Summer of '89

Nineteen years old.  Idea brimming.  Enthusiasm crazed.  Anything ready. Flying in.  Full of faith.

First vocational ministry position.  Summer Youth Intern.  Faith Baptist Church.  Anchorage, Alaska.  Land of the Midnight Sun.  Views as above from Lake Hood with Chugach Range were out my office window.  Float planes constant.  Mountain splendor ever present.

Serving under my former Youth Pastor & dear friend Sam.  Living with Sam, his wife Cheryl, & one-year-old Samuel.  Eating Cheryl's amazing Alabama cooking with a bread for every meal & deserts too except brekafast.  Driving the Green Machine.  BIG green GMC 4x4 stepside pickup.  Meeting a moose face to grill on my first drive in the Green Machine.  Suffering from "Midnight Fever" as I hardly slept for the first two weeks with latenight sunsets & gorgeous weather.  Experiencing God coming through on choir tour getting us a new church & big crowd in hours time.  Sharing the Cootie Awards as later on choir tour we had a lice outbreak & made the best of the long drive home by giving each other silly awards.  Paying my phone bill in apple juice.  Samuel drank lots of it.  I owed $22.  Drugstore had .99 cents sale on apple juice.  I bought 22 bottles.  Packed for me in liquor boxes.  I carried out with a pair of seventh grade boys.  It was the summer of '89. Learning about life, ministry, & myself all at the same time.

The lessons hold true twenty years later: love Jesus; pray hard; love people; preach the Word; ask questions; laugh out loud; cry when needed; sing for joy; try new things; take life as it comes; give yourself; walk in grace.

Great lessons.

Great place.

Great times.

Great friends.

Great experience.

Greatest God.

What a privilege to serve.

Attractive

Got the kids all ready for bed. PJs on. Looking cute. Hair still a bit damp from bathtime. Smelling sweet. I think the Johnson's people must have done lots of research to know that making their shampoo smell like Flintstone vitamins would be pleasing to Daddys.  Sorry, the sweet smell of clean kids got me off story...

So, all five of us are in Seth's room.  Prayer time.  John Mark, two, is usually in bed before his siblings.  He's still awake tonight.  Overly energetic.  I'm kneeling down beside Mary Elizabeth. Trying to bring calm.  Melanie is about to sit on Seth's bed when he announces contrary plans, "I want John Mark to come up here on my bed with me.  Daddy, you come up here."

Me & John Mark together on Seth's bed doesn't compute in my Daddy brain.  Maybe I blew that fuse during my morning sermon prep.  Maybe I tripped that breaker running around with the kids before suppertime. So I ask, "Why do I need to come up there, Buddy?"

In second-grader simple logic Seth states, "John Mark's attracted to you, Daddy.  If you come up here.  He will too."

There you have it, friends.  I am attractive to my two year old son...

At least in the eyes of his almost eight year old brother I am.  That's something, right?  I may have thinning hair, an average face, & a less than stunning physique, but I can attract the toddlers.  Watch out, world!

I have to ask, however, as a Christ-follower: Who am I attractive to? What might make me attractive?

Jesus says he will draw all men to himself if I will lift him up.

He is attractive.

Lift him up.

New Day

You & I are witnesses of & participants in a new day every morning when we arise. The Bible tells us that God’s mercies are new every morning. New day. New choices. New you?

Each day our lives answer questions like the following whether we realize it or not... Will I live like the same old, same old or seek something new & challenging? Will I stretch & grow into new areas or will I allow circumstances, my past or other’s perceptions to dominate me? Will I choose to handle any baggage set in my lap or simply wallow deeper in my present mess?

Many of us are walking wounded or playing hurt. We don’t even want to admit it or slow down to treat it. We are a hurt people. And we hurt others.

Yet, there is hope. The Bible overflows with hope & healing. Hope for our hurts & healing for our brokenness are available if we will only choose to apply God’s Words to our lives. And those principles are found neatly in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-10. Jesus offers us freedom from our hurts, habits, & hang-ups if we choose to follow him there.

Making new choices requires courage. Making new choices means change. Making new choices takes risk.

Our economy may continue to be weak for the months ahead. Our jobs may be in jeopardy as long as the economy sputters. Our bills may be higher forcing us to concessions. Our relationships may be strained due to circumstances. Our world may be in turmoil with all signs pointing toward its end. Yet we can make new choices because we have a new day, new mercies, new hope, & an everlasting, all-powerful, all-loving, amazing grace God who is the same all the time. He will lead us through. Follow with me.

Better Together

The unexpected--for me, the optimist--is one of the joys of life. The unexpected can bring challenge & trouble, I know, but I can trust in God's providence.

So, it's a great day for a run out on a rural trail that meanders across the rolling farmland of Eastern Nebraska. I've got my thoughts, my prayers & my iPod to occupy me for a few hours I've imagined. At the trailhead, I'm stretching in prep for an 18 mile training run. (Yes, 18 miles all at one time. And, no, I am not crazy, although I know it's been debated at times.) And appearing out of nowhere from the trail--softly striding toward me--is a geared up, 50-ish looking runner.

Want some company?

Sure. How far you going?

21 or so.

Wow. I'm going 18. Give me a minute more to get ready.

After introductions, off we went. Me & my new running buddy. For near three hours our conversation ran much wider than the 18 miles of trail we covered. My buddy had been running an average of 40 miles a week for more than 20 years. He'd run countless marathons & ultramarathons. Even 50 & 100 mile races. The best hundred-mile time he'd ever recorded was 20 hours 17 minutes. My buddy had been there & back. And again. And again. And... you get the picture. I plied him with plenty of running questions as we matched our pace, but we talked about work, family, politics, worldview, & Christianity. And the 18 miles we ran together--short for him, but fifth longest ever for me--rolled by.

We were better together.

Having a more experienced, open, & friendly buddy made all the difference for me.

How about you?

Who do you need to run alongside you?

And who is it that needs you to come alongside them?

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.—Hebrews 10:24

A Godly Man

UPS came today. My monthly only a preacher would get so excited biblical commentary delivery. Ran to my office. Like a kid. Got scissors. Slit the packaging. Slid out the commentary. Shiny. Stiff.

Which one? They don't tell a guy what's coming. It's a sort of preacher surprise program. Not like the unexpected deacon with a long face and something on his mind surprise. This is a good surprise.

1 & 2 Timothy & Titus. The Pastoral Epistles. Written by Thomas D. Lea & Hayne P. Griffen, Jr. I held it. Tears welling. Throat lumping.

Dr. Lea. Tommy, as others but oh not me out of respect, call him is the father of one my best friends, Cliff. In his home. In his seminary classroom. Through Cliff. I learned so much more than a commentary might contain.

How to walk, really walk, with the Lord daily. Gentleness of steadfast strength. Scholarly discipline that could communicate with the simplest. Husband enamored & expressive. Daddy proud & forthright. Kind, easy humor. Captivating demeanor. Humility in authority. Grace of bearing. Perseverance through terrible trials. Dignity no matter the circumstance. Love so deep everyone knew it was supernatural. Bright outlook of unwavering faith in our loving God. Legacy solid.

Dr. Lea is with the Lord now.

Dr. Lea is still teaching however.

Here I sit. Pastor in an office. His book before me. Throat still lumpy. Eyes still watery.

Dr. Thomas D. Lea. A godly man.

I am thankful.