Will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past? With this crutch, this wisdom, and this old age it whispers no this is the last.

This title is the lyric from Jimi Hendrix's classic The Wind Cries Mary. Check out Jimi performing it live by clicking the title.


Luke 1:26-28 (New International Version)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Don't say it can't be done; with a new point of view, life's true meaning comes to you and the freedom you seek is won. Peace is for everyone!

Somehow I have never used a Norah Jones lyric as the title evn though I own all three of her albums...well that ends today...even though this song isn't on any of those albums! This lyric comes from a song called Peace. Check Norah's beautiful, peaceful even, music by clicking the title.

It is that time ladies and gentleman!
THE WEEKLY PIC OF THE ADVENTURES OF J.D. ROSE


This was at camp, when I called for "Peace and Quiet".

Incidentally, there is new info on the Tri-Level Christmas Reunion available on facebook and by emailing me!

Sometimes I'm a man of God.

There is this rare Christian song that I dig called Man of God by Audio Adrenaline that opens with the lines:

Sometimes I'm a liar, sometimes I'm a fake.
Sometimes I'm a hypocrite everybody hates.
Sometimes I'm a poet, sometimes I'm a preacher.
Sometimes I watch life go by sitting on the bleacher.

That song is where we get the title from today and you can visit their site by clicking the title above.

I wanted to share an intro to my favorite Christian author, Fredereick Buechner. This is just about all I can find of video of him, but I hope it wets your appetite and you go by all his books!

I should have known, should have known, should have known again, but here it goes again.

This lyric/title is from the chorus of OK Go's song Here It Goes Again, which they made the most creative video for...maybe ever. Check it out by clicking the title.

I had Thursday off, so this comes a bit late, but here it is.
This one may take you a minute...

THE WEEKLY INAPPROPRIATE CHURCH SIGN


Do you here what I here? Haha!

This is the last stop!

The title is one of Dave Matthews Band's songs. Clicking the title will allow you to view their live performance of it in Chicago from 1998.

This pic was taken as we waited to leave the parking lot after Dave Matthews Band rocked Verizon Wireless for the last time, hence the title. Enjoy the
WEEKLY PIC OF THE ADVENTURES OF J.D. ROSE



This pic doesn't look like it was an adventure, but you can't see my hands!
Haha. Have a happy Tuesday people!

Dance back from the grave!

This title is a lyric and title of a new song by Marc Cohn off of his latest album Join The Parade. This song is especially fantastic as he calls New Orleans and Mississippi back to life. Visit his website by clicking the title.

I thought I'd post my favorite Thanksgiving moment!


Mississippi's finest is back!!!
And that Ali moment gave me chills.

Awaiting that day, searching for more, while all along you are found with the poor.

The title is a lyric from The Michael Gungor Band again, their song Glory Is Here. I really like this band. Check out their web site this time by clicking the title.

Well kids, I had a short week and a LOT to do in it, so Exposing Thorns got a little down on the priority list. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Make yourself a turkey sandwich and read my most recent sermon if you'd like.

Watching TV Land…Feeling Like a Goat.
OR
A Perfect Culture Referencing Sermon 14 Years Ago
OR
Feed. Quench. Shelter. Clothe. Visit. Love.

I had an epiphany a couple of weeks ago that I want to share with you. It happened late at night while I tried to shut my brain down, as I was watching TV Land or Nick at Nite. It began like this…

(Music Plays)
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

This song is etched into my brain from first runs and countless reruns of that beloved TV Show.


If you are unfamiliar let me tell you briefly about the 80’s sitcom Cheers. This show follows the regulars at a local bar in Boston. Sam “Mayday” Malone, a former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, recovering alcoholic, and noted womanizer owns and tends the bar. Carla Tortelli, an Italian, often single, otherwise pregnant, tough as nails waitress with a wisecrack for everybody serves the drinks. The perpetually between jobs accountant Norm Peterson who is there everyday, same stool, is greeted by the bar with a collective “Norm” as he enters. Local postman and scholar of all tings benign Cliff Clavin is often perched beside Norm sharing anecdotes and stories about his mother whose house he’s never escaped. Psychiatrist Frasier Crane is there quite often as well sprinkling literary quotes and psychoanalysis amidst the bar’s proceedings, of which he is a spectator/participant. There’s good hearted but simple minded Woody Boyd from southern Indiana behind the bar as well and depending upon which phase in Sam’s life (or season in the series) a graduate student waitress intellectual love interest named Diane Chambers or a career minded business woman manager for a corporate owner and would be lover for Sam named Rebecca Howe to referee and instigate much of the hilarity.

Where everybody knows your name, that was the tag on the bar; the memorable lyric turned philosophy of the inhabitants of Cheers. I sat watching TV Land enjoying the show and it struck me this was much more than a sitcom to me, this was showing me something more…

In the movie About a Boy Hugh Grant plays an isolated character who is trying to avoid a relationship with a boy he’s met. After the boy’s mom attempts suicide he delivers this commentary, “The thing is, a person's life is like a TV show. I was the star of [my] Show. And [my] Show wasn't an ensemble drama. Guests came and went, but I was the regular. It came down to me and me alone. If [this boy’s] mum couldn't manage her own show, if her ratings were falling, it was sad, but that was her problem. Ultimately, the whole plotline was a bit complicated for me.“

Our lives as sitcoms, has it ever occurred to you? Or cartoons, dramas, or cop procedurals, depending upon who you are. There I was in TV Land…

As I watched Cheers I thought of what a wonderful bar it was; how the patrons took care of each other and cared for one another, chanted each other’s names, sought each other out for advice and help, laughed at one another, cried with one another. Not only was it an inviting space for them, but there is a real camaraderie in their gathering together and a family understanding to their dealings with each other. I began to write a sermon, as I often do while trying to shut my brain down, as I watched this sitcom. I began to think it the model for the perfect church.

Open to all, full of characters and laughter, full of wisdom and knowledge (both experiential and intellectual), and genuine friendship. After all, it was the place where you could go when the world had got you down; to take a break from all of your worries, to get away.

Because life is hard and It does take everything you’ve got. I believe we are a culture that makes life about us. I don’t think that’ll be a revelation to anyone here. We are a pretty sharp set of knives. You can think of some great examples right now of how in your lifetime the world has slipped further away from community and closer to ‘me’ driven existences for all. We all see the kid whose mom is falling and think, too complicated, this is my show.

And we can understand easily what that would feel like and be like to find a place in the midst of dealing with life and trying to star in our show to come to where every body knew you and were always lad you came! We have a pretty great church here; an inviting space where people seek to be in genuine friendship and treat one another as family. When we think of Kingwood Christian Church there are smiles on our faces, we look forward to being here and seeing one another. Some of us it seems, too, are here almost daily doing something. We are regulars. And perhaps we should yell one another’s names when we enter; we know each other so well.

And suddenly I saw all of TV Land one sermon after the next, a sermon series in the making. I watched Golden Girls and began to sketch out a message about Women’s Ministry; complete with hugs, desserts, dealing with the roadblocks of life, all the while spending time with your friends, who’ve traveled down the road and back again! Men’s Ministry, I could see us like the A-Team, repainting the van black with a red stripe and traveling the country like wanted men helping people with problems that no one else will help with, if they simply find us. I thought about my own work and the TV classic Charles in Charge where an innocent young man helps guide goofy kids through adolescence and the Children’s Ministry Team dealing with rambunctious kids who are full of sass and wild ideas, like Punky Brewster. A whole 80’s TV month of messages came flooding in, but none as vivid as this bar like a church where people come to when they are in need. If only all churches could be like that. If only this church could be like that.

Because sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name!

I sat a couple weeks ago thinking about how much I enjoy this church and the people who come inside and sit beside me as I worship. I sat and thought about how good it makes me feel when I come here and I would imagine that is at least in part why you are here today. But then, like always happens when I am trying to shut my brain down, another thing flooded my brain as I watched TV Land and it was much starker and harder to take. And this question ahs not left me for a while.

Are we even fit to call ourselves disciples of Christ? And I don’t mean, are we worthy of the denominational distinction, this is much more damning if it’s damning at all.

Are we fit to call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ?

Am I?

You see I am very comfortable here. I feel accepted and loved. I feel uplifted and encouraged. And I am not about to propose that I shouldn’t feel those things from my church. But a lot of the time I just feel like I’m missing it and I’m just a goat in Jesus’ eyes. I’ve never read where Jesus says, make yourselves as comfortable as possible until I return. I am a goat for the best of reasons, but I am a goat all the same.

Turn with me to Matthew Chapter 25.
This week I sat with a friend as we tried to get our simple minds around Jesus’ message and he asked me a question that I’ve been wrestling with for days. He asked me why Jesus made his message so hard to figure out. He asked me why he didn’t just come right out and say it plain. I told him I had come to believe Jesus wanted us to work for the meaning and keep working on it as we journeyed through life. But I don’t think he always did that. This parable Jesus tells starting with verse 31.

Let’s dig into it together:
As Lissa did I will be reading from the translation called The Message. Sometimes when we take things from this translation, the language is really different from other translations, where language is updated and images fleshed out more fully. This passage will sound similar, I believe because it is in fact simple and plain.

Matthew 25:31-46 (The Message)

The Sheep and the Goats

31-33 "When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

Whenever this is, the end of time, the end of our lives, the end of this world; Jesus is coming and we will all be called before him and separated.

34-36 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'

37-40 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

Let me put it this way: when you took time from your show, when you made it about someone else and accepted costars-even lesser players, you served the one who saved you.

41-43 "Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

44 "Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'
45 "He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
46 "Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

Eternal doom. Not for hurting someone, not for some sin that you are unrepentant about, but for missing those around you in need. Jesus says eternal doom comes when you make your life, your show, entirely about you and fail to serve those who need help in this world.

Are we doing that? Are you? Am I?

Think about it. Specifically, when was the last time you cared for any of the following: the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the naked, the sick and in prison? And I have a sneaking suspicion that if Jesus were here and saw churches piling up mashed potatoes, cranberries, school supplies, and especially money to send off to these people he’d say, ‘Good start. But is your heart in it?’

Do we have cover charges in our little bar here? Bring a dish, buy a ticket, make a donation-that’s being a part of the family.

Lucky for us the parallels with Cheers are but a few.


Do you know that the entire first season of Cheers there wasn’t a single scene shot outside of the bar?

It didn’t mean they weren’t a part of the city; they just functioned within it confined to their cozy bar. Later we see the crew at Cheers get into a long running competition with the bar down the street. It seems Cheers wants to be known as a jock bar and if they keep losing at sports to the bar down the street they’ll also lose their identity. What’s funny is they aren’t a jock bar. They’re overweight blue collar workers, an accountant, a shrink, and an ex-ballplayer way past his prime.
They start sparring with the restaurant upstairs. They don’t like the kind of people they bring in and they want to use Cheers as a lounge and use their stairs. Business has never been better, but they start yelling some other guy’s name instead of Norm and the Cheers gang isn’t having it. When someone takes Norm’s barstool he stage an elaborate plot to distract everyone to the back room while he calmly reclaims his seat.

Come to think of it we never see Norm’s wife, Cliff’s mother rarely visits and is always a nuisance, Carla says the most awful things about Diane and Cliff especially, they steal one another’s girlfriends and fiancees, they talk about Sammy’s exploits openly, complain about their work and families, and rarely give Woody any credit for his kindness whilst consumed with his idiocy. They chase people from the bar and don’t know all the names of the people sitting there. One actor was in over 150 episodes and was called three different names.

It is easy it turns out to believe you are one thing long after you’ve stopped being it.

Cheers is a hideaway, a retreat, a place to ignore your real life and your real problems. It’s a place to fill up on laughs and beer, maybe the Celtics game and a free round if you’re lucky, but it is only rarely more than a place to get away.
I wonder how often people come to church wanting to be filled with something that can’t actually fill them. I wonder how often we make this thing we do in this room here, and throughout the week about us-our needs and wants and desires, or even our problems and obstacles. This is not a retreat! This is not a hideaway! Renee and I are not bartenders doling out some tonic that makes all that is wrong in life go away for even a moment. We are here for the same reason you are; to center ourselves for every moment we are not here. To equip ourselves for going out of this room and being away from on another.

Because Jesus time and time again is calling the disciples, and that’s us now, to action! Go and make disciples of all the world. Preach the good news. Baptize. Feed. Quench. Shelter. Clothe. Visit. Love.

There is this other way Jesus kept calling people to live; he called it the Kingdom of Heaven; and he said it was coming, he said it was near, he said it was among us. And we wonder what that means while we simultaneously divorce his teachings from passages that are clear.

Feed. Quench. Shelter. Clothe. Visit. Love he said! Above all love.

So we need examples, stories to tell one another as Jesus did so we might get what this looks like.

I had the privilege of seeing Rob Bell last week speak in Dallas and he told this great story about his neighbor and friend. She was on her porch and watching as a woman came by with quite a few belongings piled in a golf cart. She felt compelled to ask her where she was going and the woman explained she had been kicked out of her house and was moving down the street, but didn't have a car so she was using this cart. The woman on her porch came off of it and reached into her pocket and offered her car keys to the woman for her move. After using her vehicle to move for the day, the woman with the cart returned the keys and shared with the woman on her porch that 'no one has ever trusted me like that.'

This is the kingdom Jesus spoke of...

The man most like Cliff Clavin that I have known is Fred Robberts, an art teacher full of knowledge, from southern Indiana. He was the speaker on weekend at a retreat I attended a few years ago and he told a story I would liek to share with you. It seems Fred was driving and saw a man on the side of the road walking through town in the middle of a winter night. He ran an errand and was headed back that way and saw the man a half mile or so out of town still walking on the side of the road. Fred pulled over and asked if everything was all right.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked. The man looked up and said humbly, "Could you help me?" Fred offered him a ride and heard his story. he was trying to get a few hundred miles away and had falen on ahrd times; he had no money or way there and was kind of begging his way from place to place, out of options. Fred offered to put him up for the night, he knew the manager of the local motel, and get hiim some food. He also arranged for another friend to drive him to a train station and get him a ticket. Fred put some money in his hand as he left the motel after getting him situated. As he was about to go, the man asked if he could give him something and Fred thought he'd better say yes. The man reached into his satchel and pulled out a machine shop rag, all he had to offer, and handed it to Fred with a teary-eyed thank you.

A few years later Fred was hauling stuff into a meeting room for a presentation he was supposed to give and parked on the edge of a college campus, only to find out he was far away from where he needed to be. He got directions, but quickly found himself lost. He had sweat through his shirt and was breathing heavy, not sure where he was, and cutting it close with time. He began to have a panic attack. All of a sudden he heard a voice ask "Are you alright?" Fred looked up to see a middle aged man standiing on the lawn acrossed the street. Fred simply asked, "Can you help me?" The man not only told Fred which way he needed to head, but isisted on carrying some of his things and walking him there. When they were done Fred stuck out his hand and turned to say thanks only to find that the man had grabbed a machine shop rag from his pocket and was wiping sweat off his brow.

This is the Kingdom Jesus spoke of...

And then last week, right here, Renee shared with us that a Thanksgiving dinenr with all the fixings cost $43.71 this year and someone immediately said out loud that that much money would buy x number of bags of beans for a mission project he worked with.

The United States will spend $450 billion on Christmas, yet this man in oour congregation new how many bags of beans $43 could buy.

This is the Kingdom Jesus spoke of...

So what should a church be? NOT a retreat. NOT a hideaway. Rather a place that is alive with our stories. Alive with our testimonies of the work we are doing outside of these walls. A family we lean on to gear us up for the week ahead so we might serve those in need. A community that is alive with feeding, quenching, sheltering, clothing, visiting, and loving the greater world around it.

We should feel blessed to have one another and certainly we can invite others to join us, but we are missing it; we are missing it unless what are doing here is the beginning of the work we will do elsewhere. We are just goats gathering to hear the stories of the sheep. We are just disciples in name unless we are serving those overlooked by the world. Unless we engage in the serving of our Savior. And to do that? Feed. Quench. Shelter. Clothe. Visit. Love.

Amen

I close my eyes; O God I think I'm falling

This title is a line from Madonna's Like A Prayer. I wanted to use something she was singing on her Blond Ambition Tour (you'll see why in a moment). Click the title and visit Madonna's website if you'd like.

Busy weekend, short week, lots of work to do. Posting will come in short spurts this week. But here it is:

THE WEEKLY PIC OF THE ADVENTURES OF J.D. ROSE


Believe it or not, I am stone cold sober here.

Heaven waits inside of your heart; you can stop looking for it above.

This lyric is one of mine, from a song by my band called Ampersuaded. I guess I got it right ocassionally!

Today I am going to see Rob Bell speak in Dallas and I am really excited! He is one of the pastors/teachers I find challenging and truthful in the midst of a lot of the opposite kind of voices in Christianity. Click the title above to visit Rob Bell's church (Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids) teaching site. I highly recommend their podcast and listening to as many sermons there as time allows. Great stuff!

Another teacher I dig was with me in thought most of the last few weeks. This past weekend I co-led a retreat that used Brian McLaren's book The Secret Message of Jesus as its curriculum. It is an amazing book and I find him an incredible thinker. I have found a small treasure of his teachings at my favorite hangout YouTube.

Brian deserves to be the first of the teachers (who teach me) to find their way onto Exposing Thorns. Watch this. Kick it around. Buy The Secret Message. And stay tuned, there are some other teachers out there worth hearing.

Blow up the outside world!

This title is the title lyric of a great Soundgarden song. I forgot how great that band was back in the day. To see for yourself click on the title and go watch the video for Blow Up The Outside World.

Pyromania was only one way I could have gone here...
But it seemed the higher road to choose.

THE WEEKLY INAPPROPRIATE CHURCH SIGN


Think there was any fire and brimstone slinging that day?

Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

This lyric/title is from Pink Floyd's song Time off of their masterwork Dark Side Of The Moon. You will see why in a moment. You may visit Pink Floyd's website by clicking the title.

Tomorrow night I am starting a four week series on The Great Commandment found in Matthew 22:37 where Jesus says we should love the Lord with all our "heart, soul, and mind" and asserts this is the "greatest commandment". I am calling the series Knowing-Believing-Acting and using the characters from the Wizard of Oz to make the point that these things must be each present in the life of a Disciple. I will try to post some of it here. At the end of the series, on December 9, we'll be gathering and watching The Dark Side Of The Rainbow-the sunch of the movie Wizard of Oz with the album Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd.

I did this as one of my very first devotions in the very early days of my youth ministry. Here's what I wrote for it:

Sometimes we have to look at two disconnected things in the world to see how God is at work through all things. Here we'll take a movie from the 30's and an album from the 70's and see what they have to say together, about each other, about the world we live in, and the worlds we can imagine. But there are other things we could take side by side and see God at work; life and death, sin and grace, the life Jesus lived and the death he didn't deserve, the lives we live and the eternity we are offered. Watch as Dorothy Gale is taken on a journey full of danger and magic. Listen as we hear about what corrupts the world and a piece of art that ends with the words All that is now, All that is gone, All that's to come, and everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. Then finally someone saying "There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark." The moon's light is merely a reflection of the sun. And the whole thing is entirely about finding your way home. Here is Dark Side Of The Rainbow...

Pretty solid shit for a 19 year old I gotta say!!!

Here are my two favorite movements from Dark Side Of The Rainbow.





Anybody in Texas (you know within a non-ridiculous radius) come check out our study the next four Wednesdays and the synch on December 9. Everybody else do this in your own home with some friends. It'll blow your mind!

Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway!

About time I quoted some Willie Nelson in the title! Long long overdue. This line is from On The Road Again. You can hear some of his work, inlcuding an amazing/unsettling thing called Peaceful Solution on his mysapce page by clicking the title here.

THE WEEKLY PIC OF THE ADVENTURES OF J.D. ROSE


Driving some kids in the church van to camp this summer!

From the start in your own way, you just want somebody listening to what you say.

This line is from one of my favorite bands Colpday's song Square One. You can hear some of their stuff on their myspace page and you can get there by clicking the title above.

I led an adult retreat this weekend and the last morning we did some journaling and reflecting on the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. If you've nevr read it, check out Luke 19:1-10. While we reflected I just started writing and thought what I wrote might be of interest and value to whomever finds the blog today or in future days.


The Cheap Seat
By J.D. Rose

November 11, 2007

Ran ahead, Zacchaeus did

because sometimes you've got to beat the crowd to the arena, be the first one in line, sleep on the sidewalk for two weeks to be admitted to the concert. The official fanclub and groupies are coming in with the act and the VIP's will surely find their place close to the stage. But you; a bottom feeder, despised, hated, reviled - no one's saving a seat for the likes of you.

And let's admit it! You're not that impressive. You're not the biggest and baddest, the best or the brightest, tall in stature or great in contribution. The dirt and rocks have a greater purpose. The trees above at least can shade and be climbed by children in summer. The trees! The Sycamore in the town square; you could climb it and wait for his coming. You could perch there and wait and see. Run ahead Zacchaeus to claim your spot. Run ahead and find your place. Look up! Look up!

Then just maybe he'll look up and offer you a first row seat. Maybe he's not like all the others. Maybe he's not here for the VIP's after all, but the people like you who just want to see and hear and have a place.

And if confronted with the truth you suspect he might be bringing...
If you see boundless love...
If forgiveness is for you, for sinners, for sinners even like you...
none of the rest of it will matter.
Give it away.

Give it all away - your money, your possessions, your job, your title, your place, your life as you know it, your life forever. Give it away. Give it all away!
He's calling your name even now.

It's not a movie; no private screening. This method acting, well, I call that living.

This title is a lyric from a Bright Eyes song that I dig. I like most of what Conor Oberst does. Check him out by clicking these words of his I've stolen for my title!

I think it's possible that British television is smarter than American. At least these two clips seem to suggest such a thing. I just found these and can think of no funnier thing to start your Friday right.

From Ricky Gervais' Extras here is Ian McKellen's turn as Ian McKellen



And Patrick Stewart ready to rock out with his Spock out!



What fantastic actors.

And funny!

Alright, off to lead an adult retreat all weekend...

Happy Friday every body!

Just a slob, like one of us

Thought some Joan Osborne was in order. You'll see why she was on my mind in a minute. This is of course a line from her one hit What If God Was One Of Us? See what other songs she's written (I can't name one) by clicking the title and visiting her website.

Looks like churches are trying to connect with those young whipper-snappers today. Makes some ridiculous images in front of churches! Here it is...

THE WEEKLY INAPPROPRIATE CHURCH SIGN
DELUXE EDITION




Not only did the church think of this, but some non-church folk thought about it also. Here's a pretty funny little video from some folks asking the big question: What If God Had a Myspace?

I would still lay down my life for you. Do you deserve your freedom? No I don't think you do. There's no justice in the world...And there never was.

Friend Tutt turned me on to a band called Muse. They have a song called Soldier's poem and this title is taken from its lyrics. Check Muse out by clicking the title. Thanks Tutt!

Thought this was worth sharing.

We have to seriously look ourselves in the mirror as a people. This Sunday I'll participate in Veterans Day servcies at church and elsewhere. And whatever you think of this current or any other war, you must believe soldiers should be honored for their service. I did not enlist and did not have to, my father did not and was not made to, and these things are largely true because my grandfater did enlist in World War II. I am aware of sacrifices made that have provided me with this life. So what does this headline mean for us as a country?

Study: 1 out of 4 homeless are veterans
By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.

In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.

Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

"We're going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous," said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.

While services to homeless veterans have improved in the past 20 years, advocates say more financial resources still are needed. With the spotlight on the plight of Iraq veterans, they hope more will be done to prevent homelessness and provide affordable housing to the younger veterans while there's a window of opportunity.

"When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it," said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which provides substance abuse help, job training and shelter to veterans.

"I think they'll be forgotten," Keaveney said of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. "People get tired of it. It's not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They'll just be veterans, and that happens after every war."

Keaveney said it's difficult for his group to persuade some homeless Iraq veterans to stay for treatment and help because they don't relate to the older veterans. Those who stayed have had success — one is now a stock broker and another is applying to be a police officer, he said.

"They see guys that are their father's age and they don't understand, they don't know, that in a couple of years they'll be looking like them," he said.

After being discharged from the military, Jason Kelley, 23, of Tomahawk, Wis., who served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, took a bus to Los Angeles looking for better job prospects and a new life.

Kelley said he couldn't find a job because he didn't have an apartment, and he couldn't get an apartment because he didn't have a job. He stayed in a $300-a-week motel until his money ran out, then moved into a shelter run by the group U.S. VETS in Inglewood, Calif. He's since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

"The only training I have is infantry training and there's not really a need for that in the civilian world," Kelley said in a phone interview. He has enrolled in college and hopes to move out of the shelter soon.

The Iraq vets seeking help with homelessness are more likely to be women, less likely to have substance abuse problems, but more likely to have mental illness — mostly related to post-traumatic stress, said Pete Dougherty, director of homeless veterans programs at the VA.

Overall, 45 percent of participants in the VA's homeless programs have a diagnosable mental illness and more than three out of four have a substance abuse problem, while 35 percent have both, Dougherty said.

Historically, a number of fighters in U.S. wars have become homeless. In the post-Civil War era, homeless veterans sang old Army songs to dramatize their need for work and became known as "tramps," which had meant to march into war, said Todd DePastino, a historian at Penn State University's Beaver campus who wrote a book on the history of homelessness.

After World War I, thousands of veterans — many of them homeless — camped in the nation's capital seeking bonus money. Their camps were destroyed by the government, creating a public relations disaster for President Herbert Hoover.

The end of the Vietnam War coincided with a time of economic restructuring, and many of the same people who fought in Vietnam were also those most affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs, DePastino said.

Their entrance to the streets was traumatic and, as they aged, their problems became more chronic, recalled Sister Mary Scullion, who has worked with the homeless for 30 years and co-founded of the group Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia.

"It takes more to address the needs because they are multiple needs that have been unattended," Scullion said. "Life on the street is brutal and I know many, many homeless veterans who have died from Vietnam."

The VA started targeting homelessness in 1987, 12 years after the fall of Saigon. Today, the VA has, either on its own or through partnerships, more than 15,000 residential rehabilitative, transitional and permanent beds for homeless veterans nationwide. It spends about $265 million annually on homeless-specific programs and about $1.5 billion for all health care costs for homeless veterans.

Because of these types of programs and because two years of free medical care is being offered to all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, Dougherty said they hope many veterans from recent wars who are in need can be identified early.

"Clearly, I don't think that's going to totally solve the problem, but I also don't think we're simply going to wait for 10 years until they show up," Dougherty said. "We're out there now trying to get everybody we can to get those kinds of services today, so we avoid this kind of problem in the future."

In all of 2006, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 495,400 veterans were homeless at some point during the year.

The group recommends that 5,000 housing units be created per year for the next five years dedicated to the chronically homeless that would provide permanent housing linked to veterans' support systems. It also recommends funding an additional 20,000 housing vouchers exclusively for homeless veterans, and creating a program that helps bridge the gap between income and rent.

Following those recommendations would cost billions of dollars, but there is some movement in Congress to increase the amount of money dedicated to homeless veterans programs.

On a recent day in Philadelphia, case managers from Project H.O.M.E. and the VA picked up William Joyce, 60, a homeless Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair who said he'd been sleeping at a bus terminal.

"You're an honorable veteran. You're going to get some services," outreach worker Mark Salvatore told Joyce. "You need to be connected. You don't need to be out here on the streets."

In the fear and alarm, you did not desert me my brothers in arms.

This lyric is a great line from a great song by Dire Straits called Brothers In Arms. It has been used in a couple of creative ways by some TV shows. No better in my opinion than on my favorite show The West Wing in its second season finale in its best episode called Two Cathedrals. Click the title to see that scene and wonder if Bartlett runs for a second term!!!!

Tuesdays are busy days for me and so I am inventing a new weekly segment that I can put up pretty easily. Here for the first time, and my mom will especially like it I think, wlecome to

THE WEEKLY PIC OF THE ADVENTURES OF J.D. ROSE


J.D. with his little brother Diggety at Church Camp

And for those like me wanting to see it now, here's the clip earlier in that West Wing episode when the President has a throw down with The Almighty. Here's what you need to know; his secretary has just been killed in a car accident, his Assistant Chief of Staff who's like a son to him has been shot and almost killed, he's about to announce to the press that he's been hiding MS, and his VP, Hoynes, wants him to let him have the nomination. Watch this fantastic scene!

You have too much. Been spending all your time collecting, and discovering it's not enough.

This title is a lyric from Aqualung's song Something to Believe In. This meaty song asks some big questions and found its way on to the Tri-Level 2007 Camp CD! You can visit Aqualung's site by clicking the title.


The Widow's Offering
Mark 12:41-44

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

This is a man I can follow. How about you?

Find me somebody to love.

This title/lyric is from my second favorite song by Queen called Somebody to Love. My first favorite is Killer Queen. At any rate, click the title and go watch their video for this song and wonder what kinda music Freddie Mercury would be making now!

Hey, I found this video of Joe Castillo, the artist I saw in San Diego. This is not a religious piece, that stuff is pretty intense. But watch this amazing artist tell this sweet story with no words; only sand on a lightboard.

A working class hero is something to be!

This title is a lyric from John Lennon's song Working Class Hero most recently covered well by Greenday. Click the title to see their solid powerful video with it and try not to creep all out when Lennon sings the last two lines!

I thought I'd get it out of my system without a post. But I just found this and it is really good. I am kind of a realist when it comes to sports. I root for my teams and get excited when they win, especially the big games, but often I am the rare exception of a serious fan who harbors no delusions. But when it comes to #4 things are a little different; he warrants it. That is why this year has been so much fun for me in the NFL. While most of my friends are consumed with who wins Superbowl XXXXI 1/2 Sunday between the two best quarterbacks playing right now. One of the best of all time is giving his faithful fans a season to remember. These clips both come from this week's Monday Night Football.



And what did the old man have left in him when the game went into overtime?




Legends write their own stories!