So I got my first real live Jesus chain letter. It came with a Jesus prayer rug on it and instructions on how to pass the prophecy on. I wasn't supposed to open it unless I was serious about the prophecy. The "prayer rug" was made of paper and had was about the size of an unfolded napkin. It had a picture of Jesus on it with His eyes closed and I was supposed to pray until His eyes began to open. -_-

What part of the game is this? Pray until His eyes open? Jesus chain letters!?!? People are taking this way out of hand. I first get a little frustrated as their is so much talent at SMU that doesn't have a church appointment, and then there is this foolishness running free without restrictions.Not that it is the fault of the denomination but I just see people doing such foolishness in the name of the Lord and and it gets frustrating. Somebody somewhere took that crap seriously and is following the instructions to the tee, looking for some sort of breakthrough in their life. There is more work to be done.

I've been working on my next sermon and the title will be God is Love part of me thinks that is "low hanging fruit" but part of me is looking for the challenge of bringing something new and fresh to the message (at least something new and fresh to me). I am preaching from 1 John 5:7-21, so I know I can talk about showing love instead of just saying it. I know that I can end with Jesus committing the ultimate act of love by dying on the cross for us. I also see some room in there for 1 Corinthians 13, and a description of the different Greek words for love, agape, phileo, etc, but my issue is EVERYBODY already preaches on those things when speaking on love. I am following the lectionary for the time being and I don't really want to preach on the other 3 scriptures offered for this week. The good thing is i still have time to hash this out.

So the semester is coming to an end for me, my head is bloodied but unbowed by the expectations of graduate level coursework. I was so used to getting by on the strength of my ideas that I did not care much for presentation. My idea are not tested in Seminary, but the presentation, and the coursework and research that I used to come to the conclusion are tested.

The church, Haven Chapel UMC is growing, so is the pastor ;-). I haven't started canvassing the community yet but that will happen as soon as I finish this semester. I am also waiting until we at least meet more than once a month. Which will happen in 2 months. My time at WVUMC seems to be coming to an end so I will have time to reach out to the community in West & East Columbia starting in May. Preparation and ground work will be my friends in this upcoming season of my life.