Out Of The Boat...

Tonight I was afforded a great opportunity to "get out of the boat."

For those of you who may not be familiar with the story that I'm alluding to, let me sum up.

Jesus' disciples had left Jesus alone to pray after an incredible miracle involving the feeding of thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple fish.

The disciples were sailing across the Sea of Galilee when the weather started getting rough. As if that weren't bad enough, out on the water they saw something that shouldn't have been there - it looked like someone was walking across the water towards them.

The disciples were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost, but Jesus called out to them, telling them to not be afraid. It was him.

Jesus' followers really weren't convinced and Peter - one of those closest to Jesus - called out and said that if it were really Jesus to call him to come to Him out on the water. (Not really sure why this would have proved that He wasn't a ghost, but I wasn't there...)

Well, Jesus called him, and Peter stepped out of the boat and began walking to Jesus. Everything was going pretty well until he noticed the power of the wind and waves around him and stopped trusting Jesus and began to fear. Immediately he began to sink.

Jesus was right there to rescue him, but Peter was chided for his lack of faith. If you would like to read the whole story you can check it out at Bible Gateway.

Anyway, tonight I was given my chance to step outside of the safety and comfort of my own "boat" and reach out to some of my neighbors. I was able to spend an unprecedented amount of time chatting with my across the street neighbors. I got to meet Bob and Debbie (Again... we had met before, but it had been so long since we had spoken to each other that none of us could remember the others' name! I was "Gary" for most of the night!), Aunt Mary, Nikki, and Irene... I think. I'll have to check up on that one again.

Long story short, it was nice to find out some things about them and the stuff they have done and to get better acquainted. It dispelled some misinterpretations that I had made about their actions at times. And hopefully it opened the door for us to interact with each other again in the near future.

New Neighbors

I have some new neighbors. A family of cardinals has set up housekeeping right outside of my kitchen window. These little guys hatched late last week and have been keeping mom and dad pretty busy gathering food.

Like most baby birds, they aren't much to look at, but it is neat to have them living where I can keep an eye on them.

I have already had to chase off one cat. All I can say is he had best hope I don't catch him there again. I have some very unpleasant things planned for him if I do.

So far mom and dad have been fairly patient with my curiosity. Dad came by when I was taking this picture. I would have probably snapped a couple more if he hadn't. I'd love to get a shot of one of them feeding the kids. I don't think that they'll tolerate that.

Gut Check

This weekend's outing for the StillWaters Jazz Band was probably our toughest so far. (Sorry, no pictures this week.) We played at the Brian Center of Salisbury this week.

To be honest, I think that we all expected a crowd similar to the one we had encountered at the NC Veterans' Home last week, however, it didn't take long for us to realize that we were playing for a much different group. In fact, by the end of the first song the differences became evident. Most of the folks didn't respond at all to the music. They just sat there. There was one fellow who clapped for us on most songs and another that tried to clap.

When we got to our break time we went out into the crowd and talked to several of the residents. I was able to have a pretty good conversation with the gentleman that I was talking with and Justin and Sara seemed to do all right with the folks that they were talking to as well. (Justin is excellent at the ministry aspect of our playing anyway. Not bad for a self-described introvert!) Most of the residents there needed skilled care. It was pretty heart-breaking to see the condition that some were in.

I wish I could say that we played our best this weekend, but frankly it was quite a challenge. I found myself getting lost a bit and just wasn't on top of my game. We ended up wrapping things up a little early to accommodate the dinner hour.

In the parking lot after the gig we all talked it over. It had been rough for all of us, but Justin did a great job of bringing us back around to the reason we are doing what we do. He said, "If we're just doing this to stroke our egos we're doing it for the wrong reason." Amen.

If the environment there was clinical and uninviting to us, how much more so must it be to the people who have to live there day in and day out? There is no one who needs what we are doing any more than the folks at the Brian Center. Therefore, you can bet that we'll be back. Hopefully we'll be better prepared for what we'll encounter when we get there, and hopefully we'll have a better strategy to make it fun, but we will be back. How could we do otherwise?

The StillWaters Jazz Band Version Of A USO Tour

This past Saturday the StillWaters Jazz Band had one of its most fun gigs so far. We got to play at the NC Veterans' Home on the campus of the VA Hospital in Salisbury, NC. None of us really knew what to expect as we began unloading our equipment. We set up in the front lobby of the facility and the crowd began to gather.

Right off the bat we could tell that these guys were different than the groups we had played for so far. They were asking questions and talking to us - genuinely interested in what we were doing and who we were. It didn't take long before our nerves had settled down. In the picture above you can see Justin talking with one of the residents. This particular fellow was really up on his jazz. He related one story about how he had the pleasure of seeing Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Al Hirt in concert with some other giants of the jazz world back in the late 60s. We were all envious!

Unfortunately, we didn't have any of our friends or family with us so pictures didn't get taken until after the fact, but in many ways these pictures really communicate the sweetness of the time that we had with these aging heroes. These folks were awesome! They interacted with us throughout the entire show, and as you can see, many hung around afterwards to talk.

Sara was a particular favorite of the crowd. I guess it is tough to be the only pretty girl in the band! One fellow in particular was quite vocal in his appreciation! (It isn't the fellow that appears in this picture though!)

We opened the show with Stormy Weather. We thought it fitting considering the weather that day. When we announced the title of the song one of the fellows asked which one of us was going to be singing. We told him that was HIS job! Well, he didn't sing it, but another fellow did, and he did a fine job I might add.

This week we were running a little short. Our bass player, Gillon wasn't able to join us. I think his insane schedule finally caught up with him! We really missed having him with us, because he adds a lot. Hopefully he'll be back in the loop soon!

I was really blessed by most of the conversations that I had with the guys. The gentleman that I was talking to in the picture was wounded twice during World War II. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I learned a lot talking with him. I hope that he'll be able to join us the next time that we play there. And we will be playing there again. We all THOROUGHLY enjoyed ourselves. And the residents seemed to have a good time too.

In fact, one of the nurses on duty there came out to make sure that she got our card so that they could invite us back. She told me that if the guys hadn't liked us they wouldn't have wasted any time leaving. That made me feel pretty good. Most of the guys hung around for the duration. But as much as they seemed to enjoy our music they seemed to enjoy our company even more.

Another fellow used to play piano when he was in service. He worked with one of the chaplains and played hymns for the chapel services. He is blind now, but can still play. All of the residents were encouraging him to play some with us. I hope we can talk him into it when we go back.

We even had a lady who got up and danced about halfway through the show. It was a great experience.

We had numerous requests too. Someone requested Amazing Grace and another wanted to hear Taps. OK, that one weirded us out a little bit, but hey, he was the one who asked! We also got requests for Stardust, Misty, and In The Mood. Unfortunately we couldn't just whip those out, but we plan to add them before we go back.

This week in practice we worked on Bye Bye Blackbird, The Preacher, I've Heard That Song Before, Little Brown Jug, and St. Louis Blues. I think that all of these will do well with our friends at the NC Veterans' Home next time. They will probably come in handy this weekend too. We'll be playing at the Salisbury Brian Center on Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00. I expect we'll be playing for a similar crowd. We are also hoping to schedule a couple shows for Trinity Oaks in the coming weeks. I hope that they will be as fun as the guys at the Veterans' Home.

As much fun as we have playing this music by ourselves, it is even more fun to be playing it for someone else. It was a blast giving just a little back to these men and women who gave so much for us. We can never adequately repay them for all of their sacrifice on our behalf, but it sure was fun beginning the payback. Justin said it well when he said, "One day a year isn't enough to tell you guys thanks."

Jazz At Dixie's

The StillWaters Jazz Band is back in action at Dixie's this Saturday. The time is different than the one shown in the picture, though. This Saturday we'll be playing from 12:00 Noon to 2:00.

I hope that you'll be able to come out. We will be breaking out some new tunes this time around, including the inauguration of my first jazz tune, Dog Days Of Dixie. It was written as a tribute to the namesake of Dixie's coffee shop.

The owners named the coffee house after their pet bloodhound, Dixie. I had the opportunity to see her at our last gig there, and didn't realize that it would be the only time that I would ever see her. Sadly, a couple of weeks after we played there, Dixie died from cancer. It was really sad.

The next time I was in Dixie's I saw a big display of cards and flowers given to the owners by their customers in memory of their pet and found out what had happened. That's when I started thinking, "I should write a song for them." I let the song roll around in my head for a couple weeks, and finally sat down and hammered it out.

Anyway, Dixie's is located at the corner of Centerview Drive and Main Street in China Grove - right at the stoplight. This intersection is kind of like the city square. We'll be there from 12 Noon to 2:00. Come on out! The coffee is great. The prices are good. The decor is inviting. The aroma is fabulous. The music will be pretty good too. And you might even get to meet some of your neighbors! See you there!

He Places The Lonely In Families...

I think the greatest benefit of being a Christian here on earth is the beauty of belonging to the world's biggest family. I can go anywhere in the world and find a group of Christians, and the chances are pretty good that we will begin to connect very quickly.

This phenomenon is axiomatic for Christians. It bridges culture, language, race, and even denomination. In fact, I would probably go as far as to say that if this doesn't occur, one of the parties is likely not a Christian.

Now I know that there are people who aren't the easiest people to love - even within the church. ESPECIALLY within the church! But even with EGR people (Extra Grace Required) there are moments of commonality that make being a Christian one of the sweetest things I know.

I was able to experience the sweetness of belonging to the family of God tonight. Ever since StillWaters was euthanised, the music team has continued to meet on our usual practice night. The meetings have changed a little bit, though. Since we don't have the pressure of getting a 5-8 song worship set together we have been exploring some of the other aspects of what having church is really all about.

As a result, we have begun enjoying a meal together, working on some music, spending a little time in the Word (the Bible), and some time in prayer. At times this transition has been a little clumsy, but we have found some wonderful life in it.

Tonight turned out a little different. Three of the families that usually join us weren't able to come for various reasons. So tonight's group boiled down to only the musicians. I prepared my Shepherd's Pie, Sara made a salad and some brownies, and we were set.

What was funny about tonight was that we hardly did any of the religious stuff. We did pray over the meal, but that was the extent of our "churchiness." The rest of the evening, we talked about the future, played some jazz (we didn't even PLAY any "churchy" music!) and listened to some jazz. It was a precious, precious evening.

Can you imagine what Heaven will be like? Can you imagine what life will be like in the New Jerusalem in the presence of Christ Himself? If our fellowship is this sweet in a fallen world with our flawed flesh, what will it be like when our sinful nature is totally removed? It makes me tear up with joy to just think about how wonderful that will be.

I swiped the picture above from a USA Today article that I found using a Google Image search. I really miss having church with a group like that. When I attended Immanuel Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC as a child and later attended King's Park International Church in Durham, NC and Piedmont International Church in Greensboro, NC after college that was my reality. Every race that you could imagine was present, worshiping God. We got along just fine. I so miss that.

Unfortunately, things aren't quite as integrated here in my area. It's sad really. I hope that God will move here soon to break down the racial barriers that exist.

This correction seems to be something that is on the Lord's heart for Salisbury. A couple of years ago a very significant event occurred that I believe was prophetic in nature. The city council decided to make a breach in the stone wall between the Old English Cemetery and the Freedman's Cemetery (a cemetery for free black people.)

Of course there was some outcry that a section of the old stone wall was torn down between the cemeteries, but the council did it intentionally to signify a breaking down of the wall between the races. Praise God! I guess every once in a while the government does end up doing the right thing! (If you look closely you can see the spire of the First Presbyterian Church through the breach. I thought that it was cool that it was there in the picture.)

But I digress...

The article in USA Today talked about how the generation begun right after Generation X is much more open to the different races than those from Generation X and before. I think that is fantastic. That is so much more encouraging than the racism being displayed in the contest for the Democratic nomination.

I truly hope that we can get beyond the hatred and the nonsense between the races. I would truly love to see that in my lifetime. It won't happen while The Church is used to promote racism, though.

I hate that I was removed from the environment that I knew my first couple years in elementary school. I was in a VERY integrated school and church. I feel certain that such an influence, had it remained, would have been positive.

I guess all of this just goes to say that there is nothing like being a member of the family of God. I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING. It is so wonderful to be able to go anywhere in the world and find BROTHERS and SISTERS, MOTHERS and FATHERS.

Alone and need a family? Come to Jesus, and get plugged in! There's always room for one more!

I've Been Tagged...

It would appear that I have been tagged. Here are the rules if you are tagged:

The Rules

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of this post and list their names.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

This could be tough, I really don't interact with that many bloggers right now, but I'll see what I can do...

Rule 1.

I've already linked to Princess Linfoong, a med student in Belfast.

Rule 2.

Eight random facts... here goes:

1.) I used to help my grandfather raise bees.

2.) Like Linfoong I had planned to be married by 25. Something went dreadfully wrong with that plan. Still single at 38.

3.) I started college wanting to be an aerospace engineer, changed that to pre-med, and finally settled on English as my major.

4.) I enjoy being on the water, but my true love is the mountains.

5.) I spent 5 months in Dundee, Scotland doing missions work after I graduated from college.

6.) One day I plan to learn how to fly.

7.) I began seminary at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte about 2 years ago. I hope to finish before I die.

8.) I want to visit Belfast in the next 2 years.

There you go. Now I have to figure out who to tag. This may take a little while. I'll tag Wade, Trey (although he probably doesn't have time to do this), aelfeld, David, Patrick, Kelley, Cephas, and Deborah. They are all good blogs regardless of whether they respond or not.

Well, Crap.

They pulled the plug on my cool little church. I'm not really happy about it at all. Is God in control? Yes. Am I glad Jesus saved me? Of course. Will this cause me to be an enemy of society? No way, eh? (Quick, which movie am I alluding to?) No more than usual anyway... ;->

So what now? I am extremely unhappy being put in the position of having to find a church. I have a friend who has lived here since college and he still is looking for a church. (We're pushing 15 years or better outside of the wonderful never never land of college...)

There are always options. I have already been invited back to my parents' church. Perhaps I could round up the core folks who are game and keep meeting under a new banner and new denomination or none. I could take a couple months off. There are too many variables to be able to come to a good decision right now.

I got the news this morning. My pastor called to let me know. We'll meet for 3 more weeks. Then no mas... I was really hoping that they would give us at least 6 more months. I really think that we would have seen a turn had we been given just a little more time.

Here comes the real question - the one I have been dealing with all day. The one that has been securely locked into the closet in the back of my mind several times, but keeps escaping... the question is, "Why should this change anything about my mission to this area? Why should it change the mission of any of our core members?"

Forgive me a Faulkneresque moment. See, the mission that has been solidifying for our little church is this:

Our purpose here is to go beyond the comfort and security of our own homes and our congregation and begin to make connections with our neighbors, learning to be friends and good neighbors. In doing these things we will begin to have more and more opportunities to show our neighbors – the oikos* that God has given us – the goodness and beauty of our Lord.

*Oikos is a Greek word that roughly means 'one's sphere of influence.' Or at least that's how I'm using it!

We had been making moves to see this mission be carried out, but the mission crystallized too late, and we ran out of runway before it even began to bear any fruit.

So back to the question at hand. And of course the answer is that it should not change our mission at all. Whether we are a church or whether we are members of another body or whether we aren't gathering to worship anywhere, this mission shouldn't change.

The reason that I have confined this question to quarters is that it would be so easy for an introvert like me to say, "Well, that's too bad. We were going to reach out to our community, but no point now since there isn't any church to bring them to." I could easily return to the comfort and security of my little cocoon (Who am I kidding? Mine is pretty dang big!) and let my neighbors and my town continue on down the pathway to hell.

Well, when you put it like that.... DANG! I don't want folks to go to hell. It makes it kind of hard to pout when you say it that way. <sigh>

But there are so many times when I feel like I am stuck in pre-Lucy Narnia: always winter, never Christmas... Always expected to do the right thing when the reward is left way out there somewhere. That's the way this feels.

It was hard enough beating my will into submission to get on board with the church's mission to reach out. At least when it was the church's mission I could count on a group to be there to encourage me when I was feeling insecure about reaching out. The dissolution of the church doesn't necessarily end that, but let's face it, without some structure and organization it is going to be a WHOLE lot more difficult to fulfill the mission and a WHOLE lot easier to just not bother. Now it has to be MY mission. Frankly, I'm not sure I am up to it.

Do I know that I should be glad about all of this and say, "Yay! Change is fun. Change is good. God is in control! Something better is bound to be coming!" Sure I do. My flesh has just vetoed that response for the moment. I'm sure God will eventually get my head screwed on straight. Until then, I'll probably vent a little bit.

So there you go. This is what I have been dealing with today. Hey, if you can't be transparent with billions of people all over the world, who can you be transparent with? At least I got to play with power tools in my dad's wood shop today. Back to computer stuff tomorrow.

A Positive Story About the War

Hi, all. Yesterday I was up to my eyes in an Advent blog, but I did find an interesting article for you over at Bear Creek Ledger. You and I know that there is a dearth of news items about positive things being done by our troops in Iraq. Well here is one that shows how a soldier took it upon himself to do something that is making a big difference in how he and his unit are being received.



Nashville Native Learns Arabic To Help With Mission in Iraq

Perhaps there is something Christians can learn from this soldier. Maybe if we try to "learn the language" of the lost around us we'll have more success in helping them to find the truth.

Sorry I've Been Away

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days. I'm sure that you are all glad to know that they didn't keep me in the jail on Friday. Things have been a little nutty around here. Alot has been going on since Friday.

I guess I'll start with my trip to the Alexander County Correctional Facility. The prison is new. I think that they just opened it within the past couple of years. It was my first time to go into a prison. It was a pretty strange experience at first. Fortunately we didn't have to go too far to get to the prison's furniture plant.

It was an amazing operation. There within the prison was a fully operational furniture plant. It had new high quality equipment and everyone was busily working at their assigned tasks. We got a full tour of the facility. I was very impressed with the quality of the workmanship and the materials that they were using. The vast majority of the pieces that they were making were solid wood. They even use dovetail joints in the construction of the drawers. The spray booths were awesome. It was a very well appointed facility. Next door was an upholstery plant. The inmates working there were assembling and upholstering office chairs.

In my discussions with the administrators there I learned that the prisoners that work in the unit are extremely conscientious - many working harder and with a better attitude than people on the outside working in the same jobs. I asked Randy (one of the administrators) what he attributed that to and after some thought he told me that for most of the guys working in the plant this was the first job that they had ever held and the first thing that they could point to with any pride at all. I also learned that the inmates have to go through a hiring process to get into the program. They have to apply and be interviewed just like they would for a "real" job.

At this stage in the inmates' incarceration most of them aren't given the job hunting training that they will need later, but as they get closer to their release dates this training will be given. I learned a couple of other things about the program that I wish could be addressed. One involves the procurement practices. At present NC is a low bid state which means that the materials that they are purchasing could come from anywhere. I wish they had it set up to be more favorable to NC businesses. I also wish that the operations could expand so that the products made by the inmates could be sold to a wider market. At present these goods can only be sold to the government and not-for-profit organizations like churches, etc. I realize that with the loss of manufacturing jobs in the state this could be some unwelcome competition, but with a little thought I believe that it is a problem that could be overcome.

When you realize that North Carolina's entire Correction Enterprises is totally self-sufficient due to the revenue generated by these products, and when you realize that the recidivism of the inmates involved in the program is 35% lower than the state average, it is hard to understand why anyone would not want to expand the scope of this operation and its market to gainfully employ every inmate whose behavior would allow them to participate. I can envision a scenario that would be profitable to domestic industry and provide enough revenue to make the prisons themselves self-sufficient. It would also generate enough revenue to fund restitution for the inmates and generate a nest-egg that would allow them to get off to a good start when they re-enter society. I'm guessing recidivism numbers would plummet.

You really wouldn't believe all of the products made through Correction enterprises. They make everything from stainless steel serving lines to full color outdoor banners. And if their rules were a little different they could make even more products. So that was my trip to jail.

Saturday I spent the day going through my blog archives and trying to get the labels updated on the posts that I made before such things existed. I got about halfway through the old blogs. I'll wait for another rainy day before I do the last 83.

I also had to do some cooking for two community-based Christmas parties thrown by families in my church. You can check out Conspiracy of Kindness to find out more about this. I made date balls and sausage balls for he parties. They turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Saturday night was band practice for church. That is always a 2 or 2 and 1/2 hour deal. We usually go ahead and set up for the service on Saturday night, which takes 30-45 minutes depending on how many people we have to help. I had thought Saturday night would be a good time to have the practice because we could set up and actually practice with the instruments that we use on Sunday, but it really hasn't turned out that way. By the time that the week is over and we have set up all the equipment, everyone is tired and no one feels like practicing! Oh well, I was trying to save us a night. OK. I say save US a night, but it just ends up saving ME a night. I still end up going over to set up on Saturday night anyway.

Oh yes, I almost forgot, I also wrote an Advent post for the church blog over at Conspiracy of Kindness on Saturday. I can see that trying to keep up with writing an in depth devotion every day between now and Christmas isn't going to be an easy task. If you find that I'm not posting enough over here to keep you satisfied this month, go and check out the other blog. It should have new material every day.

Sunday was church, of course. We had a really good worship time I thought. I really sensed the Lord's presence on the song Consuming Fire. I believe He answered the prayer contained in that song for us Sunday morning.

There must be more than this -
O breath of God come breathe within.
There must be more than this -
Spirit of God, we wait for You.
Fill us anew we pray.
Fill us anew we pray.

Consuming Fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your name!
Spirit of God, fall in this place.
Lord, have Your way,
Lord, have Your way with us.

Come like a rushing wind;
Clothe us with power from on high.
Now set the captives free -
Leave us abandoned to Your praise.
Lord let Your glory fall!
Lord let Your glory fall!

Consuming Fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your name!
Spirit of God, fall in this place.
Lord, have Your way,
Lord, have Your way with us.

Tim Hughes © 2002 Thankyou Music CCLI # 3818569
License # 2647180

Anyway, it was a great service.

Then, just a couple of hours later, the party began. As guitar player for the StillWaters Jazz Band, I had my first gig. It was pretty fun. We were set up on the balcony of my pastor's house playing for the party goers in the living room below. We play a Dixieland New Orleans old school jazz style. It is a lot of fun and my first experience with the style. I have already begun to learn alot and I think that my playing has kicked up a notch or two since we started practicing. I'm still not BB King (a long way from it), but my horizons have definitely broadened. I actually soloed in front of people. What was funny was the solos that I felt the best about when I was practicing were the ones that I totally messed up live, and then I nailed several attempts that I made soloing on songs that I hadn't worked anything up for. Go figure. We have another gig next week.

So, that was my weekend.

Today I got back to work on the old Joomla tutorials. I finished them up and then went looking about to see what else I could find. I did find another tutorial site, but just wasn't in the mood to deal with it right now. So instead I went and looked at template sites. Well, actually site. I found a site that has some professionally designed templates that already look very similar to what I am trying to create. Why re-invent the wheel using my head as the hammer? $50 sounds pretty reasonable right about now to get something that I won't have to fiddle with very much to make it work. Of course, I am not such a great fool as to believe that this will solve all of my problems, but I do hope that it will shorten my development cycle by at least 2 weeks (more likely 2 months.) I would really like to have something marketable by the new year. More and more I realize that is probably an ambitious goal, but you have to have a target or nothing gets done. There is also a 2 hour Joomla seminar going on at the local community college on Thursday that I might check out. Based on what I've seen I can't imagine someone being able to teach me much in 2 hours, but if it is free (or at least cheap) it may be worth the time investment. Every day I'm learning something new!

So that is what's happening in my neck of the woods. Hope everything is going great in yours!

The Least Of These

The past week has been a little disappointing. I had such high hopes for a spiritual feast on Thanksgiving. My heart was so full last Sunday night at the joint Thanksgiving service done by the three local PCA churches that I was eagerly anticipating Thanksgiving Day and some great connection with God. I had even been meditating on some scriptures that the Lord seemed to be bringing to my attention. Yet each day closer to Thanksgiving my soul felt drier and drier - like a turkey baked too long without being basted. In fact, even this morning on my way to church my attitude was so far from where I had hoped that it would be. When the time to worship started I was distracted and mildly frustrated. (Not a good place for the worship leader to be!)

I can't say that things got any better during my part of the service. My guitar strings were buzzing and sounded terrible. I couldn't get it positioned correctly and my arm and hand began to fatigue. It was some rough plowing. Thank God I have a great band behind me. Fortunately things picked up with the pastor's sermon. He has been challenging us as a church to reach out to our neighbors and used as his text the first half or so of Matthew 22.

God has truly called us to a great celebration. His party will blow all other parties away. He even provides everything that we need to be acceptable at His bash, and yet there are so many who refuse to come. Weird. And yet, how guilty are we - the invited - of acting like we are going to be scourged instead of going to a celebration? If we truly believed that God and His reward for us were all that, wouldn't we be eager to tell others? Wouldn't our lives be so full of joy and excitement that others would want to come? And then there are others who try to come but refuse His "party clothes." Thinking about this made me think of some of my loved ones who want to "come to the feast" but don't want to dress according to the code. It makes me shudder for them. Do I say that they aren't saved? I can't make that call, but I can't help but believe that they are in very dangerous waters.

Our church is at a place where I believe that God is calling us to reach out like most of us have never done before. I look at my sister's life and how God has strategically placed her in a neighborhood full of lost folk who love her to death. I look at my own neighborhood and realize that although there are some Christians living around me that there are many who don't know God at all living within a close walk of my house. This is what I am dealing with - breaking the inertia that keeps me from being a good neighbor and friend to the people who live close by. Dealing with the fear of sharing the gospel with anyone. I know it is an absurd fear - most fears are - but it is where I am.

I was talking with my good friend Bruce after the service and we were both feeling kind of low and worn out. We've both been taking a little time in the Lord's crucible lately, and I confessed to him how dry I had been feeling this past week - lonely for the Lord's presence. (Isn't it funny how being lonely for the Lord will often disguise itself as loneliness for other company? But I digress.) He suggested that it was perhaps the enemy's attack. We talked for a little bit longer and in the course of that discussion decided that we should do some servant evangelism together soon. (See Steve Sjogren's book Conspiracy Of Kindness.) As we left the church we passed a car broken down in the middle of the road. I stopped to ask if the guy driving needed help, and he could only answer me in Spanish. I went to park the car and looked up and there was Bruce! He was stopping to help too.

Now you need to understand, I am utterly NOT mechanical. I know next to NOTHING about what is going on under the hood of a car - especially if it isn't doing what it is supposed to be doing. However, Bruce is VERY mechanical. We helped the fellow to get his car out of the road and then Bruce went to work on the car. I used the little Spanish I knew to talk to Carlos and before you knew it Bruce had the car running again! We didn't say a word to Carlos about God or Jesus - I probably could have if I had been in practice - but as we went on our way I felt like I had just touched the Lord's fellowship for the first time in the past seven days. Is it possible that we met the Lord broken down on the road? Matthew 25:40 would seem to indicate that we did.

Perhaps God let me get dry and hungry for His presence so that I would sense it so clearly when I encountered it with Carlos this afternoon. If so, may He not let me forget to seek His presence even amongst "the least of these."

And God, please bless Carlos and help him to learn who You are!