Strong Voice...Weak Stomach

This is Rick. Rick and his entire worship team (band and vocalists) were outstanding over the Easter weekend. With additional services to coordinate, I thought it all came together in inspiring ways. Rick has a strong voice.
Today I learned something new about Rick. One of the pilots in our church, Steve Lentz, took... Rick, Jared (our Student Ministries pastor) and myself to lunch. Not some ordinary lunch but one that was special as Steve flew us into Sacramento Executive Airport in his very fast Camanche aircraft. After a great lunch once again we took to the air and even gave Rick the thrill of a life time by flying him over his home several times as his beloved and adoring family looked on from below. I don't know if it was just more than Rick could emotionally stand or the hard right and left pitches of the plane that caused me to see a weaker side of Rick. The first desperate sign that Rick was longing for land was his white-knuckle grip on the instrument panel. It wasn't a grass green but more like a lime green color that began to blotch his ears and neck. Kinda really ugly you know! Steve, being a commercial pilot knew exactly what to do. He grabbed one of those bags they call an Air Sickness bag but really is just an ol' fashioned vomit bag similar to the one Rick is clutching in the picture. Within moments of letting loose of his death grip on the control panel and seizing his answer to prayer, the vomit bag, Rick was reacquainted with his lunch and was even kind enough to share with us it's aromatic values. How kind of him to share.

Oh yeah, I was also disappointed in Jared. Though he tried really had to suppress his laughter at his friend's most embarrassing moment I saw him laughing with the kind of laughing energy that causes one to shake. Imagine that...poking fun at Rick's expense. How sad.

Ron

Redeeming Mike Vick

A few weeks ago, Mike Vick stood before the freshman class of Nueva Esperanza Academy in Philadelphia. Vick is the professional quarterback who, after signing a mega-million dollar contract with the NFL Atlanta Falcons, was convicted of multiple felony charges around a dog fighting and gambling business. Mike Vick exchanged his NFL uniform for a prison jumpsuit.

Since his release from prison, Vick has spent a lot of time with former NFL coach, Tony Dungy. Dungy is one of the most highly respected men in football circles. Incredibly successful in producing championship teams, Dungy is equally admired for the way he was able to get his players to perform at such a high levels. Coach Dungy is universally known as a man of honor and unquestionable character. Sure seems a good decision by Vick to make room for a man like
Dungy to speak into his life.

As Vick spoke to the students at the Academy, he spoke humbly about his time in prison and some of the reasons, other than the criminal actions he committed, that put him there.

Here's the deal. He admitted that many of his choices "were influenced by others." He later told these impressionable students that "my future was promising. At some point... I started listening to my friends and doing some things that were not ethical and not right."

So what is the truth Vick reveals? Friends are a powerful influence in life. That influence can be powerfully good or powerfully destructive. Maybe a question each of us should consider is: "Are the friends I hang with moving in the same direction as I am? Are my friends committed to doing things that are honorable and responsible?"

I hope Mike Vick continues his journey of redemption. I hope Mike Vick will surround himself with more friends like his new mentor Tony Dungy. That would be one of the most responsible decisions Mike Vick can make in this new season of life.

Chorus of the Frogs

We are a culture consumed with it's gadgets. Gadgets comes in just about any size, shape and memory. Colors are as varied as the candies you find in a bag of M&Ms. We sit with our gadgets, ride with our gadgets, exercise with our gadgets, study with our gadgets, and constantly think of new ways we can be with our gadgets. Okay, I'm guilty of excessively overstating our excessive obsession with gadgets. But hey, when I hear first hand accounts of teens texting each other while eating dinner at the same table, it does make a point.

I've been thinking recently about "quiet"; it's place and value in life. In the book, One Square Inch of Silence, Gordon Hempton quotes from Chief Seattle's letter to President Franklin Pierce in 1855 regarding the proposed purchase of the tribes land: "And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night?" The arguments of frogs around a pond. I love it. The imagery is something I get. Could it be that in our obsession with gadgets, we miss some of the most beautiful music being made.

How do you find quiet?

Thinking Out Loud

It is a small step yet one of profound consequences. Scary-easy, is how I would describe the shift from a God dependent lifestyle to a self competent lifestyle. From a sense of desperate passion to be with God (i.e. have Him actively present now) to desperately driven by my "stuff" and daily tasks.

As one who declares "I want to trust in the Lord with all my heart," I am alarmed by how casually I move through a day and, with the exception of some express prayers, give such little regard to my Lord. If Jesus did the things He saw his Father doing, should I not actively be looking for what Father is doing now? Should I not be actively listening to what Father is saying now?

I've studied, I've read, I've trained and I'm experienced in some things that others might deem me to be good at. Sort of like Tozer's observations of the church in his day. So good had the church become at "doing church" that the Holy Spirits absence would hardly be recognized.

I'm just thinking out loud and some of my thoughts are troubling me.

Mother's Day Without a Mom

I thought a lot about my momma this past Mother's Day. It was the first one in my 53 years without her. This time I could not call her, send her a card, buy her a gift or take her out to a favorite restaurant.

It's true I was on the other side of the world in a place called Kurdistan. She never went to Kurdistan. She never traveled very far outside of the one place she always called home. Maybe that's why it was such a thrill for me to phone her upon my return from places like Kurdistan. She was always full of questions about places her eyes would never see but her mind wanted to imagine. Every adventure I have followed God on has been deeply transforming in my life. Trying to describe that to others can sometimes be a tad disappointing. Fidgeting, yawns and general apathy can quickly lead to putting away the "vacation slides."

I missed my mom this Mothers Day. I miss her more upon my return. She would have loved Kurdistan and listened so intensely as I described my experiences there.

Speaking in Amman

Last Sunday it was my delight to speak in a church in Amman, Jordan. Just before beginning my message, a woman with a powerful voice sang a medley of songs reminding us of God's love and watchful care of His redeemed. Of course these songs were sung in Arabic but the tune was familiar enough that I could sing it in English. I love moments like these, two cultures, two languages united in worship of the God who binds our hearts as one with His.

As the lady stepped down from the platform my translator asked, "Where in the US are you from?" "Birmingham, Alabama" I replied. That's when he told me something that was so strange I could hardly believe it. "That lady who just sang, she lives in Birmingham." Funny thing is, I could not detect any "southern" Arabic is all she said. Never did find out if there is an Arabic equivalent for ya'll.

What Think Ye?

Archibald Hart, former dean of the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary was on the subject of spiritual and emotional heath when he wrote, "Evangelicals tend to sweep significant emotional problems under the rug. Many devout Christians receive no help whatsoever for serious emotional disorders because they are either afraid of the stigmatizations associated with such help or they have been taught to spiritualize their emotional problems and seek relief only through greater effort at piety."

Stress, exhaustion, frustration, anger, burnout, rejection, loneliness will be encountered along life's journey. For a leader, often these emotions are exacerbated by a feeling of "who can I trust."