Stuttering Crier

Click the "Send" button and your message can be read within seconds...on the other side of the world. Hit speed dial and you can be talking "instantly" to someone in another country...as you both drive along life's highways. Watch earth-shaking news (like the Japanese tsunami) as it happens.

It wasn't always this way. For centuries, one of the readiest forms of transmission for critical news was the "Town Crier." "Oyez, oyez (literally "Listen, listen")!" they would cry in the streets. When print media became more readily available, Criers were replaced by boys hawking papers: "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

Today, in our "advanced" civilization, we have need of neither Crier nor hawker; we have Twitter. Or Facebook. Or Google Ad Words. I know. I read them. Almost every day. Some of what I read on Easter weekend has me reflecting on why I am a "stuttering crier." Other pastors told of lives being changed in their churches. The reports I read were in awe of the way God is at work. I never sensed anything but reverent joy on their part.

Therefore, on this Easter Monday, I will not stutter. I will boldly proclaim what happened in Stone Ridge Church this past weekend. Only God can accomplish what we saw, so I am joyfully shouting His praises. Here are the highlights...

* 31 people baptized (more are preparing to be baptized soon)

* Almost 1400 in attendance

* Scores of young families came, many for the first time. Young adults keep bringing their friends and God is changing their lives. In turn, they are bringing other friends and the process keeps multiplying.

* We were gripped by the presence of God. In every service. At every baptism. People were giving their hearts to Jesus in the auditorium and out in the courtyard.

Perhaps the final moments of baptism after the last service said it best. Juan, an elderly man who is very ill watched his grandkids being baptized. Juan gave his heart to Christ not long ago. After seeing his family members and others baptized, he told his son, "I have never seen anything like this. I want to be baptized, too!" Because of his medical condition, some of us met on Sunday afternoon to baptize him in the jacuzzi of one of our leaders. As tears flowed, Juan modeled obedience to Christ's command.

Only God!

You live where?

"Yuma? What's in Yuma?"

That was the question we were asked. Over.and.over.

That was 23 years ago when we lived in Phoenix. The words that came next were pure irony: "It's hot down there!"

For those uninitiated to our little corner of the country, it is hot here. But it averages something like 2 degrees warmer than Phoenix year around. Oh, and Phoenix is slightly more humid than we are. Oh, and we get more wind because we are in the Colorado River Valley. Oh, and we don't spend hours every week stuck in traffic.

Besides, as one sage former resident told me, "After two years your brain fries and you don't know any better!" Therefore, take the rest of this article with a grain of salt. Or just toast me with a glass of Gatorade.

This desert place has its own beauty. (My brother's wife thinks the trip across the desert from the metropolis of Gila Bend, Arizona is the longest stretch of highway in the world!) You have to love brown to appreciate it, but the desert in bloom is a sight to see. The desert mountains are rugged and grand, even though they are small compared to, say, the Rockies.

Ask anyone who has seen a Big Horn Sheep in the wild or spent a sunset lazily floating along the Colorado in the shade of red sandstone -- this place is beautiful. Put that together with friendly people, beautiful fields of produce and uncrowded streets -- you've got a winning combination that I love to call home.

Someone came from Phoenix not long ago and called Yuma the best-kept secret in Arizona.

Shhhh. Don't tell anybody!

Happy Birthday and Thanks!

There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to Elbridge Gerry, Jan. 29, 1780

It is my privilege to serve alongside scores of families who, as members of our military and Homeland Security, help keep us prepared. Thank you all!

Happy Independence Day, United States of America!

I'm Thankful

I begin my long list today with the most recent and move back in time.

I am thankful for the following...

• I got to watch our granddaughter Molly make cookies with her Grammy yesterday.

• Trying to take an afternoon nap yesterday, I was constantly interrupted by the sound of contagious laughter. Cathy and our daughter Becki were in stitches as they visited Cake Wrecks.
• Our son Sean took a huge step of faith and took a full load of college science courses (he already has a degree in Theatre) because he wants to get into medical school. He still maintains a full-time job. All this, while his wife Betsy is in a tough PhD program in psychology AND she works, too. We are proud of them and thankful for their hard work.
• Our daughter Beth, whom most of you know through her blog brings us great joy. We are thankful for her husband, The Engineer, and our grandkids you know as Chickie and Zoodle.
• Beth's twin sister Becki balances life as a busy mommy to Molly, wife to Donal, and middle/high school science teacher.
  
• I am grateful particularly that each of our children married wonderful mates who care for them and show them unconditional love. It would be hard for a dad to want more for his kids.
• I am blessed with a wonderful family history, having been taught love, respect and hard work from parents who lived their faith daily. Dad went to heaven in 1990, but mom is now 82 and still quite healthy. She inspires me.
• Cathy's folks, Bob and Joyce, are like another set of parents to me. I am forever grateful that I got to meet, love and marry a daughter they raised. I wish you all could know them.
• My church family, Stone Ridge Church, of Yuma, Arizona, is vibrant, alive and real. Walking the faith journey with them is one of life's highest privileges.
• My extended church family, made up of scores of churches and thousands of believers in the Dominican Republic, keep teaching me by example what it means to Love Jesus Passionately.
  
• Our nation, with all its faults, is a place made free through the blood of many thousands who saw a cause worth living for. Those who died did so, not at the whim of a raging despot, but with a choice to protect our freedom.

I have saved the best for last. This is the 37th Thanksgiving I have shared with my bride. In so many ways, it seems like yesterday that we were just starting out. I have been blessed with God's very best by being able to marry Cathy. Thank you, darlin', for being you.

Next spring marks 49 years since the day I went forward in a church service and said to Brother Stirling, "I want to dedicate my life to the Lord." There's no way an eight-year-old boy can understand those words. However, by His grace, He began to change me from the inside out. He must receive the ultimate thanks from me this day for my entire life is the result of His blessing. His abiding presence, His constant forgiveness paid for by the sacrifice of His Son, and His unconditional love mean more to me each year. Thank You, Abba!

To you, who have joined me on this journey, thank you for your encouragement and sharpening. I will not meet many of you in person, but I am grateful for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!