“The devout Christian of the future will either be a ‘mystic,’ one who has ‘experienced’ something, or he will cease to be anything at all. –Karl RahnerThe tsunami of secularism will be survived, not by clever apologetics, or by waging misguided culture wars, or by pining away for an irretrievable past, but being a person who has had their own mystical experience with God.

My Back PagesBob DylanCrimson flames tied through my earsRollin’ high and mighty trapsPounced with fire on flaming roadsUsing ideas as my maps“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said IProud ’neath heated browAh, but I was so much older thenI’m younger than that nowHalf-wracked prejudice leaped forth“Rip down all hate,” I screamedLies that life is black and whiteSpoke from my skull. I dreamedRomantic facts of musketeersFoundationed deep, somehowAh, but I was so much older thenI’m younger than that nowGirls’ faces formed the forward pathFrom phony jealousyTo memorizing politicsOf ancient historyFlung down by corpse evangelistsUnthought of, though, somehowAh, but I was so much older thenI’m younger than that nowA self-ordained professor’s tongueToo serious to foolSpouted out that libertyIs just equality in school“Equality,” I spoke the wordAs if a wedding vowAh, but I was so much older thenI’m younger than that nowIn a soldier’s stance, I aimed my handAt the mongrel dogs who teachFearing not I’d become my enemyIn the instant that I preachMy existence led by confusion boatsMutiny from stern to bowAh, but I was so much older thenI’m younger than that nowYes, my guard stood hard when abstract threatsToo noble to neglectDeceived me into thinkingI had something to protectGood and bad, I define these termsQuite clear, no doubt, somehowAh, but I was so much older thenI’m younger than that now

There Is A LightU2And if the terrors of the nightcome creeping into your days And the world comes, stealing children from your roomGuard your innocence From hallucination and know that darkness always gathers around the lightThere is a light you can’t always see If there is a world we can’t always beIf there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt And there is a light, don’t let it go outWhen the winds screams and shoutsAnd the sea is a dragon’s tailAnd the ship that stole your heart away sets sailWhen all you’ve left is leaving And all you got is grievingAnd all you know is needingIf there is a light you can’t always see If there is a world we can’t always beIf there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt And there is a light, don’t let it go outCause this is a songA song for someoneSomeone like meI know the world is doneBut you don’t have to beI’ve got a question for the child in you before it leavesAre you tough enough to be kind?Do you know your heart has it’s own mind?Darkness gathers around the lightHold on, hold on There is a light you can’t always see If there is a world we can’t always beIf there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt And there is a light don’t let it go outAnd this is a songA song for someoneThis is a songA song for someoneSomeone like meSomeone like meSomeone like me

LamentA portion like madness in seasonBracing all like a breaking of reasonWith every night lost and every day tornWith the drama feeling calmer and it's calmer in the stormSpeakers are crying like a forest in the rainI was so alone with my thoughts and my painAnd the darkness closed like a mouth on a wild nightI'll never be freeGospelOoh, in this darknessPlease light my wayLight my wayLamentI can't stand on my own anymoreI can't stand in the stain of the broken and poorI can't break what I held and it never was trueIn the mirror what I said was a lie to youAnd me and everything I see and everything I couldI tried so hard to be goodFor myself, for you, for the hidden and divineFor everything but I can fail just so many timesGospelOoh, in this darknessPlease light my wayLight my way

I'm passing sleeping citiesFading by degreesNot believing all I see to be soI'm flyin' over backyardsCountry homes and ranchesWatching life between the branches belowAnd it's hard to sayWho you are these daysBut you run on anywayDon't you baby?You keep running for another placeTo find that saving graceI'm moving on aloneOver ground that no one ownsPast statues that atone for my sinsThere's a guard on every doorAnd a drink on every floorOverflowing with a thousand amensAnd it's hard to sayWho you are these daysBut you run on anywayDon't you baby?You keep running for another placeTo find that saving graceDon't you baby?You're rolling up the carpetOf your father's two-room mansionNo headroom for expansion no moreAnd there's a corner of the floorThey're telling you is yoursYou're confident but not really sureAnd it's hard to sayWho you are these daysBut you run on anywayDon't you baby?You keep running for another placeTo find that saving graceDon't you baby?

​The day you cameNaked, afraidYoung mother screams and pushes youThe day you came Oh joy beginWeak little thingMore precious there’ll be nothing, noOh joy begin Let’s not forget these early daysRemember we begin the sameWe lose our way in fear and painOh joy begin First just one stepOne word and thenWith laughter sing, oh life beginFirst just one step Innocent kissBlack magic blissFirst broken boneSudden and swiftOh innocence Let’s not forget these early daysRemember we begin the sameWe lose our way in fear and hateOh joy beginOh joy begin

Love NeverJimmy Eat WorldLove ain’t never been your friendLove never going hear what you’re demandingLove ain’t some magical thingLove never gonna to be the way you’re dreamingIt’s going to seem so farIt’s going to feel so hardUntil you want the work more than the rewardUntil you stop asking, “Oh, what is it all for?”Do you want the work more than the reward?

My Mind Is For Sale - Jack JohnsonWell, I heard the blinker's onI heard we're changing lanesI heard he likes to raceI heard there's six or seven words he likes to useAre always in bad tasteAnd I heard that Monday's just a word we sayEvery seven times aroundAnd then we pin the tail on TuesdayWatch those strings go up and downThe elephant in the room begins to danceThe cameras zoom intoHis mouth begins to moveThose hateful words he usesI don't care for your paranoidUs against them wallsI don't care for your carelessMe first, gimme gimme appetite at allAnd all the real estate in my mind is for saleIt's all been subdividedDivided into reasons whyMy two opposing thoughts at once are fineThe residue from the price tagOn the tip of my tongueWords don't come, they goHow many likes I gotta getBefore I know the truthAnd the truth isSeason three will be a great reasonTo forget all about Reality's a slippery slopeWatch the TV, scream and shout itI don't care for your paranoidUs against them, fearful kind of wallsI don't care for your carelessMe first, gimme gimme appetite at allNow I heard the blinker's onI heard we're changing lanesI heard we need more spaceI heard there's six or seven words are in bad tasteIt's absurd to believe that we mightDeserve anythingAs if it's balanced in the endAnd the good guys always winI don't care for your paranoidUs against them fearful kind of wallsI don't care for your careless"Me first, gimme gimme" appetiteWith the residue from the price tagOn those two opposing thoughts in my mindUs against them fearful kind of walls

The story line of the Book of Acts is very straightforward: It retraces the Gospel from Jerusalem to Samaria to the Gentiles and finally to Rome. The dominant person in the first twelve chapters is the Apostle Peter: His preaching in Jerusalem, his proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles at Caesarea, and the Council in Jerusalem that determined that Gentiles do not have to become Jewish in order to belong to the body of Messiah.The central figure in the remaining sixteen chapters of Acts is the Apostle Paul: His conversion on the Damascus Road, his preaching of the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire, the persecution he suffered from both Jews and Gentiles, and finally his arrival in the capital city of Rome about thirty years after the resurrection of Jesus. Rome is where the Jesus revolution had to go.

Why were the first Christians frequently persecuted? Not because they embraced a new religion, but because with their faith, their baptism and their Christian lifestyle they announced and enacted a new social order. The first Christians pledged their allegiance to Christ as the world's new and true King and they dared to live according to that allegiance.