From the mailbag

Since I've been out for over a month I decided that I should check the hotmail account today and see if the readers had any questions...or at the very least wondered what had happened to me.

Sure enough there was a letter waiting for me:

NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY INC.
18 Herbert Road,Sol hall,West Midlands,
B91 3QEUnited Kingdom
NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY WINNERS NOTICE

Dear Prize winner,

Congratulations Category A prize winner! You have been selected as one of two winners of the NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY,computer ballot draws ofthe 2008 first edition promotion and thus will be a privileged recipient of the grand draw prize of £1,500,000,000 (One million five hundred thousandGreat Britain Pounds only).You/Your company, attached to Winning File Reference number LIUK/5020/0261/20; ticket number 219-8IO-97/A. Please contact our agent by email with your full contact details and please find full contact details below; Mr Mark WilliamsCLAIMS DIRECTOREXTOL FINANCE INC. U.K.Email:extol_linkagent@yahoo.com.hk Also find all other relevant winning lottery information below:

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,
THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,NATIONAL LIVERWOOD LOTTERY INC.
United Kingdom.

He works in mysterious ways!!!

Christian Values?

So after a brief hiatus I'm back. Last month was pretty rough. There were two deaths that hit pretty close to home and I took a new job that I'll start a little later this year and I wasn't able to dedicate any time to blogging. However, things have slowed down some and I'd like to introduce you to a new website...http://www.blogger.com/www.metrospy.com.

Metrospy is a website dedicated to ultra cool stuff such as spreading ultra conservative messages through the selling of t-shirts, posters and bumper stickers. It's much the same type of website as christianswag.com that I posted on a few months ago.

Typically I prefer to stay out of the political arena. It's my feeling that most politicians are human...save Barack...have you heard that man speak?...tell me that velvety smooth voice isn't the voice of an angel...Uhm anyways..yes voting is important, but ultimately my hope is in something bigger.

Well I'm making the exception for Metrospy in large part because of this bumper sticker in which they state their values:

Let's see how I line up:

The Cross: Check...I love Jesus.

Family: Even though this isn't a picture of my family and is instead a picture of the bathroom gender identifier people (congrats on the two kids by the way) I still support families.

Lake Michigan: I'm all for it. Once my own family vacationed there when I was in middle school. It was great!

The Flag: God Bless it...In the immortal words of Lee Greenwood...I'll proudly stand up next to you. Despite our faults I still think America is capable of great things.

A Gun: Well three out of four isn't bad I guess...Unless there was a question that went with the bumper sticker...something along the lines of "Which of the following is least like the others". After a double take I'm pretty sure the fetus is holding a toy gun.

I'll give Metrospy the benefit of the doubt though...let's look at their mission statement and see.

• Our creative team designs all t-shirts, jackets and caps you see on this site. Many of our creations include edgy, often controversial political slogans. As a company, we don't believe in needless recycling programs and we don't go out of our way to to use 'Earth-Friendly' materials during our manufacturing processes. Some of our pre-manufactured raw goods are produced in overseas sweatshops where the workers make only ten cents a day. We're 'OK' with that. At MetroSpy, our most important considerations have to do with our customers. Our customers want value and service for their hard earned money.

Let's try one more time:

• Human beings are not destroying the planet. In a 100,000 years the Earth will still be here. Over the next hundred years however, things may get warmer and things may get cooler. Either way, we don't care. During the next ice-age we expect to sell more sweatshirts than t-shirts and more beanies than baseball caps. Overall, future sales look pretty good. On a daily basis, we drive gas guzzling SUVs to make deliveries, we have bar-b-ques on Fridays and we use all manner of canned aerosols to clean and disinfect after a liberal leaves our office.

Maybe not. Thanks for representing Jesus oh so well!

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried to.

What's in a Name (pt. 2)

Once upon a time a pastor and his congregation embarked on a journey to change their name...for Third Presbytarian Church would be the TPC no more. In order to offer help during this tumultuous time the pastor created the following powerpoint presentation identyifing the categories and possible names available along with the pros and cons of each:

Read this doc on Scribd: On Choosing a New Church Name

The congregation settled upon three names:

• Windsor Church
• Trinity Church.
• Gracepoint Church

Join in the drama and read through the powerpoint...what you'll find is an intersting take on the post-modern struggles faced by the church...as well as a completely unbiased view of the benefits of each of the names. Feel free to vote for your favorite on the side bar!!!

Want to know what Third Pres. finally went with click here.

Product of the Week

You're at work, you reach into the file cabinet to grab a document, OUCH!!! you yell out, you are the recipient of a paper cut and you're bleeding all over important papers...man if someone could heal you. How unfortunate for you that you don't live in the time of Jesus...fortunately I've found what may be the next best thing:

Jesus Band aids...available for $14.95 on Amazon.com ... with free toy inside!!!

What's in a name (pt. 1)

Back when I was a kid churches had really creative names. There were the Firsts such as the First United Methodist Church or First Evangelical Free Church. Also, I remember the Denominationaly Recognized Unusually Long Names like Beth Haven Independent Baptist Church or Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. The third category I can recall were the Our Ladies…Our Ladies Immaculate Heart Church or Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church.

Before my childhood way before the separation of Church and State churches had names showing off their how they were intertwined: The Roman Catholic Church, The Church of England. Before this, waaayyy back in the day church was just called Ecclesia.

Today’s churches have different names and I like to place them into three categories:

The edgy:
-Scum of the Earth
-Pierced Chapel
-Hot Rod Church for Sinners
-Guts Church

The throwback:
-Ecclesia
-Imago Dei
-Mars Hill (Seattle, Michigan, OK City)
-Flood Church

The Communal:
-Mosaic
-New Life
-Life Church
-Crossings Community
-The Dialogue Church

Needless to say church names have evolved quite a bit. So have church websites which will be a future post I’m sure (click the links). I've gone to a few of these churches and like all churches they have they're makes and breaks. What I did not know was how hard coming up with a cool "rockin" new church name was.

Just take a look at churchcommunicationpro.com’s article on Seven Ideas for Naming Your Church:

1. Pray about it…and then pray some more. Jesus is the CEO and we need to take our requests to Him. When I decided on Element 3 Church for my church name it became clear through prayer and a vision. There was a lot of meaning behind it and I knew this was the one. Maybe it won’t happen that way for you but I do believe that prayer is essential for discovering your church name.

2. Play with words and ideas. Start writing down all the ideas that come to mind. Don’t hold back any possibilities even if you think it’s stupid. Use a Thesaurus or a website like Nameboy.com to kick around word alternatives and see what piques your interest. Explore and play around.

3. Ask yourself if the idea or name fits. Does the name flow with your vision? Is it too conservative, too edgy, or too abstract for your church’s vision? It’s important for the name to fit your style, belief, and image or it will never grow roots. You gotta be passionate about it as a leader or it will die on the vine.

4. Avoid generic names. Choosing a name like First Denomination Church of My Town is boring and lacks originality. Generic names usually just don’t create excitement and are harder to brand. Break out of the mold and think different.

5. Avoid difficult names. Names taken from Hebrew or other languages are not always the best choice either. They might be cool to seminary grads and artistic types but if it’s hard to understand or pronounce people may feel stupid trying to say it. Please don’t make people feel stupid…you’ll only get negative buzz or press.

6. Don’t go with public opinion. If you ask 10 people you will usually get 10 different answers. Some people will think you are nuts and others will think you are a genius. Go with your gut feeling first and then the advice of no more than three people. Focus groups thought Amazon was a dumb name…you draw the conclusion here.

7. Own it and promote it. Once you have decided on a name move forward and don’t second guess it. If you think it rocks then it will rock! Your passion will be contagious and you can brand and promote it. You will be criticized by some, no doubt - but move on and keep promoting it and your vision.

Is it ok for church names to change? Do you like the new names better? Are they too trendy? Are they "rockin"? Does it even matter? Discuss...

In part 2 of the series join us as we take a look at the dramatic journey of the Third Presbyterian Church of Dubuque as they contemplate a name change.

convert this...

Convert: to cause to adopt a different religion, political doctrine, opinion, etc.: to convert the heathen.

...and typically thought of as a pretty bad thing. I read a blog article about a Christian talking about their faith and the negative response that followed. Not long ago my pastor gave a sermon in which he talked about whether or not it was ok to convert people in a post-modern era that shunned absolute truths. The point he kept coming back to was that everyone tries to convert others to something. I wondered if this was true and I did a quick you.tube search...here's what I found:

These examples are subtle so watch closely:

These are obviously extreme examples of people trying to persuade you, but aren't we faced with conversion all the time? I've got three people trying to convince me to vote for them for president...I've got Pepsi trying to win me over from Coke...should I shop local or buy organic?

Everyone has an opinion...how do Christians convert without offering a sales pitch? Is it wrong for Christians to convert? Why does Left Behind (a movie that I didn't enjoy) catch flak for trying to convert people by people who salute Al Gore for his attempts?

I don't have answers just questions...discuss...

Product of the Week

At times I fear that I won't be able to find a suitable Christian Product of the week. Sometimes it keeps me up at night and I consider giving up on this segment (which is scary because this is only the second entry). Though just when I feel like giving up all hope I'm presented with just the right thing...so if you haven't been introduced already then let me be the first to turn you on to a product that will turn your life upside down:

Moses Wasn't Fat is available on Amazon.com for the get out of town price of $19.95 and comes with the description:

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Moses Wasn't Fat is a powerful, new diet and health book based on the wisdom of the Bible. If you've been on a diet merry-go-round and are ready to finally get off, here's a book that will teach you a safe, healthy, effective and Godly way to conquer your weight problems once and for all. No gimmicks, no unhealthy diet programs, no quackery. Just sound weight loss and health-building advice straight from the Bible.

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I'd be lying if I said I'd read the book because I haven't, but I am intrigued because of the picture on the cover. Here we have a mystical, almost Santa Clausish (minus the tummy), fairly Caucasian Moses offering up a pretty decent fruit basket on a starry night. I'm not sure if this is an accurate portrayal of Moses, but I'll agree that this Moses isn't fat and I find myself wondering, "What's his secret?".

Though I wondered if I could find out what Moses ate just by reading some Old Testament...what I found was that Moses walked in a desert for 40 years and ate a lot of manna until he died at the age of 120..which by my calculations is pretty old. I wonder if the book says that I should wake up extra early tomorrow collect some the food God leaves me on the ground, sell my car and walk everywhere until I get old. Because if that's the case I find the fruit basket truly misleading.

Sin City

Today I was on USA Today.com and found an article called "Has the 'notion of sin' been lost?". It's an interesting article and the first sentence poses the question "Is sin dead?" My first thought-Sin's dead? How could this happen? I also wondered how old sin was when he died and if maybe he wasn't dead, but just missing and if his family was ok.

Essentially, the article was about how people in the post-modern world thought of sin and what was considered sin and pastor concern regarding said sin. There were a few things in the article I found funny or interesting.

A new survey by Ellison Research in Phoenix finds 87% of U.S. adults believe in the existence of sin, which is defined as, "something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective." - Apparently sin is now living next to the Easter Bunny and is dating the Tooth Fairy.

The article then gives the results of the survey by ranking specific sins in order from worst to not so bad according to the percentage of Americans who view the specific sins as actually being sins.

Topping the list are adultery (81%) and racism (74%), but other sins no longer draw the majority of condemnation. Premarital sex? Only 45% call it sin. Gambling? Just 30% say it's sinful. - Premarital sex really needs to get with it...come on gambling 30% you're just embarrassing yourself!

Also on the list were swearing (46%), smoking pot (41%) and not attending church regularly (18%).

Referenced in the article is Michael Horton, a Westminster Seminary professor, who discusses the notion that most people know what sin is despite not believing in it anymore. He says that people are trading happiness for holiness without the reference point of God.

In short, sin isn't trendy. It makes people feel bad and nobody wants that. I guess I'm wondering how sin became a noun? Is sin dead?, 87% of people believe in the existence of sin. Is sin really something I can believe in and change the definition of?

I've got a wacky idea, what if sin is a verb?

Instead of being something I can make a list of and check off what makes me feel bad or what things I don't do, what if sin were something else.

What if sin was the action of doing something that damaged my relationship with God or other people?

Hear me out kids...what if gambling (30% on the list) wasn't defined as sin that I either did or didn't do based on how bad I thought it was. What if gambling became sinful when it damaged my relationship with someone? For example, I became addicted to gambling, stole money to pay off debts, lost my girlfriend and wound up in jail...

Or what about sex before marriage (45% on the list). What if virginity wasn't something I checked off at night so I could rack up more Jesus Points. What if sex before marriage is discouraged because it could simply make make someone get emotionally attached to me and then it not work out?

Don't confuse me for a saint...because a saint I am not, but sin has never seemed like a check list and doesn't seem like it should be based on my definition of right or wrong. Jesus once answered a question, once, by saying that the two greatest commandments were to love God more than anything and to love others more than yourself. It seems doing anything adverse to this would be sin. This would make being grouchy a sin. On my own I can't fix this problem because I'm grouchy a lot...and if God hates things that hurt relationships with others and won't let these things (lumped together to be called sin) into Heaven...then I'm out...I'm not going...

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I may be able to apologize to someone for saying something hurtful, but there will always be a little damage left over...and for God to allow any of that hurt relationship in..the left over distrust or unspoken resentment...it would dirty up His house...He'd be less than Holy. The only way for me to repair my relationship with God...the only way to be where He is would be to have a Savior...someone who could take this sin from me and make me holy instead of me trying to be just good...someone who could restore and heal the damage I'd done...someone like Jesus.

The Future is Now

Recently I wrote a blog entry about Bible Bars. Bible Bars are tasty biblical treats that are inspired by scripture and I'm a huge fan. I read scripture pretty often and I've never been inspired to create bars like the Sweet Shalom bar, Noah's Nuggets or the Jacob's Ladder bar. I imagine your people are very smart to concoct such things. I appreciate that each bar is a gluten free way to remember God and witness to people who love granola.

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I feel that the people at BBI have only just begun to tap into the world of healthy Bible snacks and I'd like to lend a helping hand. Below is just a sampling of ideas I have rolling around...Bible Bar people you are free to pick any ideas that you think would help further the cause. I've perused the Bible and have now felt the inspiration too!!!

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So with the magic of computer technology I present to you a sampling of the future of Bible Bars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Balaam's Ass Bar is a nutritional treat mixing the healthy goodness of organic cocoa, dried grapes, dates and nuts. It's a good pick me up for when your ass wants to sit down.
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27 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? 29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. (Numbers 22:27-29)

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Also I have:

The Sodom Snack is a bit different...it's jam packed full of tasty goodness such as Acai berries, carrot bits and almonds. It's more designed to keep full of energy, alert and focused on the road ahead.

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:23-26)
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I don't mean to brag because I'm not a marketer or food maker...but I knocked these out in just under 20 minutes plus I have a lot more ideas that aren't even shown here. It'd be a hoot to see a Sodom Snack next time I'm at the Family Christian Store!!! I could look at the cashier and say, "Hey, I thought that one up!!!"

Product of the Week

Often times I wonder what the people of the Bible ate. I mean if there's one area I find the Bible lacking it's the food department. Want to know what miracles Jesus performed...they're all there, want to know how God freed the slaves from Egypt...read Exodus my friend...but want to know what Elijah snacked while taking a 10 from prophesying...well me too, but wonder no more thanks to House of David 'America's Premier Distributor of Biblical Health Products.

He snacked on the tasty Elijah's Fire Chocoloate Treat (think granola bars, only Jesufied), complete with complimentary verse. In this case the verse is 1 Kings 18:38: "Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and licked up the water in the trench"... Reading that makes me hungry for a gluten free chocolate snack...but is it tasty..let's see, My Elijah's Fire this bar is a tasty treat!!!

Logia also makes these tasty snacks:

• Sweet Shalom...Also fun to say...SWEET SHALOM, I've never had a better almond bar!
• Jacobs Ladder...gave him nutrition as he climbed.
• King David's Cranberry Nut Bar...we all know how nutty King Dave was for his Cranberries
• Noah's Nuggets...I don't even want to know what this is.
• Seeds of Samson Bar..it's what all the cool youth group kids eat!!!

Thank you House of David for letting me authentically eat what the Old Testamenter's ate. No more of those Quaker Oat heathen bars for me!!!!

Dear Jesus...from imperfect

Dear Jesus,

Hey, thanks for the great day. Sunny with the promise of a fresh start and fresh starts are important ya know. Yesterday was a wreck and pretty much the day before that. I don't think I'll ever quit believing in you, but right now I feel like I have more reason to believe in satan than you. If apathy is in his aresenal...then consider it his greatest weapon against me. Could I be more apathetic?

I want to do great things. I do. Really. Write a book, start a movement...just meet my neighbors...smile more than I frown. I'd just take that. Just when I feel the edges of my lips curling upwards the bombardment begins. What if I fail...what if they knew...bad habits...bad thoughts...nevermind. Just stay below radar...don't draw attention...don't face the faults...who did I think I was.

Jesus remind me you love me despite my faults. Remind me that I'm normal. Tell me life is more than just getting through this day. Maybe the greatest miracle would be to not consider myself not good eneough for your plan.

David was an adulterer, Paul killed your followers, Thomas doubted, Peter whacked a guys ear off, Moses ran away...do all of your followers doubt themselves...do we all look at the storm around us instead of at you? Is it possible I'm in good company?

Thanks for reminding me I can be loved and happy not despite my imperfections, but because of them. I'm not above or beyond or below your grace.

Thank you,

imperfect

For the God who has everything

Do you ever wonder what the perfect thing would be to show your love for God would be? I know I do. I often think to myself...man what would really be a great gift for the God who has everything...What would really show the man upstairs that I really love Him. I did some internet based research and I think I've found just the thing. A giant statue! That's right, a giant statue.

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Nothing says I love you Lord than a 50 foot likeness of the Son of God. But why stop there...maybe a huge set of praying hands would do the trick....or maybe the largest cross west of the Mississippi...because God knows that size matters as the size of my statue directly correlates to the size of my love for J.C.

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Here's a slide show of some of the all time biggest statues around....feel free to vote for your favorite

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on a side note, I found that these statues could be found all over the world. I do believe that some, if not all, were truly erected with an honest desire to glorify God. Though I'm not sure I always feel like it's a good use of finances or if God's really all that impressed? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

bookapalooza

Original List provided from the Burnside Writers Collective blog

One book that changed my life: "The Poisonwood Bible" Barbara Kingsolver...maybe the first "real" book I'd ever read. Also, changed my perception of Christianity and Missionary's completely as it was my first real insight to Missimperialism...the spreading of western ideas through the use of misguided missionaries.

One book that I've read more than once: "Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance" Donald Miller...This was the right book at the right time and a refresher is due every year or so.

One book that I'd want on a desert island: "The Harry Potter Series" J.K. Rowling...I know it's a set, but it'd keep me busy for a while.

One book that made me laugh: "A Walk in the Woods" Bill Bryson

One book that made me cry: I'm not sure a book ever has.

One book that scared the hell out of me: "The Screwtape Letters" C.S. Lewis...man demons are a bugger.

One book I wish had been written: "Left Behind Series from a Post Tribulation Raputurist's perspective" Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins... because really how sweet would another 16 books be :-(

One book I wish had never been written: "Anything after the first three Left Behind books" Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins

Two books I'm currently reading: "The Windup Bird Chronicles" Haruki Murakami. "Fast Food Nation" Eric Schlosser

Books you've been meaning to read:

• The Myth of a Christian Nation: Greg Boyd
• The Importance of Being Foolish: Brennan Manning
• The Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger

Thoughts on Heaven and Hell

I'm tired and this may not be the stellar writing, but I've been stirring around this thought for a while and thought I'd put it out there and see what others thought. A while back a non-Christian friend, Nick, and I were talking about why I believed in God. Nick wasn't sure what he believed, but he always came back to not being able to believe in a God that sent people to hell. He had real problems with Old Testament God.

I was never really sure how to respond to Nick because I felt he had a pretty valid point. Since then I've learned the differences between being Calvinist and Armenian and I guess I'd say I'm a free will believing guy. If I had a do over and could try answering him again I'd probably explain it this way, (though I'm sure it's not theologically sound and it's a pretty lame metaphor);

I like to liken it to God standing outside a house and welcoming people in. His house is on one side of the street and it's decent enough. He's standing out on the porch and when people walk buy he rushes out to ask them how they are and invite them in for dinner and conversation. Some say yes and some say no. It's their choice.

To go on with the metaphor I imagine the house to be a place where no imperfection can enter basically because God digs white carpet. But, there's no way I'm not going to bring dirt in on my feet. So his son Jesus meets me at the door and if I trust that he has never had dirt on his feet and can clean my feet then I can come in too. So I guess it's conditional in such that I'm humble enough to realize I'll taint God's house.

I guess I don't see God as turning me away as long as I want to come in and know that I'll need help to do it I can come in. If his house is all 100% loving and everything outside is less than that then that would be hell and it would be my choice.

I guess I do believe that sometimes there are people who think they know God and try to come on in, but God tells them not so fast. But, yeah, I really think God gives people the choice and even those who believe in Him daily choose not to come in....we all have dirty feet that need cleaning.

I was explaining this to another friend, Jon, who seemed to like it, but he said he imagined that most of want to believe in God, but daily walk on by his house anyways. Jon said that he envisioned it more as God chasing us down the street and hugging us and redirecting us and showing us back...though some of us still choose to go on to something else anyways. I like the way Jon put it because I know I pass on God's choices every day and even when I want to deepen my relationship with him I'm to prideful to except his grace.

I guess if you believe that God predetermines who is chosen and who isn't then this is a pointless argument and I struggle with believing in a God who says you can come, but you can't...but I know I'm routinely guilty of changing God's image into something I'm more comfortable with. Any thoughts?

the e-mail link

On the sidebar you may notice a link for the e-mail letters.to.jesus@hotmail.com. So this may be the stupidest idea I've ever had. My thought was what would happen if people had a place to e-mail anonymous letters to Jesus just to put down their thoughts. Those e-mails could be posted, from time to time, here and then they could be prayed about and other readers could give encouragement.

Anyways, feel free to e-mail away.

Stuff We All Get

1 .swag (according to urban dictionary)

Promotional merchandise for a band, record label, or other entity in the music business, usually distributed at concerts.May include t-shirts, stickers, promo CDs, posters, etc. Often free, but not necessarily; a t-shirt or record purchased at a concert might still be considered swag, especially if it is a design or release that is not readily available in the mass market.

May include t-shirts, stickers, promo CDs, posters, etc. Often free, but not necessarily; a t-shirt or record purchased at a concert might still be considered swag, especially if it is a design or release that is not readily available in the mass market.

Now Christians can get their swag on at christianswag.com. I think it's great that Christians have their own T-shirt line based off of pre-existing logos...but swag? Check out the link and vote for your favorite swag! I'll never drink Yoohoo the same again.

Manifesto

The word manifesto seems arrogant, but everyone has one. There's a manifesto for everything. Go to Amazon.com and check it out.

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So what makes this manifesto any better? Nothing really I think the word manifesto is a fancy way of saying your opinion should count. Imagine Karl one day turning to his buddy Fred and saying, "hey I have this crazy ass thought about sharing everything and booting out 'the man', I'm just gonna toss it out and see if it sticks?". That would have never flown...so they called it a Manifesto and paved the way for James Bond's success. But anyways...here's mine:

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Sometime before Christmas I was going to a White Elephant party with a group of friends from church. After many many hours of deliberation I finally found the right gift. A combination of churchy coolness combined with the appropriate amount of funny...a stuffed Jesus doll. Stuffed Jesus had a wild, hippyish mane atop his head, he had one lazy eye, wore a red and white tunic, and on his left wrist was a WWID bracelet.

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Stuffed Jesus stayed at my flat for a week before the party and occasionaly came out with me as I ran errands. I know it's wierd to carry a stuffed Jesus around, but people would comment on him or talk to him. I would too. I would ask him questions and in a wierd way he allowed me to see Jesus as humorous and easier to talk to. I guess it's because when I sometime after I decided to follow Jesus my Christianity became very legalistic and serious and brought on bouts of mild depression. I've had to learned to relax and it helped me to think that Real Jesus may think that Stuffed Jesus was funny. This is something I've always needed. In fact, my favorite part of the Passion of Christ is where Jesus jokes around with Mary because I need to be reminded that Jesus has a sense of humor and that he wants a relationship not my ability to follow the rules.

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I missed having Stuffed Jesus after giving him away...I wondered what would happen if a blog could be created around Stuffed Jesus as an outlet to post about the things I struggle with where people could post back and it could be done in a humorous way. I also thought a blog would be a great place to post things that are funny within the Christian community such as Jesuswear and Bible Bars. Finally, I thought it would still be fun to carry around Stuffed Jesus from time to time to see if people would still talk to him and collect the stories of what Christians and non-Christians would say to Jesus.

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All in all, I worry that a Stuffed Jesus blog could be sacreligious or blasphemous and if you think it is I'm sorry. I just want it to be a place where you can share your thoughts and I can share mine and maybe through laughter and pain we can grow closer to the Real Jesus.