Sam.

Every morning at breakfast you'd see him arrive.
Had just turned 15,and weighed 135.
Kinda narrow at the shoulders, the same at the hip.
And everybody knew he was full of it.
Big Sam.

This son of Sam was a real cool guy.
He'd wink at girls, they'd start to cry.
Was always good for a joke or two
Everybody called him a walking cartoon.
Sam cool.

Now everybody knew this Sam on sight.
He lived on the colony, a real hutterite.
Black pants, suspenders, a ten gallon hat.
They seen the hat a'walking, they said who dat?
Dat Sam.

One day he tried his at hand at his bro's guitar.
Dogs started howling from near and far.
Babies started moaning and men shook with fear.
And that was the end of his new career.
Poor sam.

Then one night late, probably two am.
He started getting restless and thoughts began.
Maybe gonna try my hand at the rigs one day.
That's when he knew he'd run-away.

And one Sunday morning before the sun came up.
Sam packed his bags and moved on out.
Took off to the rigs, for a job he applied.
T'was easy hiring on for this working hutterite.
This sam.


His first paycheck bought him a pair of blue jeans.
Some booze and smokes and his first big screen.
And all the things that he couldn't have back home.
Nintendo and movies and his own iPhone.

He walked with a swagger cause man o life.
He was finally free, no more hutterite.
Away from the orders and all those rules.
He was his own boss now and man was he cool.

When sunday rolled around he would crack a beer.
Who needs church? Look what I have here.
I can watch some movies or a bit of ball.
Or maybe just sleep, all day long.

"This is the life" he would say to himself.
Should a done this sooner, just look what I have.
My own credit card and a nice set of wheels.
But most of all I can do as I please.

He worked real hard and he loved his pay.
But something was missing at the end of the day.
Something all the good times just couldn't fulfill.
He finally figured out that he'd never fit in.

A lonesome feeling crept into Sam's bones.
And deep inside, his heart was pulling home.
But his stubborn pride was equally as strong.
For to go home now was to admit he had been wrong.

For it all added up to a bunch of wasted years.
Trying to get ahead of the debt around his ears.
And all he had amassed wasn't really worth a lot.
And couldn't give him comfort when his life he tallied up.

For you see back when, when Sam was home.
He worked for the young, the sick and the old.
Working for all, no personal gain.
And all that he did was for his fellow man.

Poor Sam was in a bind, and was being pulled apart.
Pride was on the one side, the other side his heart.
What he'll end up doing at the end of the day.
Is really up to him, we can only hope and pray.
For Sam.

The Christ.

The Messiah, nailed to the rough hewn cross, blood streaming from gaping wounds, hanging naked between two criminals. The Creator, sentenced to die by crucifixion by his creations. The wrought iron nails that pierced his wrists and feet fastened him to the cross, but they surely didn't keep him there, what kept him suspended there on the cross was his supreme love for us, also the sins and transgressions of those he came to save, they had to be paid for in blood and suffering, each and every one, the sins of you and me. If we choose to accept the offering of God's Son on the cross.

Just a short time before he had cried out to them "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not!"

And yet they had no compassion for him. The cry had rang out "crucify him, crucify him." And their wishes had come true. They crucified the Son of God, their Messiah. A death reserved for hardened criminals. The most agonizing and dehumanizing death known to man. Had they really known who He was, they might not have crucified Him. But they had eyes and saw not, they had ears and heard not, they had all the signs and prophecies, but they chose not to accept Him.

And how are we different in this day and age? Do we choose to accept him? Are we still nailing Him to the cross? Are our sins part of what prolonged His time on the cross?

Sobering questions from louieville.

Why Communal Living?

After Jesus was crucified and then rose from the dead, he spent 40 days on earth showing himself to be alive to many and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Then before Jesus ascended into heaven he instructed his apostles that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which was to be the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.
The apostles then returned to Jerusalem and according to Acts 1:14 "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." And when the day of Pentecost came; Acts 2:(2) "There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
This new gift of the Holy Spirit moved the apostles to preach to the masses in Jerusalem, (37) Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles "Men and brethren, what shall we do"?
(38)Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (39) For the promise is unto you, and all your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
(One might ask; How does the Lord call us? The answer to that question is 'through his Gospel', as we see in 2 Thessalonians 2:14. "Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" and as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.")
(41)Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about 3000 souls. (42)And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (44)And all that believed were together, and had all things common; (45)And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
So here we see that one of the very first acts that this new gift of the Holy Spirit compelled these believers to do was to form community and to have all things in common.
We as Hutterites believe that this early act was very significant and was the will of God, even as David had foreseen and prophesied in Psalms 133; (1) Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

God's ultimate plan for us is to be and dwell with him and all believers forever and ever in his majesty, and what better way to prepare for that glorious time then to practice community here on earth. Where if we fault and hurt a fellow brother or member we reconcile, where we cannot simply ignore different personalities (that clash with ours) but learn to live together and sort out our differences. Where all our effort and work is not for our personal gain, but for the gain of the whole community, the old and sick that can't provide for themselves anymore, the widowed, the young...

Maybe that's why the Holy Spirit compelled the very first Christians to form community. Maybe its a foreshadow of the kingdom that is to come...thoughtsfromlouieville...

Don't Touch That Cross!

This is a story about some travelers that started out on a long journey.

At the start of their journey each traveler was given a physical wooden cross to carry or drag on their journey, and everyone was told that at the end of their journey they would need that cross as proof to pass into the great city.

So they set all set out on their journey dragging their crosses. These crosses were actual size, roughly 12 or 14 feet long, made of rough timbers and were quite heavy and cumbersome.

So a bit into their journey, the travelers started getting tired and weary, as the sun was beating down on them and the crosses were hard to bear. They had to rest often, and after resting awhile could start up again on their journey. A few days later into their journey a few of them were sitting and resting in the shade of a big rock one hot afternoon, grumbling a bit at their heavy burden, one traveler suggested why they couldn't cut off their cross a bit at the end to lighten their load. "A grand idea" a few others said, so when they saw the next town off to one side they turned and went to get a saw and then they happily each cut off a foot of the end of their cross. "Ahh" they said, "this is so much better now, plus what will it ever matter if a piece off the end is missing, no one will ever even notice it."

They soon caught up to their fellow travelers who were laboring under the midday sun and asked them if they wanted to borrow their saw to cut off their crosses too, thus lightening their load and making the journey easier.
Their fellow travelers declined and said "Don't you remember our instructions at the start of the journey, where we were told we would need our crosses at the end?"
"Ach, who will ever know, but if you want to burden and bondage yourself dragging that heavy thing, that's your problem. Look at your shoulders, can't you see how sore and chaffed they are by thickheadedness?" They scoffed, shook their heads and continued on.

A few days later they said to each other, "Hey, this cross is starting to feel heavy again, where's the saw?" So they each sawed off a foot more and continued on, feeling afreshed by their lightened load. This was repeated a few more times till they finally came towards the end of their journey and saw their destination.

Their mouths gaped with the beauty of the scene ahead. A beautiful city was lying ahead, gleaming and sparkling like a million precious jewels, seemingly from a source from within.
Lush green meadows with gay little creeks happily running through surrounded this awesome city. Huge shade trees with the sound of birds singing from within the graceful limbs was faintly heard.

They hurried on and suddenly came to a large crack or rift in the ground, endlessly deep and oh, about 12 or 14 feet across. Impossible to jump. They saw no way across, this path was the only passage into that whole different world.

They stared in disbelief and when reality hit they started crying and wailing "O this is cruel. We are so close and had such a long hard journey was it all for naught, how will we get across?"

Then they saw their fellow travellers coming in the distance labouring under their load, their crosses still the original length. Oh, about 12 or 14 feet long as they came to the great rift and saw the distressed travellers wailing there, they asked "what's wrong?"

"Oh," they cried "there is no way across this chasm into the promised land."

The weary travelers eyed the great rift, then looked at their unaltered crosses and then as one cried out "Hey, that looks about long enough to span that chasm! So one tried and sure enough it fit across, just barely..
He walked gingerly over the chasm on his cross and then shouted back with great happiness to the others, "It works! try for yourself," then took his cross and started running towards the city.
They all crossed the chasm while the rested travelers with the shortened, lightened crosses watched with amazement and growing horror. "Hey" they asked, "Can we cross over on your crosses, please? We cut ours off and now they won't span the chasm."
"Sorry," the others replied, "we can't do that, cause you see, we each have to show our cross to the keeper of the gate at the city, don't you remember your instructions at the start of the journey when we were told we'd need them at the end?"

John Deere Green.

Way out in the middle of this great big world.
Lives me and my wife, and my two little girls.
We farm for a living, and guess what we drive.
Its all John Deere; top of the line.

John Deere rules, at least around here.
And all the good farmers, you know they're driving Deere.
By far the best equipment that money can buy.
Superior engineering, the long green line.

(Chorus)
John Deere to us farmers is a way of life.
If we ever get married we want a John Deere wife.
A John Deere house that's John Deere nice.
I guess you could say we want a John Deere life.

And on our days off, when we all go to town.
My John Deere wife and her eyes of brown.
With her John Deere looks and her John Deere smile.
She sure looks good, John Deere style.

We farmers of the land are a real strange breed.
We'd empty out our wallets just to drive green.
We really love our Deeres and that's how we stand.
And I'm telling you now, I'm a John Deere man.

When spring comes around and we hit the field.
Our shoulders square up, cause you see, we're driving green.
We're sitting extra tall, and were feeling extra proud.
And we wanna shout out, in John Deere loud.

When we're driving to the fields and see you in your cars.
Don't be a bit surprised when we wave from afar.
We know you're missing out, cause the view from up here.
Is out of this world, thanks to John Deere!

We're farmers raising food, this is what we love.
But this John Deere thing runs in the midst of our blood.
We're taking good care of these wonderful machines.
And we wanna paint the world, JOHN DEERE GREEN!

30 below.

It seems to me that winters draggin on.
I long for the melt, I long for the sun.
I long to see the creeks beginning to flow.
And I wanna get rid of this 30 below.

But I look outside and 30 below.
The wind is creeping up, and its starting to snow.
I look at my watch it says March the first.
The weatherman says it'll only get worse.
The forecast he gives really makes me cold.
As far as he can see, more 30 below.

Al Gore's been telling us we're all gonna die.
This planets heating up and we're the reason why.
Well I welcome you sir, to my part of the world.
And try telling us its not 30 below.

The hay stacks are full of starving deer.
While Mr. Al Gore is cracking a beer.
The drifts outside have four feet of snow.
And the mercury is still at 30 below.

My teeth are chattering hard along with my knees.
And all the treehuggers are safely sipping tea.
The cows that are in calf are starting to show.
And the temperature outside is 30 below.

I guess what I'm asking of you Mr Gore.
Along with all the treehuggers sitting at your door.
Is why in the world its so flipping cold.
On March the first; still 30 below.

Sunday On The Colony.

Seven AM.
Breakfast bell.
Communal kitchen.
Communal life.
Hutterite.

Plain garb and dress.
No worldliness.
Simple life.
Hutterite.

Black 10X hat.
Beard to match.
Suspender attached.
Home-sewn pants.

Long dress.
Happiness.
Head covering.
Submitting.

Nine AM.
Church service.
Hear the Word.
Honor God.

Sonntag.
Mittag.
Enten fleisch.
Dank speiss.
Mittag schlaff.
Shlaffe fest.
Das ist best.

Sunday school.
Learn the rules.
Christ set up.
Follow up.
Obey.

Day of rest.
Reflection.
God's grace.
God's love.
For us.

The Runaway.

What was you thinking that fateful day.
When you made up your mind to runaway.
Do you know that you broke your mama's heart.
That she prays and cries for you in the dark.
And you ran away.

She never goes to sleep without thinking of you.
And prays with all her might that her wish will come true.
That the good Lord will keep you safe and trust.
That when you come home, it won't be in a box.
Her runaway.


What's keeping him out there, she don't know.
Is it the bright lights, the city or the dough?
Cause his bloodline speaks of a simple life.
To raise what he needs, to care for his wife.
Bring up his children to what's right and good.
Not in some slimy neighborhood.
Away from the anger, the greed and crime.
Where you get killed for a nickel or even a dime.
Where its booze and drugs and shady girls.
A dog eat dog kinda crazy world
Its sleeze and slime, every kinda sin.
Where a hutterite really never can fit in.
So why can't he do what his heart longs for.
When nights comes around and he locks his door.
His mind goes back to days gone by.
And all he does is wonder why..
He ranaway.

For his sibs are growing up and his parents getting old.
When he thinks about that his blood runs cold.
If he'd listen to his heart in the dead of the night.
He knows he'd come running back with all of his might.
And the welcome would be with open arms.
Can always use another hand on the farm.
The only thing that can turn him aside.
Is that terrible thing in us called pride.
That never admits that we can do wrong.
And if pride wins out, you can say so-long.
And stay runaway.

Hutterite Cowboy.

I'm just a hutterite cowboy
That's what I love to be
Up on that well worn saddle
Sure feels like home to me
When riding down that dusty trail
My cow-dog by my side
There's nothing better in this world
Then doing this cowboy ride

Yee-haw here we go
Feeling that wind blow by
Letting loose with a cowpoke yell
Oh, isn't this the life

Getting up before the sunrise
Sure feels good to me
Breathing in that cool fresh air
Feels like harmony
Before those city folk get up
Before they start to stir
I'm out under that morning sky
Singing with all the birds

But hey, it isn't all just fun
As you already know
We cowboys have to work so hard
To bring in a little dough
Its hey, go fix that barbwire fence
And hey, go move those cows
And then, go clean the old corral
Good thing we got knowhow

So when you city folk sit down
At your fancy eating place
And start out with a little wine
(We hope you first say grace)
But don't that menu look so good
When the feature is on steak
The cowboy was a hutterite
That raised it for your plate

Yee-haw here we go
So happy, wild and free
Away from all the smoke and noise
They call the big city
Yee-haw let's head out
Let's turn that baby loose
Let's saddle up and start to ride
This country is my home

And when I see you passing by
That four lane, fancy car
Don't wonder why I wave to you
When I see you from afar
Because I'm under Gods big sky
Under his clouds 'n sun
I'm kinda feeling sorry guys
For having all the fun

For you see I love this simple life
Out on the open range
Just me, the cow, the horse, the bull
And please don't think me strange
And do not try to wipe that smile
That's plastered on my face
This is my life: my hopes n dreams
This is my special place

Jesus du allein

Jesus only ye.
Shall my leader be.
Show to me your holy pathways.
All your truth and narrow walkways.
Stay with strength by me.
That I follow thee.

While you came for those.
That you saw were lost.
To lead them back to salvation.
Losing no lambs to perdition.
As a knave I plead.
To you Lord me lead.

True and good shepherd.
When you see I've have erred.                
Lost little sheep out in the wild-earth.
Take me to your fold and safe-hearth.
Lead me back please do.
That I am with you.

When time comes to die.
Please be by my side.
Lead me on through deaths dark valley.
And prepare me for great glory.
That I see me stand.
Near at your right hand.

Ye Größer Kreutz, Ye Näher Himmel.

Ye greater cross, Ye better Christians.
God puts on on the proving grounds.
Just like a garden becomes wasted.
When from heaven no rains comes down.
As gold is purified by fire.
So a Christian in time of trial.

Ye greater Cross, Stronger believers.
Palm-trees thrive near the oasis.
The grapes surrenders all their sweetness.
After they have been all pressed out.
In troubled times, our faith builds up.
Like pearls after a salty flood.

Ye greater Cross, Ye stronger Godlove.
A wind just makes the fire burn.
And even if the skies are cloudy.
The sun is shining up above.
The Cross it multiplies our love.
As pouring oil on fire does.

Ye greater Cross, Greater believers.
Crushed leaves of herbs,smell all the more.
If on the sea, the winds were quiet.
No one would ask which way the pole.
And where did Davids Psalms come from?. Had he not trials overcome.

Ye greater Cross, Ye more the longing.
From the valley we climb the hill.
And when the desert has been travelled.
The longing is for Canaan.
The dove is finding here no rest.
Back to the Ark it flees to then.

Ye greater Cross, Ye sweeter dying.
Man is at terms with coming death.
Soon no more troubles, no more crying.
And all his troubles come to an end.
The Cross that maketh death so sweet.
It proves that man has triumphed here.

Ye greater Cross, Ye greater crown-jewels.
A treasure that God laid on us.
That crown we'll bring and lay before him.
It'll prove that we have conquered all.
Oh how this precious crown-jewel makes.
That we our greatest Cross forsake.

O Crucified, O let your Cross be.
So lovelier and sweeter be.
Help that no impatience may sway me.
And plant a such good heart in me.
That loves and hopes, believes in you.
Till my Cross takes its crown to you.