Uffizi Mission Project

I learned awhile ago that power can be given in two ways (there are probably more) - it can be given through an institution through the process of receiving resumes, having interviews, and offering leadership positions and within the church, this often means the gift of a “pulpit,” or it can be received through the process of doing something, creating a door for new followers, and actually being empowered by the new community that is being built (and it can be a combination of both of these).

Since making this move, the pulpit has not been a part of my new package.  And honestly, at times it has frustrated me, because I feel we are learning things that the population within walls really needs to hear.  But I also understand, because three years ago I heard the voice of God intuitively tell me that there would be no more stage for us.

 My frustration has been a two sided coin - the Luke 15 missional heart of God will reignite the legitimate life of the church, and the mission is needed for my friends on the West Side and on the streets.  Let me illustrate it with stories from last night:

 *A young 17 year old girl, living on the streets, running with friends who live in boats, does not have shoes for her feet

*I find out on the West Side, that a young girl who was abused by several young men a few months ago, is in the hospital now with alcohol poisoning

*A friend with no money, but within a home, tells me that his father abuses his mother

*A young boy, with a single mom, is acting out violently in the Village apt community

On Wednesdays from 5:30 - 10:00pm, I am in the culture of destruction in some ways - from Pershing Park, to the West Side, to Elsies Tavern downtown.

Yet, where destruction is, there is the answer.  I believe it is found in redemptive long term relationship building, incarnational living within culture, and union with Christ.

While now I grieve the loss of the pulpit, where I might be able to explain the answer, in terms prophetic and maybe not so prophetic, I have found the “new pulpit.”

The New Pulpit, is Facebook, and things like it.  I think I drive my friends crazy, but yesterday I created two new groups and an event online.  We are finding one another, revolutionaries all across the spectrum, from a bit bitter to now empowered, hopeful, and missionally entrenched.  Pershing Park, Holy Chaos, The West Side Movement are all fueled now by the new pulpit, a creation tool in Jesus cyspace, a place where God exists as well. 

The New Pulpit will bring new friends for the stories I mentioned above, because the other pulpit may not invite us over for punch and cookies.  I use it literally out of desperation for my friends.

I am hopeful that the New Pulpit will fuel the Summer of Love 2009.  You can join today.  40 years ago the summer of love represented one idea of love, and in 2009 I hope we can create another view.  The Summer of Love in 2009 will be about us, organized in twos, like St. Francis and St. Clare, who will hit the streets to bless, befriend, and enter into new stories and new cultures.

Sorry friends, but I will soon be bothering you with a new message and group from the new pulpit, inviting you into the new journey which is 7 months away, the summer of love in Santa Barbara.

There is hope for the rebirth of the church in the children of the incarnation…

I am witnessing it at Pershing Park now, as some local pastors are bringing their high school and junior high students.  Last night there was a circle of young people around Gator as he entertained them with the guitar, jokes, and card tricks.  Gator is the central attraction of the park for sure, and now I hear his name in new circles throughout Santa Barbara.

 I am witnessing it as well as Westmont University wakes up to its missional potential as well, and students begin to come down to the West Side to do a regular prayer walk, staff the community center, and plan a spring break week down at the the Village apartments in 2009.

Perhaps the hope of the church is as much in the grass roots as the pulpit.  Since beginning this incarnational movement in Santa Barbara, I have rarely been invited to preach - for the most part the door to the congregations has been shut.  I am still hopeful for open doors, but my strategy has moved to facebook.

Facebook can become the agent for change, and for finding “cause.”  In many ways, it has taken the Uffizi Mission to its next level, because it exists under the pulpit, communicating on a mass scale an “Obamic” message of change.  The children of the incarnation are being born under a new paradigm, where we are not hindered by boards or waiting for masters of divinity.

I still press for partnership, meaning I still believe that God is at work in the church as it is, but our hierchachal structure has killed the potential of rapid, missional movement.

I once shared the message of change with a pastor, who told me that the Titanic could not be turned in a moment, but would take a few years.  (He chose the picture of the Titanic, not me!)  The children of the incarnation see no need to head straight into the iceberg.

The children of the incarnation will be there with preemptive love, helping our friends in culture before their ship sinks I believe.

Last night I had a disturbing conversation with a street kid.  A 15 year old girl who is hanging out with the wrong crowd with no idea of their real intentions.  A new friend of mine, a mom on the streets, was trying to convince her to find shelter and not head where she was going.  I don’t know how it will turn out.  She was on her way to her iceberg and crash.

While I am 44 years old, and am just learning what it is to be compassionate, street wise, and friendship oriented, the junior high students, high school students, and college students who are with us will be ahead of the game.  They will be at least 50/50 in the building and out of the building, and hopefully there will less of my friends on the streets crashing.

Last night, at Pershing Park, there were probably 100 friends from the streets, and I could feel the compassion God had upon them.  Last Saturday we carved 48 pumpkins with kids in the Village and God was with them.  And we have not even touched the cultures of Haley Street yet, or the 500 block of State Street with bars and clubs…

Pray for the children of the incarnation, who will flood the city with the love of God.  They will go to places we have been afraid to visit.

We have been meeting as Holy Chaos now for four weeks, and each week has been an education for us.  Our teachers have been our friends without houses.

 This week we received an up front explanation of how our friends without houses die.

One such explanation came from Michael.  He came for the first time, obviously agitated and could not remain silent.  His face was bruised.  As we passed the famous “sharing spoon,” he shared a bit of his story.

 (And I am sure there is more to this, but this much I believe is true)  He is trying to get off alcohol, but in the process of getting off alcohol, he experienced seizures.  These seizures hit and caused him to fall on the streets, bruising his body.  He was not sure whether he could get back into the program he needed.

At one point, he stood in the circle and addressed us all.  (This is the accepted “chaos” time!)  He told us of how he is a Christ follower, but he needs an advocate.   He told us that he did not think he could live without an advocate.  He said that all he had at this point was Jesus, but that he needed one of us.  Well praise God for Jack who has so far spent 10 hours with him this week, and helped him get into the needed program.  We are trying to figure out now how we help him upon release.

But that is not all, our “street angel” shared as well about how one of his friends died on the streets this past year.  He was on a bench for 8 hours before anyone knew he was dead.  The street angel himself passed by and didn’t even know - several times in fact.  Because of this, our new saintly friend hits the streets in the evening to feel pulses and make sure people on the street are alive.  If they are cold, he delivers blankets or gets them shelter.  He has a friend who drives a taxi and they pick them up and find shelter.

Let’s sober up ourselves.  Let’s sober up from greed and being entertained in church.  As we partner to help sobriety on the streets, there is a parallel sobriety needed for ourselves.

We are beginning to see it happening:

*One wonderful friend is taking pictures of Pershing Park, the Village, Holy Chaos - so can we advocate our message

*I just received an email from a Westmont revolutionary who wants to get his friends to the community center to be with kids

*A missional core of pastors is being united to steward the love and grace of God to our city

*Many of you are already involved, and are the mission yourselves - thank you!

But, we are still addicted ourselves to an unrealistic escapism of “who is my neighbor.”  We must continue to move outward, toward “the other” and embrace all who are marked with the beautiful image of God.  Choosing life over death, means following the movement of life as expressed in the gospels, illustrated by none other than Jesus Himself.

Comments?

Sorry revolutionaries, I am much older than you think.  I can remember pulling Pink Floyd from the sleeve, placing it on my turntable, and listening to the dark side of the moon.  In my room with my black light and lava lamp, it did seem like the moon eclipsed the sun.  My room became a different world.

 Since leaving on this journey, one son has been eclipsed by another.  My sense of who Jesus is, and what he wants to do, is much different.  I sense that I am walking with the same God, but He has revealed to me another face to see.

 This Friday morning, I took a time trip back to the time of Jesus.  I was still very much in the 21st century, but it was eclipsed by a sense of sandals, mud, pharisees, and a desperate woman.  You know the gospels are filled with the stories of women who get it more than men - and are far more honest and intimate.  I can think of a few - the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume, or the woman who touched the hem of his garment out of desperation… you probably have a favorite yourself.

 Friday, our mens’ group met at North Star.  We had a guest speaker who was going to share with us about “evangelism.”  But today, we had a woman with us.  I had not seen her before, but had a sense that something was going on with her, and that she was from the streets.  I also had this other gnawing idea - I was going to find out soon what it was…

We began with worship - and as we did so, she sang with us at the top of her lungs.  She moved around the coffee shop, sometimes standing, and ended up on her face moaning to God.  At the close of worship, she went into the bathroom, and began moaning in there.  The moaning changed to throwing up.

 Meanwhile, I moved toward the bathroom.  I had no idea what to do, but felt that I should move toward her at least. 

Where it gets bad, is that the man leading the converstion, motioned to me something like this - “Can you get her out of here when she gets out?”  I am not sure that it was this exactly, but I think that was the bottom line idea.  Meanwhile the conversation about “evangelism” continues…  I chime in something to the converstion about the fact that really what we are lacking is love, but I don’t know if anyone picked up the idea.

 I knocked on the door to see if she was ok, and she came out “hardened” and telling me all is well.  She walked around the room and began to ask the speaker questions.  I could tell that the group was trying to figure out what do here as well.  She was asking questions like this:

“What if you lead people to Jesus only to find them reject you?”

“What happens if you spend a year telling someone you love about Jesus, and they reject you?”

“What happens if someone says they believe in Jesus, but the next day they hit you in the face?”

Well, the answers were all given via the intellect.  And she was going to keep asking, I could tell.  The teacher finally gave her the idea that she needed to wait to ask questions.  I could tell that the group was not going to enter into it with her.  I was asking God the whole time, “what do I do?”  I felt Him tell me to go outside with her and listen.

I asked her to tell me more about what she was going through, and we went outside.  Someone else joined me as well, and we began to listen to her.  Her story was about betrayal, about someone she loved who betrayed her, or used her.  To be honest, I could not tell if she was schizophrenic, bipolar, tormented?  But we just listened. 

Finally I felt the leaning to talk to her about grace for herself.  Did she understand the grace of Christ for herself?  She said that “grace was both free and earned.”  I disagreed with the “earned” idea.  I asked if I could just pray for peace for her, not knowing what else to do.  She agreed.

As we prayed for her, she finally settled down.  In fact, she settled down so much that she fell to the street.  She was lying face down, flat on State Street, as we prayed for her.  Then she began to weep and cry out loudly to God.

“Why have I been abandoned?”

“Why has my family abandoned me?”

“Why do I have no friends?”

“I am tired of earth - I want to be in heaven.”

It was a mix of great anger, hurt, and pain.  Finally she got up and walked away down the street away from us.  My friend and I and a few others who came out later, talked about this experience for awhile.  I am still trying to figure it out. 

How loud must Jesus be in our friends on the streets, in the “ghetto” before we will drop our other agendas and listen.  How sad it is that we continue our discussions on evangelism, when we fail to embrace a holistic Jesus.

A holistic Jesus needs to eclipse our middle class four spiritual laws believism.  I continue to argue that the first step is our desire to be with the men and women Jesus loves - He doesn’t save people to put them on a shelf, but because He wants to be with them.  We have to embrace the love God again.

God have grace on me if I am ever homeless, or lose my mind.  Who will come and sit with me - will I be a waste of time?

So God uses moans, screams, wretching, lying on the sidewalk, questions to grab my attention.  Well Jesus, you have my attention.  Do you have a story to share, or a comment on this one?  (My description of the story does not do the experience justice)

I believe Jesus would currently be spending time equally on Wall Street and Main Street as the United States navigates its way through this current economic crisis.  I am sure that this has affected you in some way.  I no longer have a pulpit anywhere, and usually I don’t use this site for “preaching” - but if I were invited to teach somewhere right now I would just encourage us all to “stay generous.”  Many of you who are reading this have lost work or income, and we have lost some supporters, so it is affecting us all.

At times like this, we may all tend to protect and bury our assets, and not to put them to use because we have to think about our future.  But for us who live in relation to Jesus, we know what He has to say about hoarding riches.  We have enough parables to consider on the topic of money and generosity.  I believe that our earlist creed was “Jesus is Lord,” which means that God is well aware of our circumstances.

I get the benefit of being friends with men, women, and families who have greater physical needs than myself, so it keeps me rational.  We started up “Holy Chaos” on Sunday, which is another gathering for our friends without homes.  I spent some time the week before going up and down State Street to see how our friends are doing.  What I heard the most was the need for socks, blankets, and sleeping bags as it is getting colder during the evenings.  One man who only had the shirt on his back and slept on newspapers, was literally still shaking as he was updating me on his life.

On the West Side, I heard a few chilling stories of some people in the apartments trying to sell their over the counter drugs to get some money.

I also watched the Colbert Report last night on Comedy Central - and he did a rather funny bit about how in America, the stock market is like God.  It was satirical and sad at the same time, because we have to face ourselves whether we are straying over to money as idolatry. 

 Perhaps this is a time for us to wake up and consider again our finances, our generosity or our greed.  It is definitely a reminder about our finite exisitence, and our dependence upon God.  It may also re-affirm our inter-dependence on one another.

Our meal sharing at Pershing Park is greatly related to our communal generosity.  It is a reminder of Acts 2, and what God-like community can be when there are loose hands on dollar bills.

We are tested in our faith.  Will God walk us through this time.  Our answer will be our willingness to still give and be stretched.

Your comments?

I would like to beg the church, plead with the church, fall at the alter at the church and weep until they welcome in the apostles and prophets.  It is partially for myself, and for the church itself, and for those outside the church that I dress up in rags and address the citywide church.  I don’t know how to do it.  How do I pull it off?

Part of it is because once again I lick my wounds.  I get tired of defending myself.  I had a conversation yesterday where I had to face the existing mind set and try to explain myself.  This is what I get all the time, “Well, what are you going to do with the people once you reach them?”  We have really messed this thing up with the missionary idea.

My reply is this - “How many missionaries do you think there are in any given church, by percentage?”  I would argue less that one percent of the church population is equipped, sent, and backed up by existing churches.  There are probably very few local missionaries here in my city. 

Here is another part of my answer.  The work of mission, incarnation is “our” responsibility.  It is the shared responsibility of the entire church to be missional.  Not that everyone has to be the ones to be sent out as scouts (like Joshua and Caleb), but when these scouts return, it is the responsibility of all the tribes to move into the promised land.  It was the responsibility of Israel to be a central blessing point for the entire world.

Our problem is the same - we don’t want to do the work.  Poor, poor us.  I mean that, because we don’t get to see what the Lord can do together, and we don’t get to see the literal kingdom of God now.  We wait for the banquet table up in heaven (which I am looking forward to), but we have table scraps now.

The church cannot mature without apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (along with the other gifts of course) getting along and working together.  Still I must defend myself, because people think somehow I left for some bizarre reason, either because I am a postmodern backslider or have some selfish have to do it my own way. 

Here is what happened to me - God, for whatever reason, switched gifts on me.  He gave me this apostolic call…  I didn’t get it then, but I do understand it now.  He also dumped a bit of prophet into the recipe and that sealed the deal.  This is not about better - it is about different but equal.

I stand on this soap box - if we do not find a way to get along, if we do not get and give equal voice, none of us will mature, including myself.  Right now the power structure is slanted - I pray for equal ground and equal voice.

Well, here you go - ways that you can be a salt shaker in Santa Barbara.  Pretty basic stuff - Jesus asks us to be salt, and there are places in the city where some Kingdom taste needs to be mixed in.  Rather than blame the culture, we can jump in and radically change it.

First, you can go to www.lifewind.org to read about where we are going - moving from relief to transformation.  You will also see this site now on my blogroll so you can check in any time.

To start with, Jesus said, “Follow Me.”  This is where He is taking the church of Santa Barbara (as well as other places).  Now what happens if salt does not desire to be salt?

*Prayer Walking on the West Side - Thursdays at 12:30pm at the Village Apartments

This Thursday we walked throughout the lower West Side.  An ex-gang member filled us in on everythings - prostituation rings, drug labs, gang headquarters.  One of the residents at the Village apartments created poems about peace to put up all throughout the neighborhood.  Her children helped put the poems up.  These are the foolish Jesus followers believing in the vision of the Kingdom of God.

*Meal Sharing with Friends without Homes - Wednesday 5:30pm at Pershing Park on Castillo

This Wednesday it is like a parable.  The Turner Foundation is hosting a talent show barbecue.  It will be a mixture of all of us, friends without homes, Village apartment residents.  Someone is planning to yodel, some children will play violins, and some of our street friends will be doing a puppet show for the children.  It is the poetic Jesus in motion.

*Buying Shoes and Saving Lives - www.buyshoessavelives.org - Wednesday, August 27th at 7:00pm at North Star Coffee Company

How often do you get to hear stories from inside Iraq, and support some brothers and sisters who are literally saving the lives of children in Iraq?  Well, join us this Wednesday and join the movement.

Liquid church is happening.  For a long time, I had to argue that it was possible.  I get to argue from the scriptures, from the way Jesus did things - to urge a return to Christology.  New communities are being born, because of the hunger of the people for the transcendent Jesus, who is in culture, but not owned by any culture.  He is already there, and we have been finding Him.  We just point to people and say, “See, He has been here all along - we just haven’t been paying attention.

The words spoken to me, that the doors of friendship building, incarnational and loving mission, and union with Christ would be opened throughout Santa Barbara for the church is happening.  Now, the decision is yours - individually and corporately.

Are we ok with 6,300 people living on the streets in our city?

Are we ok with the neglected on the West Side?

Join the transformational movement as we seek to find the answer together.

Comment on where you are salt, or where you want to be salt, or your answer to the above questions.

Not too many of you knew me when I was 20 years old.  It is probably a good thing.  I recently sat down with a couple of old friends in San Jose and we talked about the good old days at Calvary Baptist Church, when I first began volunteering in a youth ministry there.  I had recently literally met Jesus, and was looking for a place to tie in.  The youth pastor recognized that I didn’t actually know a thing about God, so he put me in charge of announcements, etc…  He also knew I was the class clown of my old high school, so he unleashed a bizarre beast upon the students there every Wednesday night and Sunday morning.

One of the characters that I created was the two headed happy clown.  My friend Andy and I would dress up as one big clown, and appear whenever we wanted to, even in the middle of sermons and run amuck.  One time we handed out what we called chocolate chip cookies to all the kids, but really the chocolate chips were peppers.  The life of Happy Clown was short lived.

But it may clue you in to why I am the way I am today, and why I am considering writing The Proposal…  I would love for some kind of a eerie theme music to occur every time you read The Proposal, but I can’t seem to figure out how to do that on this blog.

The Proposal is simply this - we need 7 local churches to cooperate.  One will be the host church, and six would be churches that would sell their property and put it into a fund to serve the local poor.  Each church could then have one member on a board who would decide how the funds are used.  I think it is pretty simple and straight forward?  I’ve run it by a few people, and they either just laugh it off or demand that I write it.  What about you?

I know there is alot more you would have to deal with, but couldn’t we find a way for each of these churches to get the building for a day for their programs, etc?  After all, we do live in Santa Barbara.  About 80% of what we need to do could probably be done outside in local parks where it is usually 70 to 80 degrees.  (This is not to mention houses, coffee houses, and other meeting places where men and women of peace would welcome us)

We are talking about millions of dollars here that could be given toward the betterment or development for the local poor - more housing, job training, education, etc…  That’s alot of cups of water given to Jesus while He is hungry, thirsty, in prison.  You know the biblical drill.

Oh, you see, there are these budget cuts.  I have been reading about them in the paper, and who they will affect.  It usually comes down to services or education for the poor.  And I think we still have some stereotypes going around about the poor.  Those are easily dispersed when you sit down at Pershing Park or meet some friends at the Village.  Each woman or man has issues, like all of us, but the matter is really quite complex.

We make big claims about Jesus and about the church.  Growing up Baptist, I heard this phrase all the time - “The church is the hope of the world.”  I read the passages about salt and light, and I think I believed them.  I still do.  Maybe clown does not fit me so much now, but fool is probably ok.  We could grow up if we were more foolish with our money.

If The Proposal isn’t the right thing to do, what is?  Your chance to comment…

First of all, thanks to all who commented on last weeks mental rant.  I appreciate it - and I love your comments, whether in agreement or disagreement (and last week had both!)  This week, I seemed to find myself in the midst of agnostics, and what fun it is.  I had three conversations with self-proclaimed agnostics back to  back to back.  The reason I like it so much is because these men and women are saying, “I just don’t know.”  It seems reasonable to me in the midst of the turmoil we are in, to say, “I have no idea.”

 The intellectual evidence could make anyone human bi-polar.  Just spend a day watching the History Channel.  I just watched something on the history of alien activity on earth, and after that on the UC California channel a couple of moments about the latest thinking with evolution, and after that a movie on what Shell has done is foreign countries to find oil and the health ramifications upon poor natives.  In the midst of that you can find a religion station that talks about the prosperity Jesus promises…

And now about the island of plastic out in the ocean?  Have you heard about that?  See it at http://popsci.typepad.com/popsci/2007/10/giant-island-of.html

I intellectually understand the agnostic position.  I would gravitate toward it myself if I had not heard the call of Jesus, and experienced the love of God.  The love of God and the mercy of God is what draws right?

 It’s all about “missing.”  Not missing the point, or missing the mark, but that act of missing someone.  I have old high school friends that I “miss.”  I just miss being with them.  I believe this is close to the actual heart of God for all of us.  He misses being with us, and he initiates with us - the love of God compeled Him to send Jesus.

Our problem is not the actual intellectual sharing of the Gospel - we have done that and will continue to do that.  The problem is that we don’t “miss” old friends and new friends like God does.  We don’t carry enough love in our hearts. 

I am growing to love Facebook.  I know that there all kinds of opinions about it.  One is that it is not real community at all, or doesn’t really have anything to do with relationships.  But here is how I see it - people do want to know and be known.  The fact that they will put their lives out there, shows me that we are relational animals - and confirms the gospel message.  We crave love, we want to give love.  We just don’t know how to do it.  I love even the possibility of a new friend.

 Christ followers should just admit our need, and start leading the way.  I often say that Paul shared with us this secret - that love never fails.  Love is the only thing I know that never fails.  Other things often fail me, and I fail at - but learning to be a good lover is never going to let us down.

 Here is sadly what I feel - we are not with friends outside the walls of the church enough because we don’t love them.  Short and simple, but a painful epidemic.

I think if Jesus were here - he would be on Facebook.  I was even thinking of doing a page for Him myself, but wouldn’t want to get the biography wrong…  He would be very interested in inviting new friends, creating groups, poking people, using super powers…

 What do you think?

I feel like I should write quite randomly now, about my mental state and also what strikes my heart.  So, here it goes, and total random free writing.  (You know, I used to want to be a writer, so this is quite natural for me, though it may make no sense to you - my apologies ahead of time)

*I read a blog a friend sent me, where a pastor critiques The Shaping of Things to Come.  Most of it was fine, until he stated the church in California is quite fine, still working, and still largely respected in the culture.  Maybe Santa Barbara is not in California?  Can someone show me a map?  It is not what I pick up on the streets - is there a parallel universe?  And there was also the following statement, feeding people is not as important as sharing the gospel.  Well, just how do we separate it out like that?  I thought Jesus followers would be known for their grace, generosity and love?  If we don’t have that, can we just claim assent to the verbal gospel then and be done with it.  You know, I talk with Jesus every day to help me…

 *I experience real senses of “lostness”… for sure humanity has lost its way.  This is verified to me at Pershing Park, State Street, and the West Side.  You have all kinds of addictions - some because of riches and some because of poverty.  The addictions of the rich are found at Starbucks and stores where you can buy jeans for $500, the ability to buy whatever you want and hide your addictions… the addictions of the poor are obvious and don’t really need mention, except to know where our following Jesus occurs… (you can see the other pages for that info!).  But how about the crazy little thing called the lostness of the church, which may be a little bit harder to see.  But we have lost our love which compels us out and we have lost our mission.  We should be honest about both.

*I don’t like the phrases - “God only” or “God’s best.”  I hear God only all the time, like God only works in this way or that, as if we know all the mysteries of God.  Surely I hold on to this, Jesus is Lord and the Lordship is central.  I believe He as Lord gets to do whatever He wants whenever He wants… I heard “God’s best” today in a meeting where a gentleman said that “God’s best is immediate healing.”  While I agree that we pray for immediate healing, I know from my friends with addictions that healing is at best a long term process, and I don’t want to heap guilt on them for not getting better right away.

*I hear the liberals talk about doing the things of Jesus on radio 134o but they don’t necessarily want Jesus.  I hear the conservatives on 990am talking lovingly about Jesus but not necessarily wanting to do his works.  What?  Is there another radio station I can tune into?

*Do we want to be a Christian nation?  Surely a Christ following nation would be cool?  But how have we become the #1 arms dealer in the world?  I can’t get my head around that one.  I don’t think I am a complete pacifist, because I realize we need a military in a real world.  But perhaps Jesus would move us down the list to be #2?

*I am thankful for my friends and my family, whoever they are.  I am refreshed that I have some friends.  Thank you for being my friends and taking the time to read this.  Join in the adventure any time.