Messy Church
OUCH!
This Sunday I was approached by a friend who was in desperate need of a ride somewhere. I begrudgenly decided to cut lunch with my wife short so I could give him a ride.
My friend suffers from some dificult mental health challanges, and can sometimes be extremely difficult to deal with, especially if he is having a particularily aggressive day.
I was attempting to make light conversation with him on the way home because he was pretty agitated. My black heart was so annoyed at having to interupt my day to give him a ride. I asked him if he was dressing up for Halloween and he said yes, and told me to guess what he dressed up as last year. I shrugged my shoulders and he smiled at me and said, "I was Jesus."
Then it hit me like a freight train:
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" -Matthew 25:40
While on the outside I was being kind, on the inside I was bitching to high heaven! Jesus is sitting next to me in the car and I am pissed off! God have mercy on a sinful jerk like me.
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*Just bought 70 composition books at the Drug Emporium going out of business sale. Tonight I giving the ALPHA talk "Why and How Should I Read The Bible." I will be giving the comp books away at the door for people to use as their first devotional journal.
*Saw "Bonhoeffer" at the Drexel East last night. It seemed like 70% of the audience was from Vineyard. The documentary was very well done.
*Every Evening, when we tuck our Kids into Bed, Kathleen is careful to assemble her legion of stuffed animals to sleep with her. Two nights ago she started crying that "baby Lazarus" was not there. She named one of her dolls Lazarus! The weird thing is that baby Lazarus is a girl. We found baby Lazarus, and Kathleen soon went to sleep.
Read Bible stories to your kids every night-
and you too might have a baby Lazarus.
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Newsflash:
Adrienne just told me that Ian's teacher informed her that Ian (5) asked one his classmates named Noor if she would like to go on a date. Ian proceeded to tell me how she had long black hair in pony tails.
Adrienne and I are always talking about and going on dates, so I guess modelling is the most effective way of teaching.
Going to see the Bonhoeffer movie tonight with the Home Group
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Yesterday read Zephaniah and it struck me how one of the greatest punishments God could visit upon a people was to scatter them. The blessing for the remnant was that God would gather them together. Living in a culture that chooses to scatter itself is truly Bizarre. This underscores how thankful I am for my home-group community.
Last night spent 3 1/2 hours last night catching up with Chris kay. I was also able to hang with my buddy Terry Price.
Today Kathleen learned to draw a self portrait. I hope to post it in the next couple of days on my home page.
Ian also ofered to take out the trash today, escorted by Daddy of course.
Great Day!
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AYN RAND and Raking Leaves
Yesterday I was raking leaves with the kids. (some how the leaves ended up more spread out than when we started but hey, it was fun.)
As we were jumping in the small leaf pile I noticed an older gentlemen slowly walking towards us. He was wearing an old hat like the kind my grandfather used to wear. He has a black-grey beard and he walked with a cane. As he passed us he muttered something about how it was nice to see that some families had traditions. I felt hesitant for a moment but then shot off a quick prayer and began to engage him in conversation.
We talked for about an hour. For the first 30 minutes he would ask me numerous cryptic questions that I could not possibly do justice in recollecting. Eventually he started espousing the objectivist philosophies of Ayn Rand. After more questions I found out what a sad and abusive life this poor man had been subjected to in his early years. His broken childhood more closely resembled the children of today than the children of his day. It was frightening to see the longterm affects of abuse and neglect that so much more kids experience today. Apparently his mother forced him into some church for awhile, but he eventually turned his back on what he thought Christianity was. He now believes in what Ayn Rand calls the "virtue of selfishness." It is apparent that this so called "virtue" has brought him anything but peace. Rugged Individualism is truly overated.
I wondered how this man's life might have been different if he had been enfolded into a loving community of Christ apprentaces. eventually I was able to share some of my own experiences, and how I thought the Jesus of the gospels is totally different to the counterfeit he had shoved down his throat.
As we continued to talk Kathleen came by and asked him if she could borrow his walking stick and he obliged. Two minutes later, Ian came by and asked him, "Mister, are you lovin' Jesus?"
My new friend was taken aback and he replied, "I think Jesus was a nice man who had some nice things to say."
Ian did not buy this and asked again, "Mister, do you love Jesus."
He turned to me and asked for permission to tell my son a "white lie." I told him to tell him the truth and he did. Later that evening Ian and I prayed that our new friend would know how much Jesus loves him.
The point in which Ian interjected in our conversation was perfect. I have to believe that he was guided by the Holy Spirit. His simple authentic expression of faith was the perfect compliment to our conversation.
Next time I have to tell an Adrienne Story. She is truly the heart of our little family.
Right now she is watching 24 episodes.
( yes we are "amusing ourselves to death", but only for 24 hours a year.)
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I'm Back!
It has been a long time since I posted.
Lotsa cool stuff has been going on. I hesitate to post a lot of it because it relates to my community, and I hate telling other people's stories in an un-anonymous fashion.
But anyway, another kid-story. . .
On Sunday's Adrienne is usually in desperate need of an extended break from our sweet children. For the past six months I have been taking them on extended long walks (The longest being about 3 1/2 hours, stoping at the Clintonville Community Co-Op, Cup O Joe, and Element Design Group.
Ian (5) and Kathleen (3) are very slow walkers, I'm not! I need more patience. Early in our walks I started to realize just how impatient I really am. In order for it be a nice walk for all of us I have to take slow half steps with MANY breaks. This has forced me to constantly talk to God asking him to train me in patience. Life is so rushed that I often let that busyness bleed into my leasure time. This kills my opportunity to connect.
I noticed on today's walk that God had given me much more patience. I am slowly learning how to savor life rather than wolfing it down. My children are helping me to connect with God so much. "Child is father to the man" I guess. About one hour into the walk my son started telling me about a little boy named samuel that he learned about in his class at church. Kathleen began to chime in as well. I can still remember hearing that story for the first time when I was five at First Alliance Church. I truely doubt that Ian would not haved dialed down enough to tell me about it if we had not quietly been walking for the prior hour. I guess that's often how prayer can be for me.
I wonder how many mundane opportunities I miss for soul transformation every day?
Jesus, please show me more of you. Overlap our lives to bring me peace.
Amen!
For those who care:
Today's Route.
Arcadia & Summit to Maggie Moo's via Kelso
Maggie Moo's to Cup O Joe for Hot Chocolate all the way around.
(Saw Brett Wade and Dan Fox, nice chaps)
Adrienne Picks up three tired hikers at 6:00PM
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