Last weekend, my brother and I packed up the car and headed out for Lawrence, Kansas. Ken’s friend Kerry Alexander was going to play guitar and sing with reggae artist Joseph Israel at a local bar there. Apparently, Joseph got Kerry’s CD from a mutual contact, loved the CD, played a song from it in Warsaw, Poland, which wound up on Youtube, which Kerry’s wife happened to find. They got in contact with each other and next thing you know, we’re all going to Lawrence to hear them play it together.

This weekend was a big weekend as far as understanding my brother’s faith - Messianic - a little more. I’ll admit, at first glance I viewed it as a little over the top. Almost all Messianic people have long beards, cover their heads, wear tassels from the shirts (or belt loops, as I recently found out), and observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Almost Jewish you might think, but they believe in Jesus (although that’s not what they call him) so I really can’t quarrel with it.

When I first heard my brother was involved in this faith I kind of poo poo’ed the idea like a phase he was going through, or something he was doing just to be different. The more I get to know about it, the more guilty I feel for not being as faithful as these guys are. Everything they do can be completely backed up with the bible, so how do you argue with that? I think as modern-day contemporary Christians we make our faith a hobby. It’s something we do sometimes in addition to our daily routine, and for a big lot of us it’s something we only do weekly or less than that. These guys are visibly setting themselves apart all the time, making it a lifestyle of faith, which is what I think God had in mind. I don’t think I’m going to become Messianic, but it did open my eyes to the fact that I’ve been the God thing, whenever it’s convenient to me, instead asking Him when He’d like me to do the life thing.

On one major bit of news: Kana is coming to Oklahoma today! You can’t imagine how excited I am! I’ve been waiting for this day for SO long.