I plan to make this a semi-regular feature of my blog: things about my new town and church family that I love. And what better way to start with the fact that I don’t have to wear a tie when I preach.

I hate ties. I hate them in all their permutations. The greatest evidence of the dupe-ability of the human race is the PR guy who was able to convince people that this is a good idea despite the fact that it is akin to auto-asphyxiation.

Seriously, the most wide-spread form of torture today is a neck-tie. You should only wear a tie if you are going to a funeral, if you are getting married or you have been invited to the Hilary Clinton Inaugural Ball.

When I interviewed at Agape the elders told me not to mess with wearing a tie on Sunday morning. I was already in town, it was late on Saturday night and I didn’t have anything but a shirt and tie. I was only too happy to make a late night stop at Wal-Mart and buy a shirt.

I hate ties. Just hate them. I believe they are perpetuated because it is the closest thing that men can experience that relates to the female pain of childbirth.

When I was in Michigan I didn’t wear them preaching. In Waco, I had to despite the great risk of a tie being wrapped around the mike stand while preaching.

No more. Death to ties. I love that about my new church families.