Maundy Thursday Thoughts

For some reason, I always love our Maundy Thursday service. The liturgy is beautiful, and the readings are amazing. I have preached at this service, and listened to other really good preachers preach at this service, and I am pretty sure the sermon needs to go. I think the act of foot washing, essentially reencating the gospel text is more than enough. The other observation is that the John reading is a great place to turn for the wedding of both doctrine and embodiment. We are all aware of the embodiment piece, but there is this great nugget, "Jesus, knowing, that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself." (Jn 13:3-4) I guess if you were going to preach you could preach something on that relationship.

Fear and Loathing in Piedras Negras

For those of you wondering, our mission trip went well, and here is the piece I wrote about it for the newsletter:

On March 7 a small team of five left San Antonio, TX and headed to Piedras Negras, Mexico. It was a short two and a half hour drive, but to hear the media talk about it, our team was risking life and limb to enter a battle zone. Mexico had been captured by drug lords and corrupt cops, and was allegedly on the brink of civil war. You can imagine our shock when we were greeted with a warm smile and bear hug by a Danny Devito-esque Mexican priest, Padre Miguel.
Padre Miguel is the priest of El Buen Pastor, a congregation that has grown exponentially and considers its mission to be very simple: tell people about Jesus and help whoever you can. This church stood in stark contrast to everything we had been prepared to encounter in Mexico. Where we were expecting to see pain, suffering and death, we instead encountered hugs, smiles and vibrant life. The whole time we kept thinking, these people live where we are afraid to go.
Our team spent four days in Piedras Negras building relationships in the church and digging a ditch that will be used to lay the foundation for an addition to the church. This addition will be used as a computer lab/ sewing center and will give El Buen Pastor even more ways to serve its city. We saw the living conditions of many of the poor, the dirt floors, the crate walls, no heat, and no water. Even these poor welcomed us, and rather than being angry or dejected they were hopeful that perhaps these American Christians could help.
Maybe we can help. That question has haunted me since we returned to San Antonio. Maybe we can help. We should be able too. We have the means, the talent and the energy. But we are also gripped by fear. Unlike past years, the overwhelming response to this trip, was, “Don’t go, its too dangerous.” We took the media descriptions of violence to be gospel truth. We took general government warnings to be specific calls on our life. Maybe we can help. Maybe, but it is going to take trusting Jesus more than our local news anchor, and loving our neighbors more than we love our own safety. Maybe we can help. Our team prays that we can.

Lenten Vows Revisited

I am still rocking on the things I gave up for lent: candy bars and soda. I have managed to stay faithful to that vow by embracing a perhaps worse vice: sweet tea. While I am thinking about it, it really should be noted that all other iced teas should just go away. Sweet tea has clearly taken tea as far as it can go, and I just don't get the need to keep making inferior teas. My current store bought favorite is Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea. While I am doing alright on the things I gave up, I very clearly have not followed through as well for the positive thing I wanted to add- more blogging. This will change though, because I have been doing quite a bit of writing and speaking over lent, so I will work on getting those posted here, and also fill in some new thoughts. I also promised a big announcement, and I am only a few short days away from unveiling that, so stay tuned.

B-day Bash

Lots of videos lately, and one more today. Josh turned 8, and we have some footage of the kids with cupcakes and candles. Also, the movie debut of Ellen Jan. Enjoy:

Monday in Mexico

Greetings again. All is well. Here is a quick video greeting to fill you in on some stuff:




Tonight we hope to post a couple of videos of our group working so check back in.

Hello from Mexico

Hey everyone. I am trying to upload a short video for Abby and the kids, but it is taking a bit longer than I planned. Hope this works, and if not check out gregrichards77 on youtube.

Cigarettes and Flossing

Alright, one week in, and I have done a far better job with the things I am giving up than the things I am taking on. A full week of no soda or candy has passed, and has gone fairly well. The task of attempting to blog more frequently (while not a total failure- once a week is still pretty decent) has not flourished with the same level of success. I am reminded of a line I heard from a friend of mine (Dan McCarthy), which I am sure he swiped from someone, that he shared when the lead singer of a band asked if anyone had tried to quit smoking, because it was the hardest thing he had ever done. Dan replied, "No way, have you ever tried to start flossing? That's way harder."
Also, I am excited about an upcoming project that I will reveal on this site once we get it going, and I am confident we will have it in place before the end of Lent, so stay tuned.

Ash Wednesday

Lent is upon us again and it begins with Ash Wednesday. I am really excited this year to be taking Josh and Calvin out school to bring them to our noon service for Ash Wednesday. We gave them the option of being able to go tonight at 7, or going during the day and then having to go back to school with the crosses on their heads. Josh's response was both typical (of him) and amazing, "That would be great, because then everyone would be able to tell we were Christians just by looking." On my personal list of Lenten vows, no soda and no candy. I am also adding in that I will blog throughout Lent, so hopefully you find something mildly interesting back on this site soon. In other news, I have a side project I am working on, that I think a number of you may find really interesting, and as soon as I figure out the technology I will be making a big announcement about it here. For now though, I will close with one of the oldest Lenten prayers,
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that by the observance of this Lent we may advance in the knowledge of the mystery of Christ, and show forth his mind in conduct worthy of our calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord.