When I moved to the Twin Cities back in ‘04, finding a church right away wasn’t something that was heavy on my heart. In fact, I was rebelling just a tad, leaving my drifting away from the faith I knew, but giving me the chance to sleep in a little Sunday morning. A friend from AP was checking out a church on the northside of Minneapolis that she had heard about, so I tagged along. What happened over the course of that one church visit was indescribable, and I somehow knew as I was walking out that I had found a church home.

Over the rest of my time in the Cities, I had the chance to become a regular attender and even dive a little into the Men’s and Young Adult groups. After hearing Pastor Efrem speak at an event, we soon had a small cadre of AP folk hitting up Sanctuary on Sunday mornings and sitting down to a delicious meal at IHOP after the service. Leaving the Cities for Chicago felt like the best step to take, but there are times when I really miss Sanctuary and the growth and worship I felt there. It is because of my time at Sanctuary that I know that I need to be a part of a relevant church that incorporates racial reconciliation and multi-ethnic worship into every aspect of its existence. That’s why finding River City (with the help of the EB) has been such a blessing here in Chi-town.

Thankfully, Sanctuary still throws up Pastor Efrem’s sermons on the website and through Podcasts. A couple of weeks ago, the pastor of Church of All Nations, a Korean PCUSA church in the Cities, spoke at Sanctuary, and his message dug into me pretty deep. If you have a chance to take a listen, I’d really recommend it. You can either download the Podcast from 11.26.06, or you can go to the Sanctuary’s Sermon Archive and listen online.

Give it a chance.

A quick list of ways I’m fighting “The Man”:

1) Today, I am wearing gray slacks with black socks. I know conventional fashion wisdom says that socks should match the color of the pants, but this morning I realized that I had ne’er a pair of clean gray socks. Being forced to choose between dirty gray socks, clean black socks, or calling in sick to avoid any awkward encounters, I bucked the system and am now enjoying the coziness of fashion freedom. Alexis made a huge scene at Potbelly’s when she noticed my secret, somehow creating a sound similar to that of a record player’s needle scratching to a halt, followed by a large woman fainting. I pressed on, defiant and famished, and enjoyed my Wreck on (fake) wheat with brown mustard, oblivious to the slack-jawed onlookers gazing at my casual irreverence.

2) For the past 3 business days, I have refused to read the last page of the RedEye and the typical celebrity gossip contained therein. I realize that I am considerably out of the loop as to the marital status of several celebrities, but somehow I’ve managed to get by. I also have, as a matter of principle, refused to read Liz Crokin’s weekly segment, “Eye Contact,” for the past year and a half, instead skipping straight to the Chicago news to find out how many people were shot in my neighborhood over the weekend. I also find time to kick the Sudoku puzzle’s ass… unless it is a 4 or 5 star. I struggle with anything past 3 stars.

3) I was the deciding vote holding out on the confirmation of John Bolton as US ambassador to the UN. I just didn’t like the guy’s shifty mustache. He looked like a creepy uncle, and while that does somewhat reflect the current US role in international policy, the vibe was just too much.

4) I now watch almost every television show I’m interested in via DVR, allowing me to skip commercials at will. I still stop for the Sonic commercials because Nate knows one of the guys. I also really like limeades. So take that, corporate America! Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you are slipping your wares into sitcoms since your 60-second commercials are now reduced to 10 seconds of squiggly lines! Dwight just “happened” to use a Staples brand shredder a couple of episodes ago on The Office, right? Come to think of it, that shredder was pretty cool. Can it really shred a CD? Wow.

5) I rigged the BCS polling machines. Surprisingly, the 7-3 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was slated to face off in the big game against Ohio State before I changed the weighting to favor Florida.

6) I use my staff ID to get a student discount at movie theaters. Right in the gut, huh Hollywood? Soon, I may even pay for a $5 Movie Club ticket, then sneak into a full price show! Feeling the pinch, movie industry? I mean, come on, $11 for a movie ticket? How about I just watch it on YouTube or pay $10 for the bootleg on the subway?

Most likely, you are trying to find ways to incorporate my examples into your own life right now. Please, feel free to share.