spiritual

I don't even know what to say about this one. It's far worse than any cheesy late 80s rap video you've ever seen. It makes dcTalk and Carman rapping in the early 90s seem cool. Think MC Hammer "Pray" meets your youth pastor who's trying way too hard to be "down with the G - O - D." Anyway, you have to see it to believe it.

I had a great conversation today with Fr. Kusi at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. For my final class as a Ph.D. student, I am studying ethnography, which requires me to do a small project involving attending some sort of relatively unfamiliar event. I decided to attend Mass at St. Francis, as I have had scarce exposure to Roman Catholic services. I really enjoyed attending Mass last weekend, but was a little unclear about some of the elements of the worship service, so I asked Fr. Kusi if I could meet with him for a few minutes to talk about some of the symbols of worship and significance of the liturgy. We ended up talking for over 45 minutes, and I really enjoyed our conversation. Fr. Kusi has a very soothing presence and could answer all my questions with ease. He even took me all the way back to Constantine to explain the history of the liturgical vestments. I really found the service to be so meaningful and rich in symbolism, that I'm pretty sure that I'll try to attend Mass on Sunday evenings more often.

If you're interested, here's the Parish's Mission Statement:

We, the people of God of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish, guided by the Holy Spirit are called to continue the mission of Jesus Christ.
We dedicate ourselves to the fulfillment of this mission by proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God, by living in love and fellowship, by seeking nourishment in God's Word and in worship and prayer and by dedicating ourselves to the service of others.
Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, we pledge ourselves to be living witnesses of God's presence to the world.

See Jim Wallis of Sojourners on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart here.

U2 Sermons Blog for Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog.

Paul Oyler, a 21st century redneck who likes dirt car racing, rock & roll, and photography tries to figure out what it means to follow after the path of Jesus in this crazy world of today.

Reflections on culture, politics, and religion from an evangelical worldview.

Blog of Steve Taylor, on Postmodernism and Christianity.