Some poems, like this one, work better visually. "Tithe" can be read in multiple ways -- two of them, crucially. You can read it directly, or as a hymn.

Lyrics: @ic_greg

Melody: Traditional

Season: Pentecost

Jesus woke me up

I thanked him anyway,

He wished me well and

Sunday morning - much to my surprise.

Seeing that my sins

Confused me,

He told me that

Had been quite a burden.

Because He didn't want me

He died for my sins,

We talked about old times,

To build a church

In my shock, I did not

I guess for ten minutes

Or seek people who

Know what to say,

Or more,

Would donate their money.

Initially,

Subsequently,

Ultimately,

(Refrain)

This relaxed me and

Convinced me that the

Times really don't change.

I recall hearing in a Sociology course about a form of existentialism so dark that some people never accept they were alive until the moment of death itself. For most of us, even the slightest touch confirms what I'll jokingly call "our suspicion" that we actually exist. A handshake, pat on the back, or a hug can provide powerful validation. It's a mistake to take such an obvious thing for granted.

Different Drummer: Leo Buscaglia

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Personally, the better answer to a question like "where would I be without God" calls up a lot of powerful memories. I know the Holy Spirit has moved in my life through specific people and situations, which I can recall as vividly as if the intervening decades disappeared. I can name the names, in fact, and I do a couple of times. They are people who loved me in a way that supersedes human understanding, empowering me to do God's will. I have loved. I do love. I will love.

Different Drummer: Chris Rice

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A few years ago, a question was posed to me online: where would you be without God? There are two answers, actually. One is personal, which I'll cover next week. The other is philosophical, a combination of ontological and cosmological arguments going back a thousand years. "God's existence is necessary for my existence" is, in some ways, a faith-based equivalent for "I think; therefore, I am." A very old and original Christian answer to this question is that without God, there would be no "me" to ask the question, much less attempt an answer.

Different Drummer: Anselm of Aosta

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With all the talk about Mayan calendars and the end of the world, it is past time to discuss Christian understandings, and misunderstandings, about end-times prophecies.  The New Testament in the Bible contains more than one.  More often than not, though, Christians fail to recognize fulfilled prophecy and presume instead that everything in a book like Revelations refers to future events.  For those living in Jerusalem, though, the world (or, more precisely, the "Jewish Age") ended centuries ago.  There can be serious consequences when we fail to acknowledge the past, including events in history when the Bible itself was still being written.

Different Drummer: John (of Patmos?)

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Charges of liberal bias in the mainstream media fail to take into account the power of publishers as an authority that is likely to be more conservative than writers and editors.  At the same time, the rise of politically conservative and evangelical-Christian alternatives for "the press" have led many people to turn away from large media conglomerates altogether.  More and more citizens who aren't obsessed with ideology are getting their news and commentary online from blogs and podcasts, and it is making America surprisingly more like our colonial model than we would have expected.

Different Drummer: Lee Strobel

Many partisan-conservatives believe the media never ask hard questions of pro-choice candidates during debates and on the campaign trail.  It isn't because those questions are difficult to answer.  The second half of the show provides an off-the-cuff example.

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Jesus once asked this question: "What can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" He was telling a crowd, not just 12 disciples, about what it meant to follow him. His answer had nothing to do with a "chosen people" or a "Christian nation." Jesus was speaking to a large group of individuals, and he asked each if he or she was willing to pick up their own cross and follow him. By "anyone" he meant "any one." This does not bode well for believers who think that electing the right leader or reviving some ancient laws will ensure salvation. In fact, hiding within such group-think is probably a sign that you are ashamed to follow Jesus his way.

Different Drummer: Toby McKeehan

DC Talk - "Jesus Freak"

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