The Back Table

There is this space between what I want to be, what I should be, and what I'm supposed to be that frightens, confuses, and sometimes paralyzes me. It's the space between Genesis and Revelation. Between "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" to Jesus spitting out lukewarm Christians. It's the space between grace and judgment. It's the space we live in right now. "What water temperature am I?" How do we measure that? Where's the spiritual thermometer? I think it can be so easy to fit into the church culture we're a part of. We figure out our temperature by comparing it to others around us and by what's being taught from the pulpit. That's why it's so huge to have a balanced teaching on grace and the seriousness of living as Jesus commanded us to live. It always amazes me to see people in churches get angry when the church decides to make more of an effort to reach out to those outside the church. Isn't

I have a confession to make. At my wedding, when I was told to repeat the vows, I wasn't fully there. It was all kind of hazy, weird - not like I thought it was going to be. Maybe it had something to do with all the booze I was drinking a couple hours before (just kidding, Honey...and Jake [father-in-law]). Seriously though, the only thing that was going through my mind was my voice not cracking, not throwing up and wanting to check my zipper for the hundredth time. I remember feeling white. I don't even know if that's possible, but it was for me that day. I just knew I was the whitest dude in the room. I could have been used as a night light. I'm sure people were thinking that too. I could almost hear the whispers in the ears from one spouse to another - "Honey, he would be great in the hallway by the bathroom." These aren't the kind of thoughts a groom should be having when he's about to make the most important promises to his almost-wife in front of