Today I met up with fellow-Detroit metro youth guy Jason Raitz. He runs a cool new ministry called Project 3:11. He’s a really great guy and I liked connecting with him. I hope that since we have such similar aims in life we can partner up on some stuff. I want to take the virtual community of YMX and bring it into the real world… and that earthly connection is his passion. I think we’re going to try to connect up again with a larger group maybe in the second quarter.
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Asking isn’t Stealing
The following is an illustration I am using for tonight’s talk from Luke 11:5-13.
Having a handicapped kid in your cabin stunk at camp because almost everything we did was competitive and it meant that because of Timmy we would always lose. We were the last to finish, the last to line up, the last to eat, the last to clean-up… if you’re a 5-6th grade boy life is about winning and losing for a week was annoying.
I don’t know why, but the camp directors gave Timmy to me when in fact my cabin was the furthest from everything. Timmy had braces on his leg and walked, even ran, pretty good. But negotiating hills and the rough trails was hard. At the end of the first day the 2 trips to the main camp had left his legs very raw. With a long week ahead I knew that each day may have 15-20 trips to the cabin and back and this wasn’t going to work.
So I quietly arranged for me and Timmy to use a golf cart instead of walking with our cabin back and forth. But this guy taught me something Monday morning when I told him about this… he wouldn’t accept it. He wanted to be just like each of the other kids and walk.
All day we walked. He tried to keep up but it just took a while. Timmy wouldn’t quit no matter what. He wanted to do everything. He kept telling me that God had given him this disease and he wasn’t going to let it ruin his week at camp. He had a great and infectious attitude. He really convinced me that he could do anything he wanted to. Each night Timmy pretty much took over devotions and our prayer time… and the kids in the cabin really started looking up to him.
Well, on Sunday when I was told I was getting Timmy they told me that he could do everything except climb the climbing tower. I knew that on Thursday I was going to take the other 8 kids to the wall and that Timmy was going to have to watch while all of his friends climbed and that it would break his heart. So, I went and asked JoAnn one of those “asking isn’t stealing questions.” To my surprise, she told me “yes” even though we had to call his parents first.
The next morning I told my cabin that we were going climbing… all of us. Later that morning I witnessed one of the bravest moments of my life. This kid, who hobbled more than walked, who had zero control of his ankles and could barely move his knees on command stared up at a 40 foot wall and said “belle on.” For the next half hour I stood there and cheered, cried, and encouraged Timmy to climb the wall. He’d get one foot in a hold… use all of his strength to will his other leg into another hold and reach forward. Bit by bit he pulled himself to the top. About ¾ of the way through it I was sure he’d quit. You could see he was defeated. His whole upper body started to shiver from exhaustion and I began to change from cheering to reassuring him that it was OK to quit. He looked down at me and said, “I will not quit. I will not give up, I am going to the top!” I have no idea how he made it up those last 10 feet… but it was amazing. He was so tired that he began to cry and get mad… by this time all of the other campers from our cabin were just staring at his attempt… and JoAnn and the camp director had made their way out.
You could hear Timmy praying on the wall through his tears. “God, help me get up this wall. God give me strength. God, please let me get to the top.” But he made it. He got to the top. That one moment was the highlight of my summer.
All because I had the guts to ask permission. Timmy got to do what he was told he couldn’t do.
Imagine if you could… if you could do that with God… you could ask him anything and He’d have an asking isn’t stealing attitude?
What if God listened to your prayers and actually thought one of your ideas was good enough to act on?
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Prettiest Girl in Town is Blogging
Kristen has started a blog, appropriately called "Kristen McLane" and you can find it by clicking here. She’s also over on my blog list. I am looking forward to seeing it develop and overtaking me! She’s one of the smartest people I know… wohoo! -
Biting my Tongue is Starting to Hurt
That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. Ephesians 2:19, The Message
I think I was the only one blown away by this at the Bible study this morning. Four people sat around my breakfast table… they all read this and only one was blown away. To hear those words "you belong here" may be the most powerful thing that the church offers but we just take it for granted.
How I long to look across the table and know that everyone feels like they belong.
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Mel Gibson Rocks!
OK, so Mel Gibson has a new movie coming out about the end of Mayan culture called Apocalypto. Well, it’s a pretty serious film, but he snuck this little beauty into the trailer. It’s only a frame or two, but it’s a blast. -
Burning Down the [Road]House
Kristen and I were enjoying a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Hall Road. Suddenly, after we’d finished and were in the process of paying… we heard a commotion. I was convinced that it was that annoying birthday thing where everyone screams and claps to embarass someone on their birthday.Nope! Those workers at the restaraunt were shouting "Fire! Everyone get out." There wasn’t much chaos, but there was a sense of urgency.
A few moments later we were out in the parking lot… amazed that we’d been a part of a building on fire. I looked up on the roof and sure enough there were flames coming from the roof. Sadly, within a few minutes the parking lot was empty and many of the people there were happy to get something for nothing. What a weird way to start a date!
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Congrats to new parents
Two sets of friends recently travelled to China to adopt a baby. Tom and Sharon and Craig and Sue. I don’t know if they crossed paths, but they were in nearly the same places doing the same things at the same time. With Ray Pritchard also recently in China, I’m feeling jealous. Never really wanted to go to China before, but so many people going I really want to see it for myself. -
End of the Spear review
I’ve still not seen this movie, though Kristen and I may go Monday. But there is a nice review over at Relevant Magazine that is worth reading. [Read review] Just to correct Pastor Bob from this morning, yeah… this is the story of Nate Saint, not Jim Elliot. -
De-Troit Basketball!
Tonight I will be going to the Pistons game with my buddy and fellow YMX staffer Todd. Should be a lot of fun. I don’t really like the Pistons, but I do like hanging out with friends and I like sports. A fun sidenote: A big part of the Piston’s experience is the PA announcer John Mason’s saying to fire the crowd up "De-Troit basketball!" My kids have made this their own. They run around saying "B-ball basketball, put them in the water." Yes, they are my kids!
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Eavesdropping at Big Boy
Today I am working a little at the Romeo Big Boy. I know, that may sound funny… but they offer free wireless and I’ve found recently that I can work better in a busy place than in the solitude of the church. Go figure!
This hardly qualifies as eavesdropping, but I can’t think of a better term. But there was this woman behind me who spoke entirely too loud about her business that she is trying to get going. She was basically talking about how much money she will be making (Note: The forward thinking aspect of it and not the actual profitability now!) and some of her start up expenses… she said "I just spent $3500 getting a website set up and it’s taking about a year." I thought… are you serious? I guess there are a lot of suckers out there!
Why on earth would people start-up a brick and mortar business with all of the start-up costs she was talking about. Just my rough estimate from what she said so loudly… $10,000 so far and she hasn’t even gotten a single client. Wow! She was saying this and I was thinking… there really is a better way to do what you are talking about…
