Predicare il vangelo a tutto volta, e quando necessario, il parole di uso.

franceso di assisi said something like this back in the day and it's still helping me find my life in Jesus. preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.

i don't think it means to hide or something, but it means to have a life in Jesus where you are actually creating with him rather than getting caught up in the nothingness of our generation.
a few thoughts on james chapter 3 for my homies out of town or who couldn't make it out last night.

You don’t need to try to get power…Jesus is the King, he has the power. Be careful what you say because you really do have power to tear other people down, but you also have the power to build them up. God’s righteousness doesn’t come when we go around bashing everybody over the head with the 10 commandments or something. We need to be gentle, and let our lives do most of the talking. Predicare il vangelo a tutto volta, e quando necessario, il parole di uso.

love.

great visit with the moms

my mom and little brother buddy were down for a few days. it was a great visit. the 2 of them had not come down alone before. it's gotta be strange for my mom. when i moved out of the house in '97, my mom and dad were still together, then my older bro (jeffrey), jonny (18 yr old bro), and the buddy man still lived there. it was 6 people only a few years ago, and now it's just 2.

i loved having them down here, though. buddy is a cool dude. i am blessed to have a mother like gail. she and i are still pretty tight, and that feels really good.

by this pic you can't really tell how great i am at playing blast beats wearing a tie. the cowbell is in plain view. more cowbell?
 

me awesome mother and babygrace 2.0. can you believe that this lady has 2 grandbabies? 

the next thing

on march 20, 2003...107 people followed through with their "iraq pledge of resistance" and got arrested for committing nonviolent civil disobedience. we blocked the entrances to the federal building in cc phila. it took a year and a half, but i finally got my day in court yesterday.

it was brief...of the 107, we were the final 7 who were being tried. we basically had the options (if we plead guilty) to pay $250 or go to lock up for 7 days. not guilty (nobody had done that) just pisses off the judge and everybody and they find you quickly guilty and give you 2 yrs probation and longer jail.

we took the 7 days, we have to schedule our time next week tuesday.

the judge was nice, let anybody who wanted to make a statement. we basically spoke to him and he didn't really listen and the "choir"-that is the rest of the activists in the courtroom clapped and listened and stuff.

i tried to explain to the judge how cracked the philosophy was that they were jailing us for standing up against the war (the pledge was the last step of legal protest we had left...talking, calling, and writing my senators, reps, and the bush admin. it didn't work.

the same day we locked it down (the day after the war officially started), my best friend growing up was jumping into northern iraq with his airborne unit. i spent almost a month in iraq back in 2002 and some people that i met had their whole block blown to bits. what a messy time.

we'll see what happens with this jail business. i think it's gonna be hungry and boring and people not being nice. one of the probation officers told me that they have basketball courts, though. that would be nice.

Lily is cool

she took 5 shots from her new pediatrician today. what a champ! if you live near philly you need to get into Circle Thrift (www.circlethrift.com) today because it's 50 Cent thursday! every thursday, 50 Cent comes in a gives out free blings and signs autographs to kids under 5.

seriously, though, all clothes are $.50 and other stuff (housewares, kids stuff) is 50% off. half of cheap is real cheap, by the way.

open mic night tonight at 2007 Frankford, 2nd floor. i am bringing my axe and all my pedals. i am playing drums for my friends' wedding this Sat (at the reception) and band practice was fun. i get giddy when i get behind the drums.

peace.

doesn't she look like a smart baby? 

our little unit

my friend told his wife the other day..."i love you guys [his wife and son]. you're my unit."

me and martha haven't gotten over the fact that we have a camera and can take pictures whenever we feel like it yet. this is an august afternoon in philamazon, and lily is asleep. don't think that this was an easy shot to get.

i watched "rules of engagement" last night with sam jackson and tommy lee jones. don't bother. it's about "doing what you're told" and "passing the buck" and basic military buracracy that makes people not relate to each other like people. it was supposed to be about duty or something. ppppfffff. that was my duty.
i can't help but get sarcastic. the story was ludicris. the gov't wants to pin a "rescue mission gone bad" massacre in Yemen on decorated war hero Childres (jackson). this dude is a total badass and makes his 30 yr military career based on duty and getting the job done. stuff gets hectic and 83 yemenis get wasted.
there is basically no case against him other than the fact that there were dead people. missing security tapes and no impartial eyewitnesses make the swiss cheese case for the prosectution. we're supposed to believe that it's an impossible case for tlj, a drukard, divorcee who is also a close friend to samuel L.
the only realistic thing about the movie is that they have no case against the black guy except some white guy's agenda to pin it on him and hang him out to dry . nobody in the movie said anything about that.

j

le grace skullses 

six dead over an XBOX

(CNN) -- Authorities in Deltona, Florida, have arrested and charged four people in the killings of six people in a rental home, Volusia County's sheriff said Sunday.
Sheriff Ben Johnson said the murder was organized by a man who was angry because he believed his Xbox video game system and some clothes had been stolen.
For the full CNN article, go to this link http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/08/08/bodies.found/index.html

Isn't it ironic when Americans talk about Palestinian suicide bombers or the A-RABS that used planes as missles? The irony is that we make judgements on whole people groups or cultures based on the actions of a few. PS-at least suicide bombers have a cause besides making a few dollars.

Another idea, isn't our media often incomplete and spun a certain way?
An Austrailian article about the same people tells a different tale...
Police called Victorino the "ringleader". He rallied the others to kill after one of the victims, Erin Belanger, 22, removed his belongings from her grandparents' house.
Victorino had been living there without permission while the couple were on holidays, relatives said.
Victorino and friends had turned the house into a party spot until Miss Belanger discovered them.
After the police sent the partiers away, she cleaned up. When Victorino entered Miss Belanger's home, he wasn't looking for his XBox, he was looking for revenge, deputies said.
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,10398015%255E912,00.html

How many news stories do you check out before you start to hate? Killing for getting kicked out of the party house doesn't make it any better, really, but it is more a bit more understandable than "you stole my GI Joe". I'm gonna keep looking into this story. CNN sucks. Read Howard Zinn.

Back to my first thought, what if people in Asia started saying that we should outlaw aluminum baseball bats in the US and Xboxes because Americans under 30 can't play nice. They brutally murder each other over video games. The hicks that make all Arabs into radical muslim killing machines wouldn't like to be associated with these baseball bat, kill a 17 yr old kid in the night, Florida men. Check your h8 at the cross.
peace.
Joshua

Christian humor?

Can such a thing exist? I thought the only Christian jokes were like "...just like an atheist funeral. All dressed up and no place to go." Or Prottys make fun of Catholics or little kids make fun of Satan. Ok, maybe your friends didn't make fun of Satan.

Here, I thought D. Chappelle and K.I. Wayans the only funny people. My boy Justin sent me this little blurb and a link to a site that I'm about to check out. I have a feeling that it's like the Christian "the onion" but we'll see. This piece is a riot, and like the saying goes, "it's funny 'cause it's true."


DETROIT — Rapper Eminem is taking a year off and has written no songs recently, but Christians are already preparing to be offended by his next album.
"I'm good and ready to be outraged," says Earl Gillani, 46, who has been practicing his shocked expression and the "don't you bring that garbage into this house" speech he plans to give his teenager.
Mother Maureen Dafney cringes at the very thought of Eminem's next musical offering.
"It pains me to think of his next album," she says. "I'm primed for disappointment."
Some parents who've been waiting on tenterhooks for the latest line-crossing CD simply want the relief of knowing what they have waited to be offended by.
"It's harder not knowing," says Paul Derby, 39. "I'm looking forward to that moment of stunned vexation when I finally hear how far he's gone this time."
Eminem told SPIN magazine he will work diligently to make the album as offensive as possible so not to let down his Christian audience.
www.larknews.com

Henri Nouwen and James 1

Hey yous guys (s.phiily accent). Here is a little note that I wrote to some of my peeps this morning to use as a prayer for the week.
I like to go back to The Inner Voice of Love by Henri Nouwen from time to time. Thanks for a great feast on Saturday and splendid PMs yesterday. May God bless you in a new way this week.

Here is also the first part of James 1 , in case you want more context for what Henri is talking about.

“Always come back to the solid place”
You must believe in the yes that comes back when you ask, “Do you love me?” you must CHOOSE this yes even when you do not experience it.
You feel overwhelmed by distractions, fantasies, the disturbing desire to throw yourself into the world of pleasure. But you know already that you will not find there an answer lie in rehashing old events, or in guilt or shame. All of that makes you dissipate yourself and leave the rock on which your house is built.
You have to trust the place that is solid, the place where you can say yes to God’s love even when you do not feel it. Right now you feel nothing except emptiness and the lack of strength to choose. But keep saying, “God loves me, and God’s love is enough.” You have to choose the solid place over and over again and return to it after every failure.


James 1 NRSV
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. 5If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. 6But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; 7for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 9Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, 10and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away. 12Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
13 No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. 14But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. 16Do not be deceived, my beloved. 17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Love.
Joshua