The Emperor’s New Clothes

Ok, its not about THAT story.

But it is about new clothes for destitute kids in Ubaúna, Brasil.

I’d mentioned to you a few days ago that I’m heading south on Wednesday and that we’ve received a call to help a family whose kids are literally running around naked because they have absolutely nothing. I’m collecting new and washed clothing for a 4 year old girl, a 2 year old girl, 2 girls under 3 months old and a little new born boy.

How would YOU like to have that many young kids running around your house… naked! There are no disposable diapers, or regular diapers for that matter. Imagine the mess.

There is also an 11 year old girl and a 14 year old boy, but I have clothing for them (in case you are wondering, as I was, how can there be this many youngsters in one household, the grandmother, her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren all live under the same roof and both her children and grandchildren have had the new babies. This multitude lives in a mud shack that measures about 20×20).

If you can help, please bring the clothes by my office at 803 S. College Road, Suite D (Wellness Therapies) today or Monday, or, if you attend Lifepoint, bring them with you Sunday to either service.

I will bring back photos of the kids strutting around in the opposite of the emperor’s new clothes!

God stories

Ever had a God story created in your life?

God stories are times when God showed up in a big way and literally blew your socks off. God stories are defining moments that slingshot you to levels in your faith and in your comprehensive outlook on everything about you that you really had no clue existed previously. Once they’ve occurred, you are marked forever. Once they’ve occurred, the telling of them marks others.

Last night in our small group (“Drew, Drew, Drew!” That’s the fans going wild over our leader’s guidance), God stories were being swapped like little kids trading baseball cards. Intimacy is created over God stories; suddenly we were like life-long friends showing surgical scars and thrilling over each victory, each hilarious response, imaging the scenario and being drawn in to each story. It’s almost like eating a box of chocolates… once you start, you can hardly stop until you’ve eaten them all.

Not only is it contagious, it is faith enhancing. It is a form of worship, a retelling of the glories, the mysteries and the power of the God who calls himself El-Shaddai, the military commander of the hosts of the armies of heaven. You come away exhilarated.

You come away wanting more.

As we got in the car to head home, the wife and I were astounded when we looked at the clock — 11:54 p.m.!

How did that happen?

God stories.

Moses?

A friend of mine just told me that he’d fallen asleep on the couch Sunday night. In that twilight-type of slumber he thought he heard my voice. As he opened his eyes he saw me on the television looking right at him, telling him that religion was old and stagnant and that Christianity was vibrant and alive. He said I looked like Moses commanding him to “get with it!” He ran into his bedroom, woke up his wife and excitedly told her that Joe appeared to him on the tv and was commanding him to “get with it!”

“My wife thought I was crazy…”

Easter and March 23

The following information has absolutely no value whatsoever… except that I found it to be interesting. I have no clue who compiled it, so I’ll have to give credit to my dad, who sent it to me.

Easter this year is on Sunday, March 23, 2008. A rather rare oddity

• Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
• This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that the Hebrews used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. 
• Based on this, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22), but that is pretty rare.
• This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early before (95 years old or older).
• And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!
• The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones who were around for that!).
• The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now).
• The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.
• So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

WWAY Recording

I’ve got a recording of WWAY’s report on Lifepoint in DVD-Ram format. Problem is, it is in a cartridge and it won’t fit in any of my drives (except the one that recorded it and it is a standalone DVD-Ram recorder).

Anybody got a drive that will handle a DVD-Ram cartridge so I could transfer it to a regular DVD?

Cool things behind the scenes

Today had to rank as one of the best and most memorial days at Lifepoint. Here’s my perspective on some of the “behind the scenes” items that contributed to the red letter day:

• We’ve got a pastor who sports a Beatles haircut…how cool is that!
• We ran slap dab out of chairs and had to throw folks in the bleachers
• I was thanked by several people for using a vacuum cleaner that doesn’t suck
• I got to pray for and over one of the neatest people in the world
• Where else can you have a sausage and egg biscuit and get to chase it with a Krispy Kreme doughnut?
• We got a new video cable for the flat screen tv in the “cry room!” After fighting the old one for months, this is a big deal!
• I got to overrule my wife! She works in hospitality; I work with ushers; she wanted to park one of the portable bins in front of a door; I got to say “move it!” but with lots of love.
• Executive pastor and wife walking around with bread and juice, hunting down band members so they could take communion
• Being short-handed in the usher department and having folks who’ve never done it jump in to fill the shortage
• Seeing people who we invited who hate church show up… wow!
• Watching members of my setup squad using amazing (and unusual) creativity to make the impossible happen (Kyle and Milo — you rock!)
• Wanting to introduce guests to pastor Jeff (who was slammed by folks in the lobby) and having them say that they’d just rather talk with us instead (they said they’d have other chances to talk with him but may not have that chance with us)
• The intensity of  the audio/visual crew was scary!
• The pride of my usher team in the excellence of what they’re doing – Mike, Cody, Lisa, Eddie, Kyle, you warm the cockles of my heart! Sterling… you da man!
• Dressing up the resources area up with an oriental-looking rug — the perfect touch
• All the comments about my haircut

My heart is busting with pride because of my crews and the part they played in making today happen. Lifepoint, thanks for a great day!

I must have been on something…

Sheesh!

Just watched the WWAY-TV piece on Lifepoint. Either somebody was goading me with an electric cattle prod, I’d had way too much coffee, or I must be something this side of passionate at what’s going on in the Lifepoint environment.

What was with the eyebrows bouncing up and down?

Buried alive!

Ever been to a graveyard and seen hands and arms sticking up out of the graves?

If you’d been at Lifepoint this morning, you would have!

As a preface, many, many years ago, an old preacher made me baptize a 6’5″ fellow who weighed 250lbs four times because each time something stuck up out of the water — a hand, a foot, an arm. On the last dunk I dropped him completely, he went to the bottom of the baptisty and almost drowned. The preacher said that  it was a “good” baptism because nothing stuck out.

Can we say all say “legalism” together?

Baptism is symbolic; it is a “coming out” for our faith; it is a drawing a line in the sand statement, not a literal burial.

If it were, this morning would have been nothing short of a fiasco at Lifepoint! We had arms, hands, feet, fingers and whatnot flailing around, out of the “grave,” and in some cases sticking straight out.

But nobody was the least bit concerned. In fact, it simply added to the party atmosphere!

This was, without a doubt, the most fun baptism service I’ve ever experienced. Today, we partied like the angels do at these events.

It was a good day!

Supper and a thought

Been doing lots of ruminating on the concept and practice of what we popularly call communion or the Lord’s Supper.

I just finished The Hidden Power of the Blood of Jesusby Mahesh Chavda. It’s a refreshing look and passionately written.

One thought/question that keeps chasing me, prior to reading it and even more tenaciously after reading it, is this: are we missing something very fundamental in our perception of what the “blood of Jesus” and the Supper are all about?

I think we may be dotting the “T’s” and crossing the “I’s;” at the very least we’re not assuming the full venue of power that is available to the Jesus follower.

As I noted in the title, I’m just thinking out loud…

Children’s summer clothes needed…

In 10 days I’m heading to Ubaúna for short- and long-term planning sessions with Áudrey about the work in the region. One of the GFB board of directors, Paul Tyndall, is going down with me.

Áudrey sent me this note yesterday:

Can you bring some clothes with you that we can give away? There is a family here that is absolutely destitute (we keep finding more and more). The kids have nothing at all to wear. The church in Fortaleza sent some clothes and I’ve already given them to the family, but almost all of them were for adults, not kids. If you can bring at least a few clothes for the children, I would be so grateful.

First, I do have some clothes that have already been donated that Paul and I will be carrying. What I have is mostly for older children. What is needed is summer clothing for children in the 2-6 year old age such as shorts, t-shirts, underwear.

Second, I cannot take “tons” of clothing on this trip (I CAN take “tons” with the group going in July); I’m appealing for either washed or new pieces that would be enough for several days of changes for 4-5 kids. I’m looking for “unisex,” neither male nor female, clothing — it makes it much easier to meet the needs that way.

Finally, either drop these off at my office (803 S. College Rd) or give them to me at Lifepoint next Sunday.

As Áudrey said, “I will be so grateful!”