Come to Eric's Church today. Especially atheists are invited.

Church is a funny notion. Best church I ever was in was not one. A big old tree that gave shade and we sat in the grass and looked into love. That is a church. Perhaps fancy Christians will begin to get uneasy. I hope so. "Uneasy" is where we need to be. What we want to do for church is to get all comfy and joyous, so we can look at issues and jump into them in a secure and open and free place.

Today we are talking about a crazy dude that hung out "down by the river". I am telling you this preacher man is my good buddy. But he hung out eating bugs and wild honey. And he cussed the politicians and so he got his head cut off. Well it was the ladies around the politicians that really had his head served up on a platter.

So as the story goes there was this guy hanging out and teaching and preaching repentance. Now repentance is best described, i think, as turning around. Walking in a new and better direction. First we got to get out of denial and see the error of our way. Then we have to give a decision over to a "higher power" and follow this new direction away from wrong and into a path of love.

It really is cool to do.

So when you start walking this new way you also get to lay down your pack and you get to leave it right there. You get to walk now free of guilt for the first time in your life. And yes you can also leave your ego right along with that weight of guilt. Now I am not saying you need to leave your food and water and clothes behind. Camel skin robes, big leather belts and eating locust and honey and sleeping in the dirt is not for everyone. And martyrs are fine but they get a bit tedious in the day to day.

But free people are a joy and a great thing to be near. So let us go see this man in the wilderness let us turn ourselves around, but let us not go crazy with it.

So this fellow John the Baptist is said to have baptized over 300,000 folks. By today's standards that would be about a billion. But who is counting ;-) He was a rock star of epic proportions. And he did it all on spirituality. That is really very awesome and powerful.

But that is only part of the really cool thing about this guy named John. John told followers that there was another guy coming around that was so great that even he could not be worthy enough to touch his shoes.

Whoa!! What happened to this "rock star's" Ego?

Well he did not have one. Think of that.

I think that all of us have plenty here to think about. We do not need to go have an epiphany or even give away all our money. We really just need to think about our church. The one we are in right now. If you really need to you can do it for God. But I ask today that you do it for you and for others.

What I am talking about here is turning around something in your life from the negative to the positive.

I had moved on from a career that was high profile and glorified and profitable. A tragic loss by way of my wife divorcing me had devastated me. I found solace working for my brother. Nothing fancy and I thought I was just subservient to my brother Brian. I liked it and it was secure and paid bills and lacked responsibility.

Now one night my brother called me to his office. Poured us large glasses of Glen Levitt and began a speech about how he had denied who he was and that that had caused him conflict.

And then he explained to me that the positions I had in life were almost irrelevant to my impact on others. He gave me two examples of folk that came to him about me. And then he said "Eric you cut a wide swath and you effect others, know that the direction you take others will notice"

Now my brothers and sisters know that my brother was talking to me about you. You effect others. John effected others and his church was the dirt and water. It does not matter where or who we are. It matters how we effect others for that is the temple upon which others and others and others will find peace.