This has been rattling in my mind for quite a while and it all kind of poured out of me during Catalyst in my journal. This is an idea. A catalyst. Some primal desire for change, but nothing we do should be outside the scope of community. So, my friends, readers, critics… I need your help. I want input and ideas. Let’s make this some sort of collaborative conversation. I’m looking for change. I’m looking for something more. I’m not even sure why I’m writing this, but I’d like to hear from you about this manifesto.

A Manifesto of Revolt and Activism in a Journey

Out of the Cluttered Woods of Faith

This is a clearing, a walk in spiritual anticipation for a tribe of earth shakers, lovers and heretics.

1. First and foremost, we are followers of Christ, lovers of God and chasers of the Spirit.
2. We the people are discontent with the way churches are today.
3. We want to do the work of Jesus and join in the healing of a broken world.
4. We are fueled by compassion, driven by love, and broken by God’s unfathomable grace.
5. We will not complain or bicker or dissent about the current state of the broken church, but we will incite change through our actions, meditations, prayers, and love.
6. We will pray and seek the Lord in the world around us.
7. We will break the mold of religious traditions and the American dream because we are sojourners, aliens, nomads following in the steps of a wandering Aramean.
8. We are social and religious heretics who are only accountable to the sovereign creator of the universe.
9. We are lovers of change, hope and compassion and will shake the status quo by how we step outside the herd and barbeque the sacred cow.
10. We will work out our faith in transparent community of broken followers stumbling after Christ.

Come experience Urban Hymnal 3 is this Saturday. I’ve been told it’s post-modern worship music and apparently it’s a free/donation based concert. We’re making it a Ventus worship night field trip.

If anyone is in or around the area, you should join us! If you’re going - shoot me an email and you can join the bunch (sdelony@yd.org).

Here’s the details:

November 1st, 2008 - Kane Hall @ the University of Washington

Check it out here: Urban Hynmal.org

Here’s a Free Mp3: Psalm 13

Yes, stop. Everything. Now.

Go on over to Joel Klampert’s blog and check it out. There’s also prizes if you register on his site.

The site has changed my life. I’m a better husband. I won the lottery. I no longer have that embarrassing rash. And I now can speak Mandarin Chinese… fluently.

Why are you still here reading this when you should be over there…

Click here

[So, how's that for a endorsement, Mr. K?]

The bulk of this article hinges upon your religious worldview. If you don’t put much stock into Lucifer/Satan/the Devil  or spiritual warfare, then click here to watch something happy and dilute yourself.

That being said…

Here is a simple three step list of how to really piss Satan off. This list is by no means comprehensive, just a few pointers that can probably be expounded upon.

Step 1: Introduce secular, pagan, non-chuched teens to Jesus

Step 2: Nurture them in a wild walk after Him

And here’s the kicker…

Step 3: Teach them to worship, I mean really sing praises to the Lord

Do steps one through three, then sit back and watch all hell break loose. It’s actually quite comical. Since Saturday we’ve had such oppression and odd circumstances happening. Sleepless nights. Credit card fraud on the ministry gas card. People trying to break in to our office. It’s only just started. Someone kicked the hornet’s nest.

Now, I’m not telling anyone to go looking for a fight… just keep tracking with the Lord and the fight comes to you. Aide others in a journey towards freedom in Christ? Have fun and look out…

Saturday was a great day.

We spent the afternoon with our YD youth and some from a local church @ World Relief in Seattle learning about the Refugee problems on around the globe. World Relief is an awesome organization partnering with refugees entering Seattle. It was pretty eye opening experience for many of the youth, learning about the horrors and struggles many endure as a way of life.

From there we dashed back to set up for Ventus.

That night was one of our smaller crowds, but one of the most impactful evenings for me. Our topic was worship. We had a local youth pastor, Clay, come and talk about why we sing in church. From there we had a rousing discussion with the teens and they shared their experiences in the past with worship. They mainly saw it as just singing songs that were “Jesus-y”.

Then something really cool happened. As we ended our discussion, Clay pulled out his guitar and explained the words to a song. Then the led them in worship,. Listening to those teens worship just broke me. They weren’t just singing songs - they were expressing their love for God. These are kids with no context for church, no religious background, and no real outward desire to seem Christian. And they were singing from somewhere deep within them. The Holy Sprint really moved. It was powerful. I love it when things happen that are so far beyond me. I just love to be there to experience the Lord at work.

It was a simple song. It was the one I was looking for (after Catalyst) a few weeks back. All I had a YouTube clip, and Kevin Twombly send me the chord chart. I gave this to Clay and a day or so later, we were worshiping the Lord (I love it when a plan comes together).

It was a great evening.

The song is “Glory to God” by the band Fee.

The chorus is so simple, but expresses something so powerful and deep to the Lord.

Glory to God

Glory to God

Glory to God, Forever…

If you want more, here you go:

Beautiful blood/Glory to God (mp3) (Glory to God hits around the 5 min. mark)

Glory to God Chor Chart (pdf)