sonnet writing practice...

Jealous I am of what I do not have.

To want is to neglect what is begat,

And to throw out perfect production gave

In heaps of trash not but a few days had.

Consuming eyes and stomach will ruin all good.

I want but do not have because I tire

Of the beauty given me once nude,

Once pure, before fig leaves, serpents, and fire.

If God is real and love as well is real

I pray that He dies out of love for me.

I stain, consume, and run in hopes to feel

But in the end I am killing a Jew daily.

Religion will fail me time and again

And I make it a christ that won’t descend.

O Autumn

autumn comes as hope
like breeze to the branches
as if God still romances his leaves

decades of harsh winter and summer
between living and not living
autumn comes swiftly in the formers' leisured leaving

one smells the oaks and sycamores turning
hearing rumors of another that's coming
one born of Nazareth, they call him Autumn ,

He is real and i pray he comes like fall, swift
o come, like Autumn, he is real like the changing of leaves
We shall call him Autumn

This isn't oregon trail anymore....

So I'm going to Portland!

Brad and Mirella Watson have moved to Portland about a week ago to start a church. Portland is supposedly the most un-churched area in all of the States. So this already seems like a daunting task, but I've talked to Brad and he knows he should be nowhere else. Brad had asked Grant, his younger brother and my best friend, and i to come live with him this summer in P-town; to hang out and meet people and to help in any way we could with the birth of this new church. Much to my dismay, Grant is staying Nashville in order to work and pursue some Music Business opportunities. (Which is totally sweet)

But I'm still going to live with these ex-Oklahoma(n?) newly-weds close to the city, hoping to meet all kinds of folks while I'm there.

It's funny because that is all i know. We've talked quite a bit but its hard to say what all will be going on when i show up...but i can't wait.

So be prayerful. Ask God to call many to himself. That his Spirit would move while I'm there and continue to move as this church begins. Pray for Brad and Mirella, that God would make them strong for his name. That their marriage would be strong and always reflecting Christ and his church.
Pray that my bible-belt upbringing won't make me want to run away from those who are different from me. That many would come to know the Lord in Portland.

Thanks. I'll do my best to do updates on this blog while I'm there. But if you want to learn more about whats happening now, read Brad and Mirella's blog. Also if you have twitter follow Brad and I. We will have lots of updates. @markapel @bradawatson

thanks for the prayers. Past, present, and future prayers.

Mark.

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. john 10:9-10

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." matthew 9:10-13

book list revised

finished nine stories...greatest read in a while

on chapter 14 of purpose driven life...surprisingly edifying and convicting(oh Rick)

Still only on the first few chapters of Mere Christianity...take it slow i hear, take it slow

Probably going to read either the Old Man and the Sea next, or Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters...

Also been skimming The Best American Non-Required Reading compiled by Dave Eggers and forwarded by Sufjan Stevens...great forward

Anybody have anything in mind to read? anything you've finished and think i should read?

Oh and brad watson's new book!

books for the summer

so here is the list for the summer:

Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis

9 Stories- Salinger

The Purpose Driven Life- Rick Warren

The Old Man and The Sea- Hemingway

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce

Poetry- E.E. Cummings, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath


This is all subject to change. Give me some opinions on these if you've read 'em.

Church Interview pt. 1 from josh spires on Vimeo.

Church Interview Pt. 2 from josh spires on Vimeo.