The Ultimate Skycam

Stifling hot. There is no other way to describe it. This is my 26th summer in one of the hottest places in the United States and I still dread such days. We had been told the daytime high might reach 120 degrees (yes, you read that correctly). Cathy and I were committed to join a group from our church to cross the border into Mexico in the heat of the afternoon so we could attend the graduation of a church planting school conducted by our Dominican pastor/partner, Manolo.

We had a stop to make before we reached the border, where we would climb aboard the small bus with our fellow adventurers. I noticed the high, thin clouds overhead and was pleased when our car thermometer read "only" 105 degrees. It was about 3:00 p.m., the heat of the afternoon. Errand completed, we entered the Interstate and headed west. Every one of the approximately ten miles seemed a degree hotter than the mile before. 107...108...109... As we exited the freeway, the outside temp jumped to 112. As we turned off the car next to the Mexican border, we were only one mile from the Interstate, but the temp had reached 117.

We climbed aboard the bus (thankful for the air conditioning) and proceeded south across the border and about ten more miles on to a town called Morelos. The graduation was being held in the town's community center, which also has air conditioning. People began to pack in for the joyous celebration, during which the 35 or so graduates wore black caps and gowns. I need to explain here that the outside temps were so hot that it was impossible to truly keep this building cool inside. With the AC working overtime, I would guess the temp inside the room was 90 degrees. The graduation lasted about 2 hours!

The torrid heat that day is but an asterisk to the purpose of this post. Something happened during that graduation ceremony that reminded me again of how differently God sees our world.

The ceremony opened with the Mexican National Anthem. I suppose that had something to do with us meeting in a government building. Whatever the purpose, I was moved as I looked around to see Mexican brothers and sisters in Christ sing their equivalent of our Star Spangled Banner. One older man showed obvious emotion as he sang the song of his country, a line of which says (in English), "For in heaven your eternal destiny has been written by the hand of God."

You see, most of the people who attended that gathering are from that valley and have lived their lives there. As the crow flies, Morelos is less than five miles from the U.S. Border, yet the people born there live in a different world than we do. Our abundance and privilege often leaves us blind to their poverty and struggle. However, it was James (Jesus' half-brother), who wrote, "Hasn't God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith?" (James 2:5 New Living Translation) I'm not sure how many of my American friends would have inconvenienced themselves to sit for two hours in sweltering heat to watch 35 church planters graduate. But the people of Morelos came; they packed the place.

More important, the scene was witnessed in heaven. God's thoughts are above our thoughts. He doesn't look down from the Ultimate Skycam and see national borders. He just sees people. And those 35 graduates are going to help shake their nation.

Gopher Holes

I figure that, if irrigation water had a brain, it would avoid gopher holes.  Let me explain.  One of my preferred boyhood chores was irrigating our orchard and field.  I liked the job because it set me free to drive the old pickup truck (I didn't have a license) the mile or so along country roads to open the gate that sent irrigation water streaming through a small system of ditches to provide the life-giving liquid to our fruit and pasture.  (For those of you from places where it rains more frequently, you can't imagine how necessary irrigation is when one lives in arid climes.)

For a time, my irrigation job included a small field on a neighbor's property just west of us.  It was there that I got a brief education about gophers and gopher holes.  At best, gophers are a nuisance.  At worst, they are destroyers of life as they tunnel under the surface of fertile soil and steal the life of otherwise good plants.

This cute little fella looks innocent, but believe me, he's a destroyer.  He's also a reminder about life, which brings me to the point concerning irrigation water.  Numerous times I watched perfectly good irrigation water completely change its course and plunge down a gopher hole.  Granted, the gopher tunnel could only hold so much water before it quit filling or surfaced some distance away.  The water sought its lowest natural point, the power of gravity pulling it toward the center of the earth (or the bottom of the hole).  If the water had brains, it surely would have avoided the hole altogether, but it didn't.  Stay with me; there's a lesson in this!

You see, I know a lot of people whose lives were once productive and full of joy.  They were like irrigation water, out on a mission to help someone else find life  Then, at some time they were pulled off course by the pain of betrayal; a person they loved hurt them so deeply that they don't notice the little gophers that are burrowing beneath the surface of their hearts.  Sometimes they are just glad that someone is noticing them, unaware that the affection they are receiving is just a setup for more destruction.  Their God-given life starts a downward run into holes of oblivion.  The places and the people they once avoided are allowed to steal their life from them.

We had a way of dealing with gophers back then.  If they surfaced, it took a quick smash from a shovel and they were permanently eliminated.  If the gophers of life are eating away at you, get a shovel.  Or find a helper who will.

 

 

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand...

...words of concern!

That picture I posted here yesterday unleashed a flood of comments, both on this blog and over on Facebook.  One friend told me that I'm loved, even with a cork in my nose.  Another friend warned me NOT to make that my Facebook profile pic.  Many friends just wrote to wish me well.  Thank you!

I seriously considered posting a picture today of Brad Pitt or George Clooney, then asking if I look better now.  :)  The truth is that the "cork" is out, removed by my Dr.  The bleeding hasn't re-occurred.  I have been given some medication changes.  AND I have made some minor "lifestyle" adjustments to minimize my risk...which primarily means I can't blow my nose.  'Nuff said!

I mentioned to Cathy last night that I was surprised by the outpouring of concern over my situation.  When I entitled yesterday's post, "When I Don't Understand", my lack of understanding was not so much about the nosebleed.  It was about the timing of it all and the cancellation of my trip to perform a wedding.  To be honest, I'm still struggling with that.

I'm still trusting God, too!

Thank you ALL for being so kind.  I'm honestly overwhelmed by you!

Come As You Are

He had patrolled the blood-soaked streets of Mogadishu and endured the harsh desert of Iraq, but it was the pain of events back home that brought him to the brink of hopelessness.

I received a call one morning from a guy in our church; a call from someone who never called. "I have a friend," he said. "He's going through some pretty rough stuff and isn't sure he can go on with life. Can you see him?" I just happened to have an opening that morning, something that can be quite rare in my schedule. "Can he come right away?" I asked.

The man walked in, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. He spoke of his despair and his longing to know that Someone could offer him hope. At least a sliver.

That man, who today is a leader in our church, was a living picture of our first value at Stone Ridge: Come as you are!

To contrast, I saw a family walk into one of our recent services. Parents and two or three kids, who looked to be in their young teens. As I noticed the relatively conservative clothes they wore (girls in dresses and boy in sport shirt and slacks) along with the somewhat stiff way they walked, I thought, "Uh-oh. They may be in for a surprise." Our Ignite worship band was leading that morning; the same band that leads Ignite for teens on Saturday nights. Let's just say that they aren't "traditional." The young man who leads them used to be in a touring band and has body art all the way down one arm. He passionately loves Jesus, but he ain't, er, traditional. At the end of the service, I noticed that the family quietly left and I don't think they have been back.

Please don't get me wrong; I have a deep level of compassion and respect for the family I just described, but they struck me as people whose whole view of attending church is different than ours. We seek to embody the value "Come As You Are." For most of us, the button-down, spit-shined version of ourselves is a person we like to be, but we would admit that looking good is in many ways just a veneer. In other words, our lives are marred by schisms, struggles and stresses that take their toll on us. Nearly every day.

Unfortunately, many of us took the admonition to "give your best to God" to mean, "Act like everything is great even though it isn't." In an era when our culture regularly grinds people up and spits them out, we have learned to walk into church with what I call our "plastic Jesus smile" on our faces. Most of us desperately need healing, but we act like we're the people who have it all together.

Stone Ridge isn't like that. I have dubbed my office as a "free-cry zone." We have boxes of tissues sitting at various places all over our campus and they are not primarily for allergy season. Jesus called the weary and those carrying a heavy burden to come to him. He said that He was here to rescue the downtrodden. One day He told the religious leaders that it is the sick who need a physician; they saw themselves as having it all together and He couldn't help them.

At our church we urge you, "Come As You Are!" It's the first step to becoming someone different.

Dominican Teams Take Action

Yesterday, the Dominican Baptist Convention established an action plan. This morning, Sonia Burnett wrote the following communique from the DR...

Barry is on his way to Haiti with 2 members of Germantown Baptist Church and a Dominican leadership group. He will be there at least until Monday but probably longer. The Dominican Baptist Convention is working on getting a “base” established in 1 church that was not damaged so teams can stay there starting next week. He also will be working on getting the water purification system going and the distribution set up. A truck is on its way from Pto. Rico and the mom of a friend of Gaby’s is donating huge tanks that have faucets at the bottom that can be used to distribute the water.

The rest of us that planned to go had to postpone our trip due to lack of lodging…

Thanks again for your prayers for protection and provision. God has been faithful. Some people did feel the aftershock here but we did not… We asked for vehicles to distribute the water, etc. and God is providing as we speak, we asked for tanks to store the water, He is providing, we asked for doctors to help with surgeries, almost 100 have come and gone since then, we asked for antibiotics, 1000 came in last night, we asked for funding, people are giving generously….Our God is a great God!

One or two things she mentions have changed since last evening. More may have changed today. We continue to pray.

For you Stone Ridgers who are considering going, our spring mission trip looks like it will stay scheduled from March 24-April 1. Most likely the focus of the trip will shift to rebuilding in Haiti. If you are interested and want more info, please contact Mark Flint. His address is mark[at]flintframe[dot]com.

Light In Haiti's Darkness

Just over one week ago, we started this communication journey as we turned our hearts toward Haiti. Here is what I wrote in that first post...

Would you pray tonight for Haiti? I am drawn to the following verses…
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
Matthew 4:16-17 (New Living Translation)

This morning I received a message from Edward Veloz, a pastor friend of mine from Santo Domingo, DR. Here is what he wrote...

Hey brother.. check the post from a Pastor from Haiti... just talked with Pastor Vijonet from Haiti on the phone and he asked me to share this: "if anyone is sad about Haiti - tell them God is in control and now there is a spiritual movement... people are crying, worshipping, and praising God! There is hope, spiritually!"

The Planning Begins

Tonight, this came in from Sonia Burnett...

Barry and team are on their way home...now comes the planning. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Barry said he did not feel like he was in danger at any time so praise God for that. Our sermon in church today was on Ps. 71 - A timely message for the Dominican community who are both scared and impacted by what happened in Haiti.

This morning, I was both encouraged and broken-hearted. The encouragement came when we were able to work with Sonia and seek a way to help a Haitian orphanage get drinking water for their kids.

The discouragement came from news reports of literal chaos as supplies were distributed. Our teams in the DR have visited Haitian villages there and brought candy for the kids. Just candy can almost start a riot. I understood what it must be like for relief workers to bring food and water to people who have gone without for days.

I was struck by the following thought...

Q: What do you do when you are facing a literal ocean of need?

A: Grab the biggest bucket you can get and start bailing!

The ocean is overwhelming right now and our buckets seem small. Please pray and give.

I closed my day with the receipt of the following email from a young lady in our church...

I have really been struggling with the disaster in Haiti. I have donated and prayed as much as I can but I can't help but feel there is more that I can do. Today in your sermon you mentioned that the church might send a team down soon and I was hoping that I might be able to join that team. I know you don't have much information on what will be needed or when everyone would be able to go, but as soon as you get more information I would love to be informed.

I am currently in nursing school. I know I'm not a nurse yet or a doctor but I do feel that I could help medically in Haiti if I had the chance. If I am not able to go, I would love to still help send some medical supplies down that I know would be needed.

God has opened my heart so much to all of the people and families in Haiti and I would just love to help however I can. I will keep praying and donating what I can.

She wants to take one more step. She is praying. She is giving. She wants to GO!

We are awaiting word and will make those decisions as we hear from Barry Burnett and Pastor Manolo. Does God want you to go, too?

Thanks To You All

To all my readers who seem to catch me here when I write, thank you! Dwell and Cultivate turned 1 year old last month and I wrote six days a week for most of that year. Alas, I knew at the outset of this Fall that my schedule would be bonkers.

And it is!

Soooooo, please hang on just a bit longer. I am nearing the end of this challenging season and hope to be back on a regular basis quite soon.

The Man With The Shining Eyes

I read yesterday that Rev. Bill Watkins passed away over the weekend. Bill was almost 84 years young and had been scheduled to perform another man's funeral in a few days. I first got to know Bill in the early 1990s when we worked together on a Billy Graham associate crusade. He taught me more that he ever imagined about having a positive, loving spirit. He worked hard on that project and helped bridge the gap between otherwise disconnected churches.

Bill taught me something else he couldn't have known. I'm a bit ashamed to tell you the lesson, but I must. You see, Bill was a Presbyterian.

"So what?", you ask.

I grew up a Baptist.

Baptists were right. Therefore, we were right. Everyone else was...uh, not right!

We had the best Bible Study literature, the largest seminaries and the hugest protestant denomination in the country.

We sent out one of, if not the biggest missionary force in history.

Did I say we were right?

Everyone else -- including Presbyterians -- was suspect. If they were right, they would be Baptist.

(God, please forgive my arrogance!)

I met Bill Watkins, a man with shining eyes, a great sense of humor, a mature love for Christ and a deep well of compassion for people. He lived his sermons.

He helped open my eyes and change my heart.

I will forever be grateful to Bill. When I get to heaven, I can't wait to thank him personally!

The Rest of the Story?

I must be slipping (probably am) into the abyss of vagueness. What I intended to be a creative way of ending yesterday's post obviously left some of you "hanging." I had a couple of comments about it on Facebook and one or two here. So...

We walked into the burger joint on Sunday (a thousand miles from home) -- me with Cathy's burrito and Cathy with Chickie. About two steps in the door I looked up to see our old friends David and Martha standing there with their kids who live here. Talk about an "Ah-ha Moment!"

David and Martha were here for the same reason as us -- time with grandchildren and were literally on their way out of town back home, but we had 15 or 20 minutes of rushed conversation with a certain need for more (later, by phone I hope).

Now for so many of you who couldn't know -- June 8th marked my 23rd anniversary as pastor in Yuma. When we came here, David was the chairman of the pastor search committee who recommended me to the church. It all started there.

About ten years ago, when I was going through the most painful time of my pastoral ministry, they were two key people who encouraged us. They listened to our heartache. They supported us and, when necessary, defended us.

Our brief contact made me aware that they are going through their own "dark night of the soul." By God's grace we want to do our best to support them -- even at a distance.

David and I found common ground in our friendship many years ago. We both discovered that the friendship we have was very "low-demand." We don't need to see each other that often. We both have plenty of other friends. But we both discovered that, no matter how spread out we get by miles or months...

...we can easily pick up where we left off.

I plan to call him soon.

The "Ah-Ha" Moments

We are a thousand miles from home. Yesterday we went to lunch with our daughter C. Beth, her husband The Engineer, and our grandkids Chickie and Zoodle. They suggested "Sunday-after-church-lunch" at a burger joint which is a local hotspot.

Cathy, not one for burgers, went next door to Chipotle Mexican Grill for something she preferred and which she could carry out to eat with the rest of us at the burger joint. I gave my burger order to the The Engineer and accompanied Cathy (and Chickie, who is joined to Grammy at the hip). We picked up her order and, for some reason, a thought flashed through my mind.

You see, we have some old friends, former Yumans named David and Martha, who resettled to Oklahoma a few years ago. One of their daughters and her family live in the same city as C. Beth. I suddenly thought, "I wonder if we might see David and Martha here visiting their grandkids." This is a fairly large city, D & M live quite a distance away, and it was just a strange thought.

Until we walked into the burger joint to meet our family...

Older Friends

It had been thirty years since they last met. But the eyes. The shy grin. Hit life's "rewind" and notice two young boys playing in a thicket of willow bushes. Carving guns and swords out of old boards that were lying around. Eagerly shooting arrows in the air to see if they would disappear. Eating some type of dog biscuit as a snack because they were "hiding out."

Two young boys growing up in the country, playing, working, laughing and sometimes crying together. Shooting hoops in a yard, building treehouses, making a little money with a hay-hauling business.

When they were grown, one of them was Best Man for the other one. Then, somehow, they lost track.Thirty years. Then some emails were exchanged. And a phone call or two. Finally, this week, they got together and started catching up on life.
Mike was my best friend as I grew up. Other friends came and went, but when it was all done, Mike was the one who was there. Now, as a fairly new follower of Christ, Mike was able to come to the desert and spend a day.

By God's grace, it won't be the last one.

Old Friends (continued)

A few months ago, I wrote this. It has much to do with the brevity of today's post...

...more soon!

Zoom Zoom Zoom!

I have two accountability partners. I'll call them Jim Bob and LJ. Yesterday, LJ said, "For the past couple of weeks, your blogs have sounded...uh...more 'preachy.'" (Maybe he doesn't know that I'm a preacher. Hmmmmm.)

I explained to him that my schedule has been so full of late that my creativity level is somewhere in the minus range. Soooo, if you're like LJ, hang on! I think the ol' creative genes are startin' to perk back up.

But it may take a few more days.

Are You Sam? (Part 2)

Perhaps one of the best ways to determine if I have written clearly is from reader response. If that's the case, I really goofed yesterday.

You see, I misread my old friend Bill when I thought he had showed up to sell me something. And I'm glad that perhaps I can help him find the person he is looking for in his business.

But...

Bill is the exception. C. Beth mentioned that it would be "frustrating" if the "old friend" came along to recruit for the latest network marketing scheme. Well, perhaps I'm a big jaded on this one. Why? I have had more "old friends came along to recruit me or sell me something" experiences than I can remember. Like the old college friend who wanted to take me to coffee -- and recruit me for Amway. Or the couple Cathy and I knew from college that wanted us to sell Amway.

Or...

Perhaps this hits me extra hard because I naturally like people. I cherish the friendships from my past. I love to sit down and catch up on old times. So, please, don't call me up and offer me coffee or lunch...just to "use" our friendship to build your business.

I hope what I wrote is as close to a "rant" as I ever have in this blog. But I wanted to make my struggle clear.

Now, what do you think? Am I too calloused on this one? Those who know me, know that I appreciate honest input.

Are You Sam?

I had just finished a breakfast honoring graduates at our church yesterday. Having loaded some things in the car for the ride home, I noticed a minivan pull in to the parking lot. The driver was someone I didn't recognize, which isn't all that unusual. Besides, a team was already on campus for a publicized Blood Drive. I figured the guy had come to donate or to help.

I walked into the office for one more chore before heading home and noticed the man from the minivan walking in -- he probably needed directions to the Blood Drive team.

"Are you Sam?" he asked as he stepped into the office.

I looked at his face and immediately realized it was a guy I had gone to college with a loooooong time ago. I haven't seen him in about 25 years. He has lost much of his hair, but I immediate recognized his eyes and his voice.

Bill and I met 40 years ago this Fall. We weren't ever really that close, but I remember that his parents came to our church when I used to pastor in Phoenix. It was about then when we lost touch.

Bill reached in his wallet to pull out a business card and I had that sinking "uh-oh" feeling. How many times over the years has an old acquaintance walked into my world to re-connect and (they hope) sell me something?

It turns out that Bill is a regional director for a company and wants to hire someone in our area. He knew I was here and looked me up for a recommendation.

Help me out on this one, reader. How do you feel when an acquaintance (or a friend) shows up from the past and you discover that their interest in you is to build their business?

Fill My Cup

My "weekend" was a whirlwind. The week following Easter was like riding a a supersonic jet -- on the wing! I was looking forward to most of Friday off when, on Thursday evening, I was pulled into an unexpected mess. It consumed a significant amount of attention and emotion through much of Friday, then concluded with a Saturday afternoon meeting.

Cathy and I had been invited to a Passover Seder Saturday evening in the home of a church family. For about three hours we sat around their dining room table with six young adults reading, listening and remembering.

As we ate the traditional food and remembered God's faithfulness, something deep in my soul began to fill back up. I blinked back tears as we remembered Jesus the Messiah washing the feet of His disciples. I felt transported in time back to that night in an Upper Room as He gave new meaning to the bread and the Cup of Redemption.

It's as if, for three solid hours, I bathed in His loving presence.

Thank you, Jessica, Nick, Jennifer, David, Amanda and Heather for including us in your evening.

What Do You See

(Re-posted from Fall, 2008)

Last week I mentioned Mrs. Hollinger, one of my high school teachers. Actually, I had her for 2 years of German ("Frau Hollinger") and Senior English. She was, without doubt one of the most challenging teachers I ever had. Our report cards were scored with both our letter grade AND our percentage -- rounded to the nearest tenth -- for the grading period.

I goofed off through plenty of classes back then, but not hers. She was strict. She was demanding. She brought me into focus, though, for one reason: she believed in me! She believed that I could learn and do good work. She never accepted less than my best, but she believed I could learn to speak and write effectively.

A few years later, while I was in college, a prominent Phoenix businessman made the commitment to come to our campus and teach us how to share our faith in Christ. A group of us met with him once or twice a week in the late afternoon. Just before we started one day, he approached me out of the blue and said, "God is going to use you." I was caught off balance, but I never forgot that moment.

I'm not sure, but I think most of us pretty much believe in ourselves when we're small. (The other night at our Family Fall Festival, I saw a boy -- age 6 -- deftly take out his light saber and start taking on imaginary Imperial Storm Troopers with moves that would have made even Yoda smile.) Along the way, though, we each hit the wall (or the ground or the tree or the Principal's Office) enough times to thoroughly shake our confidence.

I'm convinced that many of us -- including me -- wouldn't have the courage to shake off the failure and try again if we didn't have someone we respect make it clear that we have possibilities. The encouragement we receive from one or two key people can become the fuel that burns deep within us when all outward evidence says our fire is gone.

Here's the best way I know how to say it: tell me what you believe about the people in your circle of influence and I'll tell you how much chance they have to succeed. Or fail.

Jesus took a handful of misfits that the high and mighty of his culture had no use for and, through them, shook the world!

He might just be able to use someone like me.

And you.