You are able to deliver from the fire of affliction
It’s the declaration of my Lord
You’re not an image of gold
You’re the God of old
You have made us
Come and save us
We are Yours
But even if You don’t,

Burn us up! Burn us up! Burn us up!
Oh king won’t you burn us in the furnace of
Your desire
We give up! We give up! We give up!
Oh king won’t you burn us in the furnace of
Your desire!
Won’t you throw us in the fire!

The above Lyric is from the song, Burn Us Up, one of the many great songs by Shane & Shane. I got thinking about this song because of the news about ‘Touchdown Jesus’. I am sure I stole that name from someone smarter then I. Anyone who has cruised south on I-75 has seen the mammoth Jesus sculpture. I have seen it on route to Atlanta, Cincy, Florida, or even Corbin Kentucky (home to KFC). I always get giddy when I see it… a Giant Jesus showin’ us ‘its good!’

However, I heard some news via Nathan Colquhoun’s twitter, pointing me to the ‘tragic’ news that this piece of ‘art’ has been destroyed. You can read & watch it burn here: THE STAR. If you are too lazy to check the link… I will share the most shocking detail I discovered… this sculpture cost a quarter of a million dollars! Thats 6 figures! WOW! I don’t even know where to start with that….

Maybe this shows my scatter brain, but I think the song, this burning image of God, and a few blogs I interacted with today all connect. Today I was challenged and encouraged by a couple great blogs. A couple favourite blogs of mine are: Adam McLane & Mark Oestreicher. Adam posted a blog titled: Churches don’t reach people. Mark put up a blog about extended adolescence in churches. I found myself involved in some great dialog about how the church has an opportunity to orient its mission outward, giving all people (including youth & young adults) the challenge and responsibility to lead by serving others. At the end of the day, maybe we need to burn it up and start making some radical changes. What would you (or maybe are trying to) change about your church?

A few months ago I borrowed a book from James Shelley, titled The Kite Runner. I was really looking forward to reading the book, but like most books, I made excuses to not read it. After about a week, my amazing wife, seeing the oppurtunity, asked if she could read it. I saw this as an oppurtunity to be lazy and yet still learn about the book. She wiped through it. Thinking back now, I remember a few times where she was really upset while reading it. I finally understand. Tanya & I borrowed the video version of the story from the London library. The story rocked me.

I am not going to say much about the story, because you need to experience it first hand. PLEASE – go read it, or if your like me – see the movie. Tanya said the movie looked exactly like what she imagined while reading the book. However, I might advise reading the book, because you can digest the story in more small bites. I found myself emotionally zapped by the end. I broke down and wepted as the credits began. It is a story of love. But in a very broken world. It haunts me to think how much pain my brothers and sisters in Afghan have been dealing with. As I posted last night about reality, the story of The Kite Runner rings with ugly and beautiful truth. I need to keep my eyes fixed to reality. I need to keep my soul tuned to truth. And I need to keep my heart full of love and compassion for justice. Thank you for reminding me Kite Runner, I am done with not remembering. I will close with a few quotes that make me think and feel.

“Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.”

“There is only one sin. and that is theft… when you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth.”

“You bring me shame.”

“There is a way to be good again…”

“What do you see? …The rest of my life”

“You’ve always been a tourist here. You just didn’t know it.”

“For you, a thousand times over”