Bildungsroman

I always wished I had a dramatic testimony

some epic tale of You finding me

in the dark places we only read about or see in movies

a climactic, cinematic, automatic blockbuster tale

that would bring out tiny tissue packets from old lady's purses

and the engraved hankies from the suit pockets of the men

at summer campmeetings where I learned to sing

some old bar songs with new lyrics

but mom and dad loved us well

with an apple pie, bubble gum, flannelgraph childhood

where Jesus was at the dinner table

pushing us on the swingset

smiling from the felt boards

dressing in itchy burlap twice a year

and kissing us goodnight in bedtime prayers

but my forever friend grew up too

the world wasn't as pretty as my bedtime stories

romance didn't end the movie

and I couldn't find the sunset to walk off into

then You came leaping off the flannelgraph
asking me for more than I wanted to give

the conversation never really ending

just fading in and out like a bad connection

with a static fear on my end

I almost lost You a few times

but found You again in the oddest of places

a party where You asked me to stay

Dad's face on my wedding day

Picadilly Circus in London

in the middle of a cornfield

in a coffee house in Texas
in an 8lb. 13 ounce invitation to chase You like never before

in the stories of the ones who couldn't pay attention in my class

in a church that is bigger than any building
the more I sought You I realized

it's time to grow up and get up
there's work to be done

less like a kiss goodnight

and more like an earthquake in the morning

"What if Jesus meant what he said? What if we know precisely what Jesus meant when Jesus said what he said? What if we just don't like what Jesus said? What then?" Mark Beeson, "Are We Kidding Ourselves?" post

"If you want flannelgraph Jesus to stay your forever friend, that's what you'll get. If you want to truth about Jesus, that's what you'll get." Mark Beeson, "Tight Like Spandex"sermon 3/1-2/08

"Just remember, you gotta clean what you catch." Papa in William P. Young's The Shack

"The music he wrote must now be performed." N.T. Wright, Simply Christian

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)