A Bride unmarried.

Jesus is the example, he is the prize. We call on all disciples chasing after Jesus’ heart. We call on every man, woman, and child that understands Jesus to be the Christ; he was, is, and always will be our messiah. We shout to communities and churches that are like minded in their pursuit of a Godly lifestyle. I call on the church, the bride, the body. I call on myself, my friends, and you. We are a people that can’t boast of anything but the grace of God. Under his grace we are equal. He sees you with the same love that I am known. He thinks the world of you. He thinks the world of me.

So I think the world of you. Do you feel the same?

What if I told you I loved Jesus? Does that make you love me more? It’s possible.

What if I told you that I thought Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life?
Then I told you I also thought that the big bang started creation, Jesus was a married man, and we have three Gods- Father, Son, and Spirit.
“In fact,” I continue telling you “All roads lead to heaven if you obey the commandments that God gives in the bible.”

Now what happened inside of you?

What was it that happened to your core? Did you want to correct my theology? Did you want to tell me the truth that you have found? Did you want to argue your opinion? Maybe you just got a little tense and started to have compassion on me. Maybe you started praying that God would reveal his true heart to me.

We are all equal under God. Christ paid the price. That is fact. That we agree on.

Or do you tend to focus on what we don’t agree on? When we meet on the sidewalk, at the coffee shop, or in the market, and I start telling you about my interpretations of scripture, why is it that you feel responsible to guide my thoughts until they look like yours?

We are all saved by grace, it is not of ourselves. Why do I want to “play God” when you disagree with me; in which case I will begin to tell you the “real” truth about Christ and God. Or at least think it.

And if we can’t agree, then we better just live separately, cheer each other on (publicly, from a distance), and huddle around some people who make us feel good because they agree with us.

I mean, that’s what Jesus would do… isn’t it?

I want to propose some conditions of the church that have scary ramifications.

The church is not unified. (who would have guessed?)
The Bride is dismembered. (Jesus won’t come back to an ugly Bride.)
We have let the religious spirit become powerful again. (Jesus’ murderer was a religious spirit)
Our (my) love has been defeated by our (my) pride.

I am sorry. I repent. Will you forgive me? God already has, will you?

I want you to know something.

I love you- the way that God sees you is the way I choose to. Unconditionally.
I value you- you carry the image of the Lord of all creation, I can learn from you, you are valuable.
I like you- God is in a good mood, not only does he love you, but he enjoys you, and so do I.
I respect you- you were created in the same way as I was, God sees you in the same light as me.
I need you- we were created to live in relationship, you have pieces of God that I need.

This is a call to unity, a lifestyle of love and humility, a movement based in God’s love and Jesus’ payment.
I am calling on all Christ followers, all Jesus’ loving communities, and all disciples of the one messiah.

The call is to love like Jesus.
The call is to live out discipleship.
The call is to draw together after thousands of years of warring.
The call is to become so lovely in our unity that the husband will be drawn to come for his Bride.

We are becoming beautiful, but the feet cannot do it without the legs, and the eye cannot do it without the mouth, I cannot do it without you, you cannot do it without me.

Typically random.

Typically I am random.

So this is just another adventure in the life of Kendall Dean.

As we speak, I'm sitting in a small "ma' and pop" coffee shop in a city called Lathrop. It's about four hours south of Redding, and the very sketchy plan is to visit Yosemite... soon. (Yosemite National Park is about two hours East of here). As I sit here, I try to think ahead and plan my next move.

It's four o'clock and I can go to Yosemite now, and I would sleep in my car.

I could go an hour West and stay in oakland with my friends Amanda and Hendrick.

I can read and write here until I need to find a parking lot to sleep in.

I could meet friends from Sacramento.

We've got options.

We have very few constraints. God is good, and that will not change.

I actually am responding to God on this trip by simply going. About a week and a half ago, he told me to go.

For this reason, there is great expectation for the quest.

I brought my Guitar, Journal, Laptop, and Bible. Tools for inspiration, tools for living the life that I am called to.

I may climb a snowy mountain, I may enjoy a camp fire, I may read a new book, I may drink twenty lattes, I may go to the ocean, I may skip rocks in a river, I may design a swing set, I may thrift store shop in San Fran.

One thing I do know,

I will simply enjoy my Papa, my God.

Simple.