Okay, I'm back.
For whatever it's worth. Here I am, after a two month layoff.
I'm always torn between writing when I feel like I have something significant to write and just writing. Mostly I got busy.
I wanted to talk about my friend Drew from Jersey. He's been a member of The Well since we began and has been on his journey with Christ since early in 2004. Drew didn't grow up in church. Everything is as fresh as daisies to that guy. Now, for those of you who don't know him let me describe him to you. Drew's a big guy, tall and wide, he pushes around four bills and is the strongest guy I know. God has delivered him from anger problems, and continues to. Drew's Jersey accent is faded but there and he gives that impression of someone from a Godfather movie that you shouldn't mess with, sometimes, or rather, he used to. Now he's, well, jolly. Sometimes he gets down about his past but usually he is joyful and full of discovery.
Last Sunday he rode to our worship gathering with my family plus my niece. Mary-Grace and Rachel (my niece) started singing little kid Sunday School songs from our traditional church days. Songs I've know since childhood like Jesus Loves Me and I've Got the Joy (Down in My Heart). Drew lit up like a big Christmas Tree! He didn't know the words, but every new verse was punctuated by a big laugh or a "Hey! I like dat! Dat's kewl!" he didn't care that the words were 'childish' or 'cheesy' or that the melodies weren't sophisticated, he was caught up in the simple facts that Jesus loved him, that joy was in his heart, that he had a river of life flowing out of him, and that if the devil didn't like it he could sit on a tack! Drew laughed, my kids and my wife sang, and I cried tears of joy and repentance.
Drew's had some difficulties lately. His situation has cost him some jobs and kept him broke and homeless. But here he was, singing and cracking up with joy at children's songs. What a lousy example of Christ I am. Here was the gospel in stereo, in huge living color, filling up my van and the sky with irrepressible mirth and light and color. Me, I gripe about everything, you know?
Dear God, teach me to sing children's songs again. Let me forget what I know of music and life and just revel in the simplicity and gigantic atrocity of Your love. Let Jesus teach me to caper like a precocious three year old and love You. Love You.
Good to be back. I think I'll stay a while.
I'm always torn between writing when I feel like I have something significant to write and just writing. Mostly I got busy.
I wanted to talk about my friend Drew from Jersey. He's been a member of The Well since we began and has been on his journey with Christ since early in 2004. Drew didn't grow up in church. Everything is as fresh as daisies to that guy. Now, for those of you who don't know him let me describe him to you. Drew's a big guy, tall and wide, he pushes around four bills and is the strongest guy I know. God has delivered him from anger problems, and continues to. Drew's Jersey accent is faded but there and he gives that impression of someone from a Godfather movie that you shouldn't mess with, sometimes, or rather, he used to. Now he's, well, jolly. Sometimes he gets down about his past but usually he is joyful and full of discovery.
Last Sunday he rode to our worship gathering with my family plus my niece. Mary-Grace and Rachel (my niece) started singing little kid Sunday School songs from our traditional church days. Songs I've know since childhood like Jesus Loves Me and I've Got the Joy (Down in My Heart). Drew lit up like a big Christmas Tree! He didn't know the words, but every new verse was punctuated by a big laugh or a "Hey! I like dat! Dat's kewl!" he didn't care that the words were 'childish' or 'cheesy' or that the melodies weren't sophisticated, he was caught up in the simple facts that Jesus loved him, that joy was in his heart, that he had a river of life flowing out of him, and that if the devil didn't like it he could sit on a tack! Drew laughed, my kids and my wife sang, and I cried tears of joy and repentance.
Drew's had some difficulties lately. His situation has cost him some jobs and kept him broke and homeless. But here he was, singing and cracking up with joy at children's songs. What a lousy example of Christ I am. Here was the gospel in stereo, in huge living color, filling up my van and the sky with irrepressible mirth and light and color. Me, I gripe about everything, you know?
Dear God, teach me to sing children's songs again. Let me forget what I know of music and life and just revel in the simplicity and gigantic atrocity of Your love. Let Jesus teach me to caper like a precocious three year old and love You. Love You.
Good to be back. I think I'll stay a while.
posted by Jason Jones | 11:16 AM
1 Comments:
“Out of the mouths of babies " well close enough to what Christ said. People have always looked at me like I was nuts when I said that we should sing those songs more. As we get older and wiser (yeah right) we tend to turn our souls to things we deem as deep. But what could be deeper the Jesus Loves Me, come on, if we just sang and lived that song for just an hour a day man we would change the world. Not just r little group, r little city, r little state etc... The WORLD! How many times a day does we feel down and out, r spending griping about something, r just plain mad cause things r not going our way? And yes I won’t u to think about it and count them up. Now just think that all of those hours r less then one heartbeat in hell, yes I said HELL. Now just know that the words in the simple little kid’s song have the power to wipe out that heartbeat as well as all the others. Oh and don’t even get me started on Amazing Grace! Love. Its in us because of Christ, we see it every where, in kids, in a sunset, in the eyes of a growing (glowing) families pics from China. Its there, here and everywhere.
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