new beginnings,
be the start of something beautiful, I cry.

There's an end to all the waiting,
there's an answer to the "who?" and "where?" and "why?"
tonight.
All the years anticipating,
are surrendered to a tiny baby's cry.
There's a dawn to follow darkness,
there's a face to fill the title, "Prince of Peace."
What he promised, he delivered...
I am saved by the hand of sweet release.

In this war I've been a captive,
just a sinner seeking life and liberty.
But these hands that hold me tightly
are the hands that set my shackled spirit free.
Blessed Jesus, meek and lowly,
you have come into my life and made it new,
now I'm new.
Out of bondage into everlasting light,
I owe everything to you.

There's an end to all the waiting,
there's an answer to the "who?" and "where?" and "why?"
tonight.
All the years anticipating,
are surrendered to a tiny baby's cry.
There's a dawn to follow darkness,
there's a face to fill the title, "Prince of Peace."
What he promised, he delivered...
I am saved by the hand of sweet release.
What he promised, he delivered...
I am saved by the hand of sweet release.

I've had these two scenes from movies in my mind (for some reason), and I cannot for the life of me figure out what movies they come from.

1. Someone is threatening a man that they are going to kill his wife and children. The man kills his entire family himself, shocking the others and taking their leverage away. I seem to remember this taking place in an apartment with some orangish/red lighting.

2. A man walks into a security booth of some kind, which requires him to pass through a metal detector. The man places his cup of coffee on top of the metal detector, walks through without arousing suspicion, then reaches into the cup of coffee, from which he pulls out a weapon of some kind (I think it was a tiny gun).

Any help?

That is one of the first words that comes to mind when I think about my wife, Kari. She is so hospitable to others, so caring for Braden and me. There is no one like her. Over the course of our life together, my insecurity has slowly melted away as I rest in her warm embrace. She is my beloved, and I hers.

She makes me laugh. What a gift.

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Sweetheart. I love you.

...and that's why I'd love for you to visit this site and vote for the t-shirt my friend designed, the one that says "Everbody Loves Ramen."

Thanks.

Oh yeah, and this is what a bumper sticker that I saw today said: "I'm pretty sure when Jesus said to love your enemies he meant 'Don't kill them.'"

So, to celebrate the Cardinals' 10th World Series championship, Kari has given me two choices: I either have to dye my soul patch red, a la Scott Spiezio, or dye all the hair on my head blonde, in honor of MVP David Eckstein.

I decided I'd do whatever you all thought I should do.

...Capital Punishment?

I just returned from Kansas City, where I reconnected with some great friends. The purpose for my trip there was to hear Len Sweet in a one-day seminar at MNU, and to meet with Debi Nixon, the small groups pastor at the Church of the Resurrection. Debi gave me some meaningful insights, but the time with Len was...well...Sweet.

I'm going to post the notes I took on here, under the comments section on this post. This is either some sadistic way to get people to comment on my blog, or the kind way of my not making you read all the way through it on this front page (I took six pages of notes). Anyway, they'll be there for your perusing. I hope you can understand my disjointed note-taking method.

The Cardinals series with the Mets is all tied at 2, and it looks like rain in the forecast for tonight. All things considered, I'm really happy the Cardinals made it this far yet again.

Please say a prayer today for some dear friends who have unthinkable memories associated with October 15.