Passion

I had a poignant moment today at lunch. I went to my favorite Chinese buffet over in N. Augusta and took today's newspaper to read while eating. Near the end of my meal I read a news story about a 16 year old high school student who was so passionate about experiencing the battle between good and evil happening in Iraq that he spent his Christmas vacation traveling to Iraq to experience it firsthand. He didn't tell anyone except a couple of friends.

Now, after reading the story, say what you will about the lack of wisdom or naivette in this young man. But I was not only deeply impressed with him - I was moved to sadness as I thought about myself. I was saddened because, frankly, I don't think I care about anything enough to do what this young man did. I am so slow to inconvenience myself for the sake of somene else. Too often I elevate my own comfort above the needs of everyone around me. I often feel like the Pharisees to whom Jesus said, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them."

I was most deeply moved when I read these words written by this young man in his essay about the experience.

"I know going to Iraq will be incredibly risky. There are thousands of people there that desperately want my head. There are millions of people there that mildly prefer my demise merely because I am American. Nevertheless, I will go there to love and help my neighbor in distress, if that endagers my life, so be it... If I know what is needed and what is right, but do not act on my moral conscience, I would be a hypocrite. I must do what I say decent individuals should do. I want to live my days so that my nights are not full of regrets. Therefore, I must go."

This pierced my heart. Earlier in the story he stated that he had no religious affiliation. Yet this young man's heart sounds to be nearer to the heart of God than mine is most of the time.

Leaving the restaurant felling pretty much like crap I turned on the radio to hear this song playing:

yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
yesterday is a promise that you've broken
don't close your eyes,
don't close your eyes

this is your life and today is all you've got now
yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes

this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be

when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
yesterday is a kid in the corner
yesterday is dead and over

this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be

when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes
don't close your eyes

this is your life are you who you want to be
this is your life are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be

when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
and you had everything to lose

This is my life. Am I who I want to be? No, I am not. I want to care about something deeply enough that I would be willing to follow my moral and spiritual compass as far as it would lead me - even if it led me directly into the hands of those who would gladly destroy me.

Dinner With A Friend

Wednesday evening was a good evening. Lynn and I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with some friends from Illinois; Randy & Barb Sands from Hillsboro. Actually, Randy and I were colleagues in the Gateway Conference there. He is the pastor of Hillsboro Free Methodist Church.

While in Gateway there were a handful of pastors that I felt a special connection with - a kindred spirit. Randy was one. Bruce Cromwell, Rob Kirkham, Darrel Riley (my new Superintendent here now) and Greg Nitchman were all men that served with me as district leaders there. We spent great time together in our meetings every month, traveled together every year to places like Orlando, Oklahoma City, Ohio for meetings. Ahh....good times.

But alas...here I am. And it was so refreshing to spend time with Randy & Barb & their kids eating steak at Logans and meeting Barb's family who all live here in Augusta. Familiar faces...familiar voices...shared memories here in this unfamiliar place.

Love and miss ya Randy & Barb!!

Christianity; A Fresh Perspective

I just finished reading a book I got for Christmas called "Velvet Elvis." Pastor Rob Bell has a fresh perspective on what it means to be the church in this culture. Here's an excerpt that I particularly enjoyed and resonated with.

"Among Christians, the powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer on nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody. We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God. Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of James says, "God shows no favoritism." So we don't either.

Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people and build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't really love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren't going to become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. They just aren't. And at some point we have to commit them to God, trusing that God loves them more than we ever could. I obviously love to talk to people about Jesus and my faith. i'll take every opportunity I can get. But I have learned that when I toss out my agenda and simply love as Jesus teaches me to, I often end up learning more about God than I could have imagined."

~Rob Bell; Velvet Elvis

Announcement; With Deep Regret

This Desert

Yesterday was a frustrating day. I'm not really sure what to think about this time that I'm in spiritually. As we transitioned to Augusta, GA my hope was to spend several months between leaving New Prairie and beginning a ministry here resting, refreshing, worshipping, growing, coming alive again. I wanted Lynn and me to be able to find a group of believers that we could get into relationship with, worship with, pray with, serve with during this time of rest.

We have visited several churches here. And every Sunday that we visit a church I walk away feeling empty. I crave a worship environment where the people are truly experiencing the presence of God; a presence that is almost tangible. I crave teaching that takes me deep into the Word of God and causes me to leave thinking, "wow!" I crave authentic community. I daydream about what I want...no...what I need church to be. I think about it all day long at work. I talk to Lynn about it in the evenings. I think about it as I'm going to sleep and I wake up thinking about it.

Yesterday we visited a church here in town. I won't mention the name out of sensitivity for the church. This time we were made to feel more welcome than we have been at any other church. The people were very, very friendly and several made a point to greet us and make us feel at home. But then the service began. During the music, people were walking around, chit-chatting, goofing around. There was absolutely no sense of transcendent connection with God. And then came the message. It felt so incredibly shallow. And Lynn & I both left asking the question, "What was his point?"

I so miss the teaching that I used to recieve from my pastor, Keith Cowart at Christ Community in Columbus, GA. There is such a depth of wisdom with him. And his messages, though very practical, also take you deep into the scripture.

I so miss the worship experience we had at International House of Prayer in Kansas City. The presence of God was so real, so tangible, so evident on the faces of everyone there.

I am truly in the desert. This is my wilderness. God is, for the most part, silent. I'm beginning to think that His design for this season in our lives is for us to be shaped by the silence; shaped into people who powerfully experience His presence in the mundane, in the absence of human relationships, in the places where we least expect to find Him.

I'm going to end this post with a reminder to self, from the words of St. Francis of Assisi.

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;where there is sadness, joy; O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

Not About Now

I watch the CBS Evening News every evening. I'm always amazed at what percentage of the 20 minutes or so of news content is horrible, tragic news. Last night, another earthquake in the Hindu/Kush region. Four more servicemen killed in Iraq. Nuclear Iran. Race riots in Australia. The list goes on.Every time I see the news I thank God that ultimately life is not about "The Now."

Yes, we must live "in the now" but thankfully, "the now" is not all there is. Those of us who place our faith in Christ and believe the words of the Bible have this promise:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'"

If you're my fellow follower of Christ, when you watch the news tonight or read the paper tomorrow, be encouraged by this hope that awaits us as you pray for those who are suffering "in the now!"

Merry Christmas!!

A Quick Post at a Busy Time

Hey everyone.

Life's been pretty busy these last several days. We had the movers moving all of our furniture last Saturday. It's nice to be finally moved in. Yet there are still a couple of trips I need to make hauling boxes.

Sunday Lynn and I took the day off from all the moving stuff and drove over to Columbia, SC to stroll the mall and do some Christmas shopping. It was a nice break from everything and the mall there is really nice...much better than the one here in Augusta.

One of the people who works for me accepted a job with University of Georgia and is leaving the end of this month. She's kind of slacked off in her work since she knows she's leaving and we are a considerable distance away from being where we need to be with our volume goals starting in January so I've been doing her job and mine and working through the interview/hiring process all at the same time, so work is about all that's been on my mind for a few days.

I'm hoping to have our January numbers secured by the end of this week so I can not be thinking about it over Christmas.

Looking forward to traveling back to Illinois over Christmas weekend. We'll get to see family, but hopefully we'll be able to see some of our friends while we're there.

Well...just wanted to keep the blog alive with a quick post. Jesus Christ reigns!

Bill

Osteen Flavored Kool-Aid

Whatever happened to "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching." Very scary that this is the doctrine of the fastest growing church in America!

Joel Osteen Interview

Why I Blog

An e-mail from a new reader:

Hey Bill!

I've been reading intently your blog and I have found some of your writings that speak to me. As a result I want to share some of them as I come across them here on these pages.

Pondering some of the truths you have put forth has told me that this light of yours needs to be shared with others instead of contained for only a few to see or happen upon in your blog.

For this reason I am requesting your permission to share some of those things.

You may not know it, but there are those who may draw strength from you words. They will not admit that they do, but I believe this place has a great many hurting people who by reading some of your works can be helped.

There is a reason that you and I were brought together. Maybe it is for my own edification and renewal. Maybe not. But for sure God will reveal it to us in time and right now I think it has to do with what I am seeking of you in your blog.

Bill there are those here who need your message. Some more than others. Look around and see who might benefit even though they may not seem like a likely candidate to hear from Heaven through you.

Some portions were deleted to protect the identity of the writer. Thank you Father, for giving me words and then using them for the good of others!

December Storm

I had an unusual treat this evening. Lynn and I had spent most of the day hauling boxes from the apartment to the house, cleaning, scrubbing, vacuuming, etc.

We took a break for dinner and decided to eat out on the picnic table on the porch since it was so warm. Something caught my eye. A flash in the distance. And then another. Here it was, a December evening, and off in the distance was a lightening storm rolling in from the horizon. How delightfully unexpected.

There are certain things that you expect in December, especially if you're from anywhere but the south. While listening to Christmas music and admiring the lighting decorations around the neighborhood you expect cold. You expect snow. You expect fires in the fireplace and cocoa. You expect frost on the windows and the thick silence of a winter night. What you DON'T expect is a thunderstorm.

As Lynn and I ate our spaghetti and watched the lightening grow closer I thought to myself how this illustrates life at times. Every so often the routine, the normal, the expected is strangely interrupted by an event that had never been anticipated. Sometimes these events leave us shaken. Sometimes they leave us in awe. But if we are a follwer of Christ, whether the event shakes us or awes us, one thing is for certain: Both the presence and power of God is to be found in that event.

Sometimes storms are destructive and forever alter our future. Sometimes they seem to roll around the horizon and never really invade our space, except with the beauty of a light show. Sometimes God allows these unexpected events to shake and forever alter our future. Sometimes He brings us through them unscathed. But this one thing remains for certain. Even if God allows you to be shaken to your core by a totally out-of-place, unexpected event...both His presence and His power is there in that event and through that power He will hold you close through the storm.

I Love This Town!

Today was a good day. Lynn and I got up, had breakfast, and started hauling boxes from the apartment over to the new house. Around 1:00 we stopped and drove to a small city about 30 minutes away called Aiken. What a beautiful little city!

We parked downtown and walked a few blocks up and down each side of the main street going in several unique little stores & shops. This is a town of Irish origin. As you walk through the downtown there are little outside cafe's and every so often you'll find a group of musicians out on the sidewalk playing old Irish folk songs.

One thing we noticed right off the bat: The people there are very polite...something we've not found in Augusta. In Aiken, it seems that people take notice of your presence and smile, say hello, wish you a nice day.

We went to the mall, did some Christmas shopping, went out to eat, and then went back to our new home to do some more cleaning. After a couple of hours we fixed some cocoa and sat on the back porch enjoying the quiet...the tree frogs...it was very nice.

Another busy day tomorrow. Will probably spend most of the day hauling boxes. We'll actually spend our first night there next Saturday after the movers move our furniture.

Well...the post has kind of rambled all over the place. Begin the post mainly to say that if you're ever in western South Carolina, Aiken would be well worth a visit.

Twist of Faith

Blogging on my lunch hour again. Ran across this article, thought I'd share it.
It's an interesting article about some "Emerging" ministries that are reaching deep into a culture much different than what we "civilized" Christians are often accustomed to.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05086/477120.stm

The Porch At Spring Hill

I want to invite you to a new blogging project I've begun called, The Porch at Spring Hill. Follow the link and see what it's all about! The Odyssey will remain active, but The Porch will be a blogging project with a different emphasis. Hope you'll be a regular visitor to both. Feel free to add a link to Odyssey or The Porch to your blog if you wish.

http://coffeeontheporch.blogspot.com

It Will Be Official at 4:00

Well, today's the day. At 4:00 we will close on the purchase of our home. I am so looking forward to a return to normalcy. It seems that for six months now we have been unable to flow in the natural rythmns of life with all of this transition, relocation, temporary housing, etc.

We're moving our belongings a week from Saturday. I can't wait to put up a Christmas tree, light a fire in the fireplace, and sit with Lynn in front of the fire sipping cocoa and talking about our new future together.