10 talents and 21st birthdays

This past week was Pastor Jeff and Joey Abram's birthday. The lesson for Sunday was the story of the 10 talents, where a rich man gives his servants different amounts of money. Two of them invest the money and return double, while the 3rd is afraid and buries it in the ground.

What does this have to do with turning 21? Jeff talked to us about how God gives us so much and yet we are afraid to do anything with it. When we're 21, we wanna go and see the world. We want to embrace all the things we can become. As we age, we get fearful of consequences. We forget God's generosity.

Word and Rhythm

Drumming evokes something primal in us, something deep in our soul. Back in old times, Slaves shared stories, pounded drums and clapped and sang spirituals deep in the cotton fields late at night to worship.

With the time change, our 6pm service is now squarely in the dark and we gathered with drums and bibles evoking spiritual energy from the past to feed us in the present. We clapped, we read the word to each other and we sang.

Immersed in that moment, I felt connected to everyone in the room, the words that were being shared and to a larger, deeper church --a church that meets in cotton fields, in living rooms and on street corners.