Unbeatable- My friend's new book about her struggle with cancer

While I was in Cleveland last week, my friend Laurie Frey and her husband Don came to hear me speak at Oak River church. At the end of the service, she hands me a signed copy of her just released book called Unbeatable. The book is a VERY honest look into her struggle with stage-3A invasive breast cancer.

Laurie wrote the book after the musical she created of the same name opened in Arizona and Houston. Unbeatable, the musical, is a story of Laurie's yearlong struggle with breast cancer but also a look into her fix-it, control everything personality that affects not just her outlook on the cancer but her relationships as well.

The book takes the story a step further and delves deeper into her issues during her struggle. It really zeroes in on her relationship with Don and her faith. I love how the book has a journal feel to it and how Don responds in his own words about what he was feeling at the time.

I was on staff at NewSong in Cleveland at the time and I turn up in the musical and in the book. I can still remember the day, 5 years ago from last month when Laurie told me that she had cancer. It hit me hard and I instantly felt God-sized compassion. It is interesting to see the events and our interactions through Laurie's eyes in the musical book. She writes about it beginning on page 28. This is right after she got off of the phone with her doctor who told her that she has cancer.

So who could I tell? I had to tell someone. I was heading in the general direction of the church office. Good. That'll do. Mark. Mark was the executive pastor.

We had been friends since he moved to Cleveland, and Don and I served as leaders for the youth group with him and his wife, Stacey. Mark's encouraging. He laughs a lot, he's athletic (I really didn't tell her to put that in), he's a "team" guy and he's encouraging. He's got to be in. He's got to. He is.

"Hey Laurie, what's up? Did I forget a meeting?" He was smiling. Of course he was smiling.

"No, I have breast cancer." Just like that. No plan. No clever phrasing. Right out of the mouth.

Now it was Mark's turn to be frozen in time. I was right there with him. His eyes staring into mine, concern flooding to the edges, mouth open a little.

"Wow." He paused. How long? A second?"... "When did you find out?"

"I just got a call while I was driving. I had a needle biopsy, and the tumor was as hard as a rock, so I thought there was a chance I had cancer. But you just never really think it could be possible."

I remember smiling. Smiling. And there it was. The first tear. Mark hugged me. Not a pastor hug. A brother hug. A truly human hug of another human being.

More moments passed, and I started to pull away, wiping my eyes. His hand was on my shoulder, and he began to pray, "Father God, You know everything that Laurie is facing right now. She needs You. I ask that Your arms come and wrap around her as You comfort her and guide her."

I know he kept praying, but I couldn't remember the words to save my life. I do know that when he was done, I could breathe. I remember breathing.

If you know someone who has gone through cancer (and who doesn't), this is an excellent look inside the world of someone who has been there. Cancer is a devastating disease, but there are stories of amazing inspiration from those who have fought against it. Unbeatable is one of those stories.

And since this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here are some links about unbeatable and how we can beat back cancer.

Unbeatable- the whole story- amazon.com

Unbeatable- the musical

Livestrong- Lance Armstrong Foundation

Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation

Miller Time...out

The schedule has been a little crazy. Will catch up on the blog this week.

But to make it up to you, I have a little gift, actually a re-gift from my brother-in-law. Enjoy.

Our Growing Debt

This is a blurb from an NPR story. The above image was taken just before the numbers grew too large.

It's official, the national debt clock has run out of numbers. The giant sign in New York City changes constantly as the federal debt increases. It was put up years ago by a real estate developer horrified that the debt was approaching $3 trillion. Some years ago, the clock stopped when the U.S. started running a surplus. But now it's running again, and when the debt struck $10 trillion recently, the owners had to improvise an extra number one.

What Would Jesus Say?

The last couple of weeks have shown us what a mixture of greed, fear and panic can do to the world. I was watching CNN at lunch as a famous psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz said that now is the time for everyone to take a step back and reprioritize their lives and ask questions like "what is really important to me?" and "can I live on less?".

The Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune had a front page article about how happiness is not dependent on wealth. It went on to give suggestions on how to have "psychological wealth." They were-

1. Invest in relationships
2. Take care of your physical and mental health
   
3. Embrace spirituality (connect with something bigger than yourself)
   
4. Be engaged (in what you do or find something to fully engage in)
5. Adjust your attitude (it's not about the benjamins)

Great advice, and not really new. It made me wonder "what would Jesus say?" As I have been reflecting on this financial crisis and studied for a couple of messages I've given, I have turned my focus to Jesus' famous sermon on the mount in Matthew 6. It gives us timeless truth about taking a temporal versus eternal perspective on our possessions.

After Jesus teaches us how to pray, he turns to money and anxiety. Cliffnotes on what he says-

1. "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (vs. 20- it's the best return on investment and you can't take money with you)
2. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (vs. 21- He knows that our weakness is consumption which will not last and will wear away at the soul)
3. "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (vs. 22-23- how we view "things" is important. Do we see them as blessings from God to bless others with or more stuff that we need. The former gives light to us, the latter shuts it out causing an eclipse in our hearts.)
4. "You cannot serve both God and Money." (vs. 24- In God we trust? Or is our trust in our bank account?
5. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life" (vs. 26,27- worry does a body BAD and it reveals our lack of trust in God)
   
6. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (vs. 33- it's all his in the first place, we're just taking care of it)

Ancient wisdom for modern living...now this is how to live The Good Life even when times are bad!

Rich Young Ruler

I am speaking tomorrow on consumption as we are in a series called "The Good Life". A few weeks ago Stacey, Raegan and I heard the song "Rich Young Ruler" live by Derek Webb and we can't get it out of our heads. It's been out a while, but with all that is going on in the financial markets, it just hit me fresh. I don't think he has a video on the song, but here is a video someone put together and posted on youtube.

Chicken Soup for the Market

I was in the Cleveland airport yesterday when I checked my phone and saw the news that the bailout had failed and that the Dow had plummeted 777 points, its biggest one day points drop ever. It appeared that ALL stocks were facing the bear. But I learned today that on the S&P 500 (a stock market index made up of 500 large, widely traded stocks), 499 of the companies traded lower. There was 1 lonely stock that gained anything that day...

You guessed it, Campbell's Soup.

It reflects the state of Americans these days- sick. And mom knows that when you're feeling sick, it's time for chicken soup for the weary soul.

So my advice, at least until a deal is hammered out and the market gains some stability...

STOCK up on Campbell's.

Happy Google Birthday

So google turns 10 today. It's hard to remember what life was like before google. The internet was young and yes, there were search engines, but nothing so fast and so "on-the-money" with what I was looking for like google. It took me all of a day to switch my altavista allegiance to google as I was amazed and the speed and accuracy of the new site. Not to mention the "feeling lucky" button that was like some sort of mysterious role of the dice.

I have often wondered what affect google has had on our culture and subcultures. Take the church culture. You can google the meaning of life, any sermon from just about anywhere, blogs, wikipedia, youtube videos, all giving you spiritual information that 10 years ago would mean a trip to the library and a LOT of work. Now, it is all "just a click away". How does that change the way sermons are communicated? Or teaching about God? Spiritual formation? Does it confuse people to search and find so much information? Or does it help them on their spiritual journey?

And the same type of questions can be applied across the spectrum from politics to sports to education to finance to family, friend and dating connections etc. The only thing we know for sure is that life was a LOT different before Larry Page and Sergey Brin started their search page with a funny name 3650 days ago. Happy birthday google.

Am I in the Fastest city AND the most Stressful city?

So according to Fast Company magazine, the fastest city (which is their way of saying "coolest" city) in America is... Chicago.

And according to Forbes magazine, the most stressful city (no explanation needed) in America is... Chicago.

I guess that with fastness comes stress.

All of a sudden I feel my heart racing... /\__/\__/\/\/\/\/\_____




note- To be fair, I am in the chicagoland burbs...so I'm a bit removed from the urban jungle.

Palin to Meet World Leaders, Bono

This is the headline from abcnews.com and a variety of other news sites. World leaders AND Bono! They don't even mention the world leader's names or countries. Has there ever been an entertainer with more political influence than Bono? Not in my lifetime. Politicians all make their pilgrimage to see him for their pre-election photo op. Maybe U2 becomes the official band of the U.N. or the world...

Good thought for the day

My post yesterday seemed a little gloomy. So how do I sleep at night with such thoughts? It's all about perspective. I read these verses this morning from Psalm 46 and it was a great reminder...

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah (pause and think about it)

Social Networking and the Demise of Western Society as we Know it

So I am watching oil jump $25 a barrel today AND watching the market tumble again AND hearing that our deficit is going to soar to $15,000,000,000,000 because of these bailouts AND THEN I hear about the gas shortage in the eastern US and how there was a "run" on the gas stations. How does the last one relate?

It makes me wonder if our current financial crisis might be worsened by how interconnected we are. Here is my not so rosy scenario. Much like what happened to United Airlines when some website published an old story that said they were filing for bankruptcy (just a couple of weeks ago) and their stock plummetted, what if there is some misinformation that hits a website- something about banks failing, your money isn't safe etc...This then is texted, instant messaged, facebooked, emailed etc. instantly to family and "friends" everywhere. Then the financial "run" begins. Last one to the bank is a rotten egg.

My comments are not really about the likelihood of this happening, but more about how our interconnectivity (which I enjoy) could also hasten the anxiety, paranoia and even panic that could have a chilling effect. I was talking with a friend of mine in the marketing industry who says that they can tell simply by internet chatter what is happening in the world. There are waves of conversation that you can digitally view by plugging into search engines (or big brother). They say that there are spikes in the conversations where they can tell something happened and that people responded in turn. So, we act in waves, based on circumstances. The waves can be positive or negative. My friend tries to harness these digital waves to raise awareness for good causes. These same waves could be used to spur panic.

My hope (I am an optimist) is that there will be enough level-headed and good natured people to speak truth and hope to counteract fear and panic. And that's really how it is with any tool or communication device etc., they're only as good and/or bad as the ones using them.

My ESPN Moment

So this weekend I will be officiating a wedding of two good friends from my Cleveland days. The groom works for ESPN and decided to have some fun with what he calls a "screen shot". I spoke to them about how they can't blow my average on marriages, I'm batting 1.000. Of course that was a playful way of saying "I'm not kidding around when I have you repeat your vows".

So here is the graphic he came up with.

PS- the sermons stat was his idea

Storytelling and the Election

Storytelling has been a big part of the election campaign so far. For all of the talk about tax cuts, the war and health care, personal stories have played as big of a part as policies. Here are a few sentences from some stories on the trail...

"And with his sandal on the dirt in the courtyard, he drew a cross. And he stood there, and a minute later he rubbed it out and walked away. For a minute there, there was just two Christians worshiping together. I'll never forget that moment."

"Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story -- of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well off or well known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to."

"My mom and dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town. And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity."

Personal stories humanize the candidates. It takes them from talking heads to real people who have real families, real problems. And with an emerging generation that resonates more with hollywood than politics, stories more than ever speak the language of culture. In settings where the candidates get to go beyond a sound bite, like the conventions or the faith forum, they have a chance to connect on a much more intimate, relevant level.

The LA Times did a nice piece on the story factor in the election called...

In Campaign 2008, the story's the thing

.

Palin and Pentecostals

A few weeks back I noticed a status update from one of my facebook "friends". It was from George Wood who is the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God. In an effort to stay connected with the emerging generation, he solicited friends on facebook who had roots in this tradition. His status said that "George is back in the USA, and excited that Sarah Palin, who attends an AG church in Alaska, has been selected to run as VP. Congratulations!" which was partially right. This was August 30th, and I knew at that time that this would mean a media magnifying glass would be aimed at the AG.

And good or bad, the AG has never received so much national press. The first of many stories had Governor Palin quickly making it clear that she no longer attends an AG church. Several network shows pulled out their stock footage of people speaking in tongues (not sure why any church would let tv cameras in to video this- it just looks weird and is an invasion of privacy), people waving banners around while they do the holy ghost hop to some old time religion music and then of course you have to see the token bodies hitting the floor after the tv preacher gives them the forehead slap. NPR interviewed my friend Margaret Poloma from Akron U about whether we should be worried about Pentecostals' end-time views and Palin's ability to lead this country, to which she replied that "yes, there is cause to worry." Even Christianity Today had a home page link to a story, All You Need to Know About Pentecostals. I'm waiting for someone at a town forum to ask her what her policy on snake handling is.

While I am the first to admit that Pentecostals and the AG have many issues that need to be addressed, I find myself defensive of the movement that I grew up in. When you remove the critical stereotypes, you find a movement of people who believe that God is not a distant force, but as close as a prayer. You find people who desire more of God through his holy presence. They want to experience God in every way possible. And you find people dedicated to the great commission, a cause bigger than themselves (estimates have 500 million people worldwide who identify with Penteocostals/Charismatics- with potential of 1 billion by the middle part of the century). And with the AG, there is a belief in the sovereignty of the local church which means that every church is unique. While some churches handle snakes, some wave banners, some stir up revival fires etc., many do not. In fact, many are shocked to see how they are depicted on television.

But this political climate has had this effect on faith in general; it has brought out the best and the worst. Rick Warren's faith forum was an example of showing faith in a positive light. Jeremiah Wright, John Hagee, misinformation about Obama's religious backgrounds and George W. Bush's unpopularity (while being cozy with evangelicals) are examples of showing faith in a negative light. And since Palin is such an unknown, Pentecostals have been caught in the jetwash of scrutiny.

The magnifying glass will soon be removed and what's left will be a continued tension between the media and people of faith. Maybe that's the truest "status update" of all.

Football Fantasy

I like football. To me it's just a feeling I get every fall that is hard to describe. Going home after church on Sunday, you eat a bite, then retire to the couch and hopefully see a good game.

I have many football memories...

• Going with my dad to the freezer bowl in 1982 where it was -55 degrees below zero to watch the Bengals advance in the playoffs (something that will probably not happen again in my lifetime...the Bengals in the playoffs I mean)
• Watching Montana twice crush our dreams, once with 34 seconds left...I had my heart ripped out from San Francisco (would make a great song)
• Moving to Cleveland and watching with delight as the hated Browns had to leave the city, only to later root for the lowly Browns who had a fresh start with new owners. note-still root for the Bengals if they play head-to-head.
• Moving to Chicago just in time to cheer them in the superbowl.

And my final memory is being "forced" to join a fantasy football league as a prerequisite for me joining the Life Church staff. I like the game, just not that much. I don't check the stats on my cell phone. I don't pour over the waiver wire. I don't have every game beamed to me simultaneously so I can keep up with my players. And I will never root against my team even if it means my player will do poorly.

No, I set my roster once a week, tweak it maybe here or there, then grab my spot on the couch and watch my game while my little ones climb all over me. And at the end of the season, I'll take my ribbings for being the last place team again. And it's ok, cause it's just football, and I like it...just not that much.

Praying Against the AIDS Pandemic

Last night I had the privilege of being asked to introduce the Prayer and Worship night and Princess Zulu which capped off a week of World Vision's AIDS Experience here in the western suburbs. Below is my intro.

Tonight we are coming together from many different traditions around some simple truths- that there is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

We are one body staring in the face of one great human tragedy, the pandemic of AIDS that has devastated our neighbors across this globe of ours.

The numbers are staggering- 8,000 people die every day because of AIDS. AIDS has created 15 million orphans worldwide, 11 million in Africa alone.

But the good news is that we are called to one hope and that is what this gathering is about…hope.

Tonight we stand united in prayer that God will intervene on behalf of those struggling with this disease. That he will awaken the church to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who scripture tells us was moved with compassion to bring a touch and healing to the hurting, the afflicted, the outcast.

Tonight we stand united in worship to sing praise to our sovereign God of compassion, love, mercy and justice. We worship him knowing that he alone can bring change and healing to this world as we are simply instruments of his peace.

Tonight we stand united to not simply come to a feel good service or an experience that breaks our hearts. But we stand united to develop compassion permanence that will move us to action to make a tangible and lasting difference in the battle against AIDS.

And we have with us a woman that knows all too well about the tragedy of the AIDS pandemic. Princess Kasune Zulu has not simply watched this tragedy unfold in her native country of Zambia, she has been personally touched when she was orphaned as a result of AIDS and finding out that she too is HIV positive. Her life now is committed to do everything she can to fight the disease.

Because of her tireless efforts, she now speaks around the world to encourage people to make a difference for children and families affected by the virus. She has taken her message to the United Nations, international AIDS conferences, the national political conventions, to President George Bush and other global leaders.

Her story is powerful and her message is clear, we must all do something to turn the tide.

7 years- still fresh

Stacey and I were reflecting this morning about the phone call I made to her 7 years ago. I had arrived at the office in Cleveland Heights and Andrea Mitchell, who was our Administrative Assistant at the time, said that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I told her to turn on the radio and then I called Stacey to see if she could check the cable news for any information.

What a beautiful morning it was. Cool, crisp and clear. I checked my email and was preparing my to do list for the day when Andrea said that there had been a second crash into the building. At that moment, everything stopped. We knew- everyone knew. This was not good. Later that day my mother and father-in-law would take a walk and watch Flight 93 do a major 180 degree turn in the Cleveland sky. There was a nervous tension about everything and so many unanswered questions. What was this attack about? Who was behind it? How many people were in the buildings? How big was this attack? Should we get Raegan out of school? Should I stay at the office or go where I wanted to go-home?

The answers to these questions would slowly unfold over the next several minutes, hours, weeks and years. And so now we look back 7 years ago...7 years! Osama is still out there. A man with a name that rhymes with Osama is looking like he will be President. We've invaded two countries, set up secret prisons around the world, been embarrassed by Abu-ghraib. And we've had no other major terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Iran is now a serious new threat. Oil is the other serious threat. A lot has changed and unchanged in 7 years, some lessons learned, many not.

But for now, we simply take a moment and reflect on that one blue-skied morning 7 years ago when the world as we know it changed forever.

Serenity Prayer for a Wired addiction

OK, so maybe I'm not an addict...wait a minute, that's just what addicts say. I need help...

Actually, I decided to power WAY down on internet time this past week or so. I was simply feeling a little too Wired. So, I took time off of facebook and didn't post a status update. And I decided to only post one blog for the week.

What would happen? Would I have curious people wondering what I was doing at that specific moment but unable to find out? Would some feel slighted that I didn't comment on their just posted picture of their creepy Uncle Festus? Would I be inundated with people asking for me to turn my status back on, to just eek out a word or two on my blog to get through another day? Would time as we know it stop?

No, no, no and no... I did receive a wallpost from a friend on facebook wondering if I was OK since I hadn't posted a status update. And that was pretty much it.

It seems that time actually continued to move forward, the earth continued to spin on it's axis and my facebook friends and blog reader(s) didn't skip a beat. And I actually felt a little more productive and fully engaged in other areas. Imagine that. So, if you are one of those people who feel a bit too wired right now, turn off your computer...it's ok...you can do it, and now do something unplugged, unwired and unpredictable. The internet will still be there when you turn your computer back on and the world will continue to spin while your off. And in the meantime, say this prayer...

God grant me the serenity
to accept that the world will still function if I go offline;
the courage to shut down my computer;
and the wisdom to know the difference between an internet "friend" and a real one.

Amen!

The Facebook Election

When George W. Bush won reelection in 2004, facebook was only in it's infancy and available exclusively to Ivy league campuses. Oh what a difference four years can make. In April of this year, Facebook took over the top spot of social networking websites, knocking MySpace from it's throne. The latest figures lists facebook with 132 million unique users and is growing at a blistering 150% clip annually.

Facebook has changed the definition of a "friend" and has been a conversation catalyst for unlikely connections. The water cooler is no longer just down the hall, it's now easily around the globe. And a Presidential election has never seen the likes of this social networking phenomenon. People are "superpoking" each other by "throwing an Obama". Many are publicly declaring their voting preference for the world to see by displaying "Mccain" flair (a fake button you can place on your home page)or joining a group that supports one of the candidates.

And I have to wonder how this new commmunication frontier will effect the election. Obviously the different campaigns will do all that they can to exploit these sites. But what does it mean for the average facebook user. Will they be more informed? Will they have some of their assumptions challenged? Will they become shocked to find out who their friends are supporting or leaning towards?

What I have observed is that there are many of the same polarizing arguments and talking points with quicker comebacks thanks to google. And while the dialogue and arguments may still be similar to the past, the ability to join a conversation and engage in a spirited dialogue has never been better. Things are only getting heated up in this first Facebook Election and I'm looking forward to observing it...and throwing an occasional Palin.

Today Let's All Salute Mr. Grocery Store Cart Wrangler

My New Orleans Memories

It was a year ago that a group of us made the trek straight south from Chicago to New Orleans to work with the Mennonite Disaster Services, an impressive organization targeting long-term disaster relief (a huge need). Their motto is "responding, rebuilding, restoring."

We were assigned to build a home for a pastor (Charlie) who lost everything in Katrina and Rita. It was in a fishing area on the peninsula.

As we approached New Orleans, you could tell that a lot of new construction had been done and on the surface things looked OK. Then we exited the highway ramp and moved into the neighborhoods and we began to see that all was not OK in the Big Easy. Entire blocks were simply gone or had a few dilapidated houses with the signature numbers on them. It was an eerie feeling as you drove through these ghost town that were now overgrown with weeds and dirt with potholes that were literally craters. I counted over 30 blocks of this...it was mind-blowing, something out of an apocalyptic movie.

We talked with one man who cried as he remembered the fear that he felt during that season. He decided to stay after Katrina to help people rebuild, but it took it's toll. He spoke of still having nightmares and fearing every rain storm. The anxiety was high then as I'm sure it is now.

Many ask the question "why should we keep building in an area that is at or below sea level?" I ask the same question, but I met one man who gave me a bit of perspective. He was quite the character with a quick wit and a thick New Orleans accent. He said that he had suffered from a bad bout of depression since Katrina and that Pastor Charlie had help to pull him through. He also said that his roots go back to French descendants who settled in the area some 400 years. He said, "I have a relationship with this land that most people don't understand. And to move would be more than just a simple relocation. It would be asking me to divorce this place that is all that I have ever known. It's all that my family for generations has known. And then he proceeded to name off his descendants going all the way back to the Frenchmen." He shared his story with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat.

It didn't clear up my doubts, but it helped me to understand the people of New Orleans and how hard it is for them to give up on something so dear to them.

Please pray for Charlie and his new home that was meticulously built to hurricane standards with loving hands from Christian brothers and sisters from all over world (literally). And please pray for the people of New Orleans that they would be safe and protected from Gustav's fury.

UPDATE- Obviously Gustav was not Katrina. Thank God for sparing this region more heartbreak.

Follow the Leader- The Message

Cliffnotes of last Sunday's talk-

Context- A big portion of this last half of the letter Acts is about Paul being imprisoned. Paul’s friends told him not to go to Jerusalem because of the danger. And Paul shrugs it off and goes anyway. And sure enough, he’s in danger. He finds himself in a familiar setting, being arrested for the umpteenth time and getting beat up for the umpteenth time. Paul is one bad Man (and by bad, I mean tough, courageous, tenacious... the original "Go ahead, make my day" Clint Eastwood).

And surprise, Paul causes an uproar... for what? Speaking the message. It gets so bad that we read in Acts 23:12-

12The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14They went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here."
~Acts 12-15

So 40+ men turn assassin and make a pact to not eat or drink until they have killed the Paul. They will not eat or drink until this man is dead, until the message is stamped out once and for all.

The message is intimidating to darkness. The message is powerful. Let's treat it as such.

A Moment to Celebrate

Putting aside political leanings, last night was an historic night. Watching an African-American accept the nomination to be President of the U.S. on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech was a moving experience. And I thought John Mccain's congratulatory ad was a class act.

One of the most moving parts were the cutaway shots of African-Americans watching the speech. The older ones in tears, thinking they would be lowered into the grave before they witnessed something like this. The younger ones with smiles and hopeful expressions on their faces. But it was a day for all Americans and Christians in particular, who are called to the ministry of reconciliation, to peace, to love and grace to take a moment and celebrate a milestone.

Like Mccain's ad said, "Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it. But tonight senator, job well done." I think we can all say amen to that.

UPDATE!! We are also able to celebrate John Mccain's pick as well. This will ensure that we will either have the first woman or an African-American to serve at the Executive level. Wow!

Targeted Creativity

So we finally got our Target Retotes. A few weeks back Target ran an ad in NewsWeek where you take the cover off of the magazine, tape it and then fill it with Target bags and send it in to them. They will then take the bags and recycle those into totes. Send it in and you will get one free. We did and we love...

Love the creativity. Love the recycling.

Another Right of Passage

I had never thought about what my parents were feeling when they said goodbye to me as I headed off for my first day of high school...until now.

Today I took my oldest to high school for the first time. I felt in many ways like I did when I first showed up at Colerain High School in 198...., a mixture of fear and excitement. I didn't anticipate as a parent that you relive many of your childhood moments as your kids are living them in real time (the good, the bad and the ugly).

And so three members of the Miller household find themselves at a new right of passage- going to high school and being a proud parent of a high schooler. I dropped her off in front of East High, watched her walk slowly up the sidewalk and open the big doors into another world. And as I drove away, I said a prayer.

UPDATE- She survived with only minor damage (2 blisters on her feet to be exact). Other than that, it was a good day.

Sonic BLISS

Yes, it happened. Raegan and I had a daddy/daughter date to celebrate her move to high school. We started by going to her school to map out her schedule route. After about 2 hours of walking, walking, walking and (you get the picture), we were famished and the only cure for this condition...

SONIC!

Our first Chicago Sonic experience since Chicago is sans Sonic. We didn't get the full experience of eating in the car since there was still a wait to do that. But the sunny and 78 degree weather had us sitting outside on the Sonic patio. But come to think of it, is it the food or the car eating that makes Sonic, well, Sonic? Or is it both? Hmmm.

We then picked up a little happy for Raegan and headed home to see our friend Mickie who is stopping through on her way to LA. Fun with my daughter, a satisfied stomach and reconnecting with a friend. Monday grade- A+

Miller Time Re:wind

It's time to take stroll down memory lane this past week and reminisce about all of the things that were brewing...

Stacey's 20 Year Reunion-

• Here she got to answer many of the important, deep questions of the past 10 years- who's gained the most weight, who's lost their hair, who went under the knife, who's still alive?

The Painting Olympics-

• Did well in the 20' x 9' sidewall, but had some difficulty on the parallel walls. Finished however with a gold medal given to me by some tall, beautiful brunette.

Lexicon Additions and uses-

• Cone of Silence- "I can't hear you, I'm in a cone of silence."
  
• Phelpsian- "Your bedroom painting skills are Phelpsian."
  
• Obama-Biden - "Obama-Biden = Ebony-Ivory"
  
• Bolted- "You just got bolted in your '93 Ford Escort wagon."

Favorite Read of the Week-

• Os Guiness book, The Case for Civility: And why our future depends on it- how we can agree to disagree
  

Favorite Screenings of the Week-

• Phelps...enough said.
  
• The Dark Knight- a bit disturbing, especially Batman's hoarse/gravely voice.
• Rick Warren's Faith Forum- Mccain A-, Obama B+
  

Passage that I was Chewing on-

• Acts 23:12- where 40 men made a pact not to eat or drink until they had killed the apostle Paul. Will speak on this tomorrow at Life Church... the dangerous word.
  

Most Pressing Question Heading into Next Week-

• How to treat Olympic withdrawal

Looking Forward to in the Coming Week-

• Daddy/daughter date with Raegan on Monday
• Raegan starts Senior High/Ramsay starts kindergarten- wow...
  

The evolution of a duvet cover

So it starts with this, "Mark, I found this duvet cover that's normally $800,000 at Anthropologie, but I got it for only $20." "That's amazing," I reply.

3 pillows
4 gallons of paint
spackle
sandpaper
rollers
tape
5 days
and 1 sore back later... we have a painted bedroom.

Sonic BOOM!

Well it has happened, a Sonic fast-food restaurant has opened just 5 minutes from our house. I believe it is the first one in the Chicagoland area (at least in our part of that area).

So Curt Hughes and family invited us to meet them at the Sonic for a greasy slice of heaven. We get there and are greeted with orange cones and a uniformed Sonic man informing us that the wait to get into the Sonic is two hours! Then he directs us to an adjacent parking lot with many, many more cones and some sort of double-laned madness with idling cars lined up as far as the eye could see burning a whole in the ozone directly over our heads!

The discussion in our car turned quickly to a cost-benefit analysis. Just what is a Sonic burger worth in waiting time? We decided that 15 minutes is appropriate. Then I started thinking of wait-time analysis and came up with the following...

• Skyline chili (a Cincinnati tradition)- 30 minutes
• Deep Dish Chicago pizza (especially if we are in the mood for it) - 40 minutes
• Chik Fil-A (there are none in Chicago!) - 18 1/2 minutes
  
• Ruth's Chris Steakhouse- 1 hour
• Spago's (never been but wolfgang is supposed to be the man)- 1 hour 15 minutes

And that's it. I can't think of any restaurant or food that could justify two hours of waiting...especially in a car with three children (God love 'em). Can you?

So we wait a few weeks until its 15 minutes of fame is up and our 15 minutes of waiting time begins.

Training up the next generation

Had a great time unveiling our developmental model for our Life Church parents on Sunday. It's a model that I developed with a friend while at NewSong in Cleveland.

We developed the model out of frustration that most children and youth curriculum and programs, while age-appropriate, had no comprehensive template to address their psycho-social development. Because of this, we miss out on addressing and celebrating the various stages of growth and maturity that young people will go through.

We want to help our young people to...

• Follow Jesus and commit to his ways
• Develop servant's hearts
• Develop Godly habits
• Learn the beauty of interdependence in the body of Christ
  

In the childhood stages, the children move through three specific stages that culminate in our soon-to-be-launched 5th and 6th grade ministry that is our commitment and commissioning stage. At this stage we will help them with identity issues, talk to them about what a commitment is and share with them 4 specific commitments we want them to consider. The final piece to this ministry is an incredible weekend away that celebrates their coming of age. My daughter went through this and it is an emotional and touching ceremony an celebration.

In the high school years we found that young people emerge in the same three stages as children but this time in the context of adolescence. Here we reinforce the commitments but this time in the context of community. The goal during these years is to ultimately move our young people towards interdependence as it is spelled out in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26.

We have a great team of people who are committed to our children and youth and are fired up about implementing the model. And yes, I have 3 very good reasons (see profile) to make this happen. It was a fun day and we are looking forward to our September launch.

The Purpose-Driven Debate

I don't want to focus much energy on politics unless it affects issues of justice, but I can't pass up an opportunity to comment on an event that brought faith and politics together in a creative forum. Rick Warren strikes again by revealing what the debates have lacked- civil discourse. He not only asked them questions that no other journalists would dare ask, he also used the opportunity to educate people on scripture and some of the justice issues facing all of us. I particularly like the way that he brought to the forefront the plight of the 148 million orphans (although I thought the number was 143 million). If you haven't seen it, I would encourage you to take the time. I have embedded part 1, you'll have to go to cnn.com for part 2 and beyond.

My quick Miller Time takes-

• Loved Warren's balance between their faith and their policies relating to issues of faith.
  
• I was very surprised at how relaxed Mccain was. And I was also surprised how well he did. He showed that we love stories, and he loves to tell them.
• I thought that Barack did well but I felt that his answers seemed to highlight his lack of experience. Mccain's one word answers were clear, concise and played to his strength of someone who has experience and is a straight talker.
• Best moment for Obama- "Matthew tells us whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me." He not only brings scripture into play, but he speaks to the heart of the christian message.
  
• Best Mccain moment- He had several and most of them were from stories (surprise). His story about the Christmas Day celebration outside of his cell where a prison guard drew a cross into the dirt was powerful. He said "For a moment, we were just two Christians worshiping there." It reminds us of what he has sacrificed for our country (something that I think will resonate with all generations) and it speaks to how the cross unifies (another core theme).
  
• Worst moment for Obama- (when asked about his view of abortion- "Whether you are looking at it from a theological or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade." That seemed slick and not authentic. A president must know where he stands on this issue and to be clear about his or her view. I understand the issue is complex, but you can't dodge it.
  
• Worst moment for Mccain- In response to what rich is, he says "$5 million" while Obama said "$250,000". Even if Mccain was being flippant, it was not a good sound bite.

My overall grades-

Warren - A

Mccain - A-

Obama- B+

My bucket list to 40

Celebrating with my friend and partner in the God Squad, Curt Hughes. Curt turned 40 today. Curt was kind of a marker for me because he turns 40 2 months before I do. I didn't have to start thinking about my forties until Curt turned 40. Well... it's here. So I'm now thinking. 40... Hmmmm.

Since I'm now terminal and there is nothing I can do about this, I think I need a bucket list of things to do before I turn 40. I've got 2 months. I've got a blank yellow sheet of paper and I'm starting to write.

Miller's Going for Olympic gold

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We've caught the fever and we've entered the "rhythmic" category looking for some Olympic gold. We'd like to thank our sponsors Jovan Musk and Little Debbie snack cakes. Without them, this moment would not be possible.

Go USA.

note: facebookers will have to go to http://markmiller.blogspot.com for this to make any sense.

The AIDS Experience

I met with some very cool people from First Pres. in Glen Ellyn. Steve and Jocelyn are spearheading the effort to bring World Vision's AIDS Experience to our area September 6-14. It is a very creative and impacting experiential walk through the crisis in Africa.

And make no mistake, it is a crisis. The numbers are staggering. An estimated 22 million adults and children were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of last year, 2007. During that year, an estimated 1.5 million Africans died from AIDS. The epidemic has left behind some 11.6 million orphaned African children.

Life Church is partnering with neighboring churches using the AIDS Experience to help educate people on this crisis. I'm convinced that the church really is the answer for this issue. The root problem with AIDS in Africa is ignorance. Many myths and superstitions persist that have created a climate for sexual abuse and promiscuity which has led to the crisis. At the same time, there are a great number of Africans coming to faith in Jesus. We need to treat the symptoms as well as the cause. Through proper equipping, assistance and prayer, we can make a difference.

Africa too is our neighbor (see Luke 10).

Beijing through the cracked lens of Dave Barry

Dave Barry is one of my heroes. He's a comic writing legend. And he is on fire in Beijing providing regular updates. For a taste of the games with a sense of humor, here's a bite and a link thanks to my sis (Debra Ferguson)...

Dave Barry: It's not the destination, it's the journey

By Dave Barry


BEIJING — Here's how you get around Beijing.First you go to the hotel front desk, which will be staffed by 17 people. This is one of the nice things about China: There are always plenty of people around to help. For example: In some men's rooms, there are attendants whose sole function, as far as I can tell, is to direct you to the urinals. You walk in, and there's a guy, and he makes this gesture toward the urinals, which are roughly two feet away, his point being, "Here are the urinals." And no, you do not tip him.

But getting back to the topic: When you get to the hotel front desk, the 17 people gather around and frown thoughtfully while you tell them where you want to go. Usually they have never heard of it. So they talk among themselves, make some phone calls, talk some more. You of course understand none of this conversation, because you are a clueless western idiot...

For more, click HERE. You won't be disappointed.

Our Perfect Season

It takes a special group of guys and the right set of circumstances to accomplish the elusive perfect season. I have played softball for 24 years and I've never seen one. Until now.

Last night, under a canopy of stars, the unbelievable became reality... Life Church finished 0-12.

We began with the same mission as the church- to pray, love and serve our community. And that is exactly what we did. Last night we served and served and served the other team, until they simply got too tired to run the bases any more. But in true form, our team would not let them rest. Rather than doing things that could discourage them, like catching the ball and throwing it to the right base, we graciously put our egos on hold and allowed them a few more "insurance" runs.

And then it was over. Like a captain deciding that he must go down with his ship, Curt turned a simple fielder's choice into a double-play. The circle was complete, the dream realized... the perfect season was finally ours.

No asterisks here, we did it the old-fashioned way, we earned it. Some would want to call it quits and go out on "top", but we'll be back next year with our new goal in mind- defending our record of futility.

Olympic fever

I'll confess it, I have Olympic fever. And the only prescription is MORE Michael Phelps!

I'm amazed at how into the Olympics I get every four years. Stacey and I were jumping up and down as the US defeated France in the 4 man 100 meter relay. It brought back some memories for me. I can still remember how cool it was that I had the same first name as Mark Spitz, Mary Lou Retton scoring a 10, the first US Dream Team trouncing everyone, Jesse Owens running for... OK, not that old.

But what a needed break from the Presidential campaign. Americans get to breathe a collective sigh of relief and come together to show a bit of unified patriotism. Of course, it will be back to the normal bickering etc. in a few days, but let's enjoy it while we can.

Fictional Wisdom- Fear and Courage

As I said in an earlier post, I think Jesus might be a reader of fiction.

A recent fictional read for me was Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow. It's historical fantasy with a protagonist named Helikaon who is a warrior and a leader. While I find it hard to identify with a Dardanian prince sailing the oceans, I did identify with something in the character that all of us wrestle with, fear. Here is a moving scene in the book where Odysseus, an older mentor, is telling Helikaon (his boyhood name was Aeneas) about the relationship between fear and courage. Tragedy had struck the boy when his mother died and he was paralyzed with fear, but Odysseus believed that there was a warrior inside of him that simply needed encouragement.

Odysseus moved away from the cliff edge and sat down on a grassy bank. "There is no courage without fear, Aeneas. A man who rushes into battle fearlessly is not a hero. He is merely a strong man with a big sword. An act of courage requires the overcoming of fear." Raising his hand, palm outward, he instructed the boy to do likewise. Then he reached out and pressed his palm to the boy's. "Push against my hand," he said. Aeneas did so. Odysseus resisted the push. "Now, this is how courage and fear work, lad. Both will always be pushing. They are never still." Dropping his hand, he looked out over the sea. "And a man cannot choose to stop pushing. For if he backs away, the fear will come after him and push him back another step and then another. Men who give in to fear are like kings who trust in castles to keep out enemies rather than attacking them on open ground and scattering them. The enemies camp around the castle, and now the king cannot get out. Slowly his food runs out, and he discovers the castle is not a very safe place to be. You built a castle in your mind. But fear seeped through gaps in the walls, and now there is nowhere else to hide..."

When I was interning, an older man said to me "fear is the greatest motivater in the world." Too many are controlled by it. The story of Aeneas reminds us that we must not run from or hide from our fear. Courage flies in the face of fear and is the only real way to overcome it.

Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.
~Psalm 27:3 (NLT)

Olympic-sized observations

Wow. Let the games begin! China brought it's 'A' game to the opening ceremony. We watched it with our neighbor kids who are Chinese. They made a point of telling us that all of the toys at our house are made in China. This was the first Olympics that our Ramsay can remember. She was doing some serious ballet during the dancing parts. And Rowan wasn't even born yet at the Athens games. She was singing some serious karaoke in her pink tu tu.

Here were a few observations while we were watching. What were your thoughts??

• Favorite ceremony parts- the footprint fireworks, the 2008 drummers, the printing press boxes, the scroll, the progressive canvas art piece, the running man and the olympic ring fireworks (how scared was that guy?).
• Any doubts about this being the Chinese century were eliminated.
• How come other countries can celebrate their faith along with the rest of the world but the west cannot?
  
• Bob Costas is the best commentary period. He should do every awards show.
• What were the Hungarian designers thinking?? Ouch.
• I was pleased with the reception that the Americans received. A little surprised actually.
• Stacey commented "very Ralph Lauren" about the American outfits before she knew they were Ralph Lauren...such a fashionista.
  
• How can the Chinese women wave for 3 straight hours!
• Was surprised at how many countries I had never heard of. Djibouti?
  
• Was it just me or was Yao Ming literally twice the size of the next tallest Chinese athlete?
  
• What would have happened had one of the torches gone out? Do they start the whole trek around the world over?
• Amazed at the 3600 hours of coverage this year. This is the DSL olympics.
  
• Chicago 2016 baby!! And we're glad we're not London in 2012!!
  

Happy

Out of the mouth of babes- part 1

Kids say things in such a way that cause us to look at life from a different angle. Out of the mouth of babes will be my attempt to capture that moment and hopefully share with you some thoughts on life from 42 inches and below.

Avoiding work

Stacey said to Ramsay, our five year old, "you need to talk to daddy about what other things you need to pick up."

Ramsay's reply, "Um mom, I'm not a talker."

Are our kids growing up too fast?

Not known for prudishness, Newsweek has an article asking this question. The article is from a book called So Sexy So Soon that confirms what we know, media images and marketing campaigns encourage youth to be "sexy ". As a father of three girls, age 14, 5 and 2, this topic is close to my parental heart.

I was reminded of this issue this past week when Stacey was telling me how difficult it is to find a bathing suit or tank top for our oldest daughter that isn't too revealing. It seems that there is a push for our kids to reveal more at earlier ages. Are these designers and retailers with an agenda or are they merely reflecting the trends and desires of the mainstream? While we could debate this one with some serious Christian zeal, the better questions are "how do we protect and teach our kids about these issues?"

After much prayer, Stacey and made the decision to send our children to public schools. And while I am told that there is just as much temptation for private schooled and home schooled children, I know that our girls will come face-to-face with values that contradict ours. Here are a couple of things that we have decided to do to help along this journey. Obviously many of these apply to our oldest, but we are establishing the same guidelines for all of our girls.

1. We are very aware of what our kids read, watch, listen to etc. This is a delicate balancing act of protecting some privacy while being aware.
2. When they go to someone else's house, to the best of our ability, we will meet the parents first.
3. Stacey is an active partipant in the shopping decisions. And yes, she enjoys this.
   
4. We leave the channels wide open. If one of our children asks about something, we will talk about it. No topic is off limits. We don't avoid it or say "we'll talk about that when you are older." This pause might let the imagination run free. We want to shape the thought before curiosity take over and want our children too know that the home is the safe place to talk about it. We work had at not reacting when we here something come out of their mouths. In the Newsweek article, they talk about asking more questions before responding. Children may say the word "sex" but they really mean "kissing". So don't boldly go where you haven't before until you know you need to.
5. We try our best in our words to reinforce that sex is a good thing- IN MARRIAGE. This reinforces that we take our cues from God and that his word says that sex is reserved for marriage. Some friends of ours who are not people of faith have already given up on the idea that there kids will not have sex before marriage and they were surprised that we thought that our kids could show restraint. I don't want to ever give up on trusting our children to choose the right path and the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom at the moment of decision.
6. We learn from other parents who have been here already.
   
7. We pray and pray and pray some more.

We are still learning, still growing in this area. Our children are too valuable and the price is to high for us to not take this seriously.

6 degrees of missions

So it appears that 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon was off by ".6". The small world theory has been around for a while. It is the idea that you can connect any two people on the planet by 6 people. This gave rise to the game 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon which took this idea and applied it to movie stars.

And now Microsoft has it's own calculations to conclude that the 6 degrees theories was pretty close to dead on. Microsoft researchers Eric Horvitz and Jure Leskovec looked at over 30 billion conversations over Microsoft Messenger in June 2006. These messages represented about 180 million people in the world. Horvitz told the Washington Post, "What we're seeing suggests there may be a social connectivity constant for humanity."

I like this theory because it makes global issues much "closer to home". The smaller the world, even if it is simply psychological, makes missions much more personal. The tribe in Africa or the village in Cambodia or the people group in Peru that we have been praying for is just under 7 people from your very doorstep.

Creative Action from TED

Yesterday I wrote about developing creative action to address justice issues. One example of this is a man who has taken U.N. data and used it to show us how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. The petabyte age is upon us. This is such a creative use of data. And now we need to find creative ways to act on the data. Thanks to Ade for sending this on.

God + Justice + Us

Enjoyed day 2 of the Orchard. Scott, Terri, Chris and Mike and company made me feel like part of the family. And I was very excited to hear about the 100++ people who will be baptized next week at their baptism and bbq. Some cool stuff happening at The Orchard.

My talk was on The Great Debaters. Specifically, it was about our responsibility as followers of Jesus to work towards justice. And we started with that great debate where the character Samantha declares that the time for justice is always, always NOW!

I didn't grow up with blatant injustice in my face. It wasn't until my wife and I suffered the pain of infertility that we were introduced in a very personal way to injustice. Our journey took us to adopt a baby girl from Vietnam where we saw first-hand what real poverty looked like. We also learned about the potential path of girls in southeast Asia who are not adopted. And inside that hot and smelly orphanage a world away, my life was changed when they handed me my baby and told me her Vietnames name is Hoai which we were told means..."worth remembering."

I read recently that justice is much easier to demand than to define. I think the best definition that I could find was simply that justice is about righting wrongs.

The self-imposed wrongs of this world come in all shapes and sized. In fact, there are so many "wrongs" in the world, we sometimes get overwhelmed. We are reminded of them everyday on TV, the internet, the newspaper, magazines. They can begin to feel like wallpaper: we know they are there, but we just don't pay attention to them. A few years ago every Iraq war casualty made the front page. The same pain faces the families of the fallen and yet today we hardly hear -about them. Here are more unfortunate "wallpaper stats"-

• There are 143 million orphans worldwide
• 2/3 of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day
• The number one killer in Africa is polluted water.
• Every year 10 million children die before their fifth birthday from easily preventable problems (Bono calls it "stupid poverty").

The Bible has a lot to say about justice. God says "I am a God of justice" and "I am the God who loves justice."If we are truly following his path, then we must love what he loves, we must embrace what he embraces. Seeking justice is not an option but an opportunity.

There are a couple of things that I believe we can begin to develop within us.

Develop Compassion Permanence. This is from Gary Haugen's must-read book called The Good News About Injustice. It simply doing what you can to not forget something that stirred your heart with compassion. Journal, blog, pray, write, talk about it when your heart is tugged on. Put yourself in the place of the person who is suffering. And pay attention to your heart, it might be God wanting you to do something. Compassion (hearts that are softer) is the first place to start. Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw hurting people. Like a magnet to metal, he was attracted to those who were suffering. All of God's children are worth remembering.

Develop Contagious Courage. There will be times when we are asked to step outside of our comfort zones, outside of the safe shore, outside of even our natural abilities to stand against injustice. When someone steps out in courage, others around begin to feel it too. It puts courage into (or EN-courages) others. (side note - the prefix "en" means to put into)

Develop Creative Action. I love that we are living in a creative renaissance. Whether it is from culture's turn toward personal expression or from technology advances, we've never lived in a more creative time in history. We need to use our creative capital in our churches to find better solutions to right wrongs.

But if we simply stay overwhelmed, we will remain in justice paralysis and yet injustice never takes a holiday. That's why the time for justice is always now.

There is a parable that Stacey and I came to love after hearing that there are 143 million orphans worldwide. It's the parable of the starfish. We heard about it through the Starfish Foundation that financially assisted in our adoption. It says...

One day a man was walking along the shore. As he walked he saw that a young man who was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out,"Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die." "But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

Stacey and I had just adopted our second baby from Vietnam and we were walking on China Beach when I noticed a starfish. I handed Rowan over to Stacey and picked up a starfish and threw it in the ocean and we both said "we made a difference to that one." Then we continued to walk and noticed hundreds of starfish along the beach. Our hearts were torn between the sense that we made a difference to one and the realization that there is still more work to be done. I retell that story partly to keep compassion permanence in my heart and mind because injustice never takes a holiday. And the time for justice is always now.

It's Orchard Time

Had a great time speaking at the Orchard today. What a great church, great people. They are in a series called "At the Box Office".

The movie that I chose was The Great Debaters. I was surprised at how moved I still was when was watching the clips from the movie. The one that had me choked up during my talk tonight was when the Pastor/Professor played by Forrest Whitaker accidentally hit the hog with his car and the men made him pay an exorbitant amount. The shame on his face as the men humiliated him and he kept looking back at his family was gut-wrenching. Then to watch his son look at this proud man who was stripped of his dignity was even more difficult to watch.

Injustice robs people of human dignity. And God, using his church as his extended hands, gives people back that dignity through justice.

Looking forward to 2 more services tomorrow at the Orchard. I'll post some notes on the talk on Monday.

Lake Time

If there's one thing in my life that's missing, it's the time that I spend alone, sailing on the cold and bright, clear water...

That would make a great lyric. We're having a great time with the staff-a little boat time. Raegan, our 14 year-old actually drove me around on the waverunner. It was pretty cool. I was just talking with someone about how we want our kids to be responsible, but also willing to take some risks and overcome their fears. She was a bit afraid at first and then... ZOOM! I'll be sore tomorrow. Pictures are forthcoming.