go here and here for some updates on the road.

we are currently inYellowstone about to go see Old Faithful.

Grace and Love

tom

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you’re singing ‘em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you’re praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There’s blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don’t fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There’s blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Let’s argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let’s argue this out
You’ll be one of the clouds
Let’s argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can’t love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can’t stand at all, all
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

I recently had the opportunity to head to Cali, Colombia for a few short days with my Pastor Adam. After many hours of thought, counsel, and prayer (yeah freakin' right!) I decided that going would be a beneficial trip for me. One that would get me out of the continent for the first time and possibly see something I had not seen before. the following pictures are from that trip.
Our main purpose for the trip though was not to see the country - as beautiful as it is - but to help train and teach some of the men in a local church there. These men are being trained to be pillars in the church - ones who can teach, exhort, and care for others with an acute sense of responsibility and love for all. They are being taught how to become men of God. On this particular trip Adam and I were equipping them on preaching and communication skills.
Their pastor is an amazing woman named Ruth Rubal - a woman who is full of priceless wisdom and the heart of God. She loves her congregation dearly, and listening in on her talking with Adam was probably the highlight of the trip. Her daughter Sarah is also an incredible woman of God who loves to dance and is in the throes of preparing for a wedding. I could go on for hours about the trip, but i will refrain. It was a lovely time.

This is their church building, which consists of a steel frame and a roof.

This was an amazingly tasty local beverage known as Popular. good stuff.

These are most of the men we went to equip. They are amazing men.

This is part of the city at night, taken from a balcony where we were staying.

This is a mess up, but it looked cool - in an apocalyptic sort of way.

This is Luis and his lovely wife. Luis is rockin my hat. He was our guide basically. Loved him.


Just passing by.


In the Andes Mountains. That's Cali in the distance.


Me at the restaurant we stopped in at in the Mountains.


We sat at Table 21. Sunday is family there. And apparently free appetizer and dessert day. We had tripas, or perhaps more accurately known in our minds as the lining of a cow's stomache. Passionfruit ice cream for dessert.


Taken in the car. Traffic there is great. it's not all that orderly, but has a certain flow to it.


And these are the lovely ladies I had mentioned earlier. Oh man, I had no idea how much wisdom I was going to hear.

I hope to go back some day.