Goodbye to a Friend

Hey,

Haven't been on in ages.  Wanted to pay tribute to a new friend I met this year over at the mission.

His name was Rich.  Rich passed away of cancer on Tuesday evening.  I had heard he was in the hospital, and went back and forth to see if I should visit him on Tuesday morning.  I'm glad I did, for had I waited another day, I would have never had the chance again.   So here's a friendly reminder to not put off things, because you never know long opportunities last.  Especially don't put off the things that matter (family, friends, relationships) in exchange for things that don't (job success, $$ sucesss, feeling busy or important, etc.)  It's cliched advice.

But today's cliche, becomes tomorrow's hard truth. . .

Currently Watching Why We Fight (2005) see related

Very good DVD.   Made me think alot.   I'm in a "history" kind of mood these days, reading a few good books on historical things, etc.    This movie is a lot biased in some areas with I'm sure stretched "truths,"  but there was some really interesting footage with Dwight Eisenhower warning America about what the industry of war could do to our country.  You could see clearly how his warnings have not been heeded.  As well as undeniable footage I had known about but forgotten -- Iraq was our buddy in the 80s days of being mad @ Iran.   A very fascinating shot was Rumsfeld and Saddam all buddy buddy lauging and yukking it up and everything.  Kind of makes you wonder what happened to that. . . . Anyway, that concludes the "Michael Moore" portion of today's Xanga.  For the record, I'm not a president of the "war" fan club by any means, but respect and think of every day the people that serve our country in the military fighting for the right for me to have  whatever opinions on war that I want to.    May God have mercy on our souls whether our government or us as citizens take that sacrifice for granted in any way.  My fear is that both of us have done that for too long.

Anyway,  back from two long weeks of trips.  We went to Centrifuge in North Carolina, and we went to mission trip in Birmingham, Alabama.   Now I'm home!  Two weeks is too long to be gone from my kids anymore.  But the students on both trips were so terrific.  We got to see God do many neat things.  Again, our church is so blessed to have so many people that help out with our ministries that do such an awesome job.   My favorite highlights (not in any order I guess)

- walking above the clouds w/ our group as we hiked to the top of a mountain at Fuge

-  Tyler Aldridge accepting Christ at Fuge

-  Just hanging out w/ junior highers playing team handball, frisbee, eating lunch, talking about the Bible, taking a walk, etc.

-  Watching kids learn about poverty in the world and the potential for missions in a WONDERFUL role playing exercise done by the FUGE camp.    Someday I hope to do it  at our church -- it's hard to explain here, but it was cool!   We played a game where some kids received everything they ever needed, plus they got to cut in line or take away things from other kids.  It was only a privieged few, because most of us were third world countries, and we couldn't get at anything.    Anyway, hard to explain, but you could see the kids "lights turn on" when talking about it.  So hooray for Fuge!

-  Speaking of "lights turning on" -- watching our group go through the Civil Rights Museum at Birmingham.   We got there, and it was closed, but there was a worker there that saw who we were and let us in, anyway.   We basically had the whole place to ourselves!

-   Watching our group work very hard at teaching kids about Christ in the city parks at Birmingham.  It was so amazing watching this group come together because we did not have a lot of time to prepare, and the time we did have, not everyone could show up.   I was so proud of ALL of them!   We had one child make a decision for Christ this week, and planted lots of seeds.

-  Playing 3 on 3 full court basketball with the neighborhood and WINNING!   They even wanted me on their team the next game.   I told them I was too tired.   I can't play back to back games anymore, but I joined them two games later, and we won again!   That was fun, because before that I didn't know if I could even do that anymore.  I'm out of shape!

-  Just seeing the look on our teens faces Sunday morning knowing that they had accomplished what God wanted them to do!  

Now it's back to fall, and I'm stressed again.   When will I not be stressed out????  That will be a topic of next year's blog, or whenever I get back to this.    

Until next time,

Ed

Currently Listening Dusk and Summer By Dashboard Confessional see related

It's such "chick music," but I have to confess it's the best  rock/emo/whatever. .  album  I've heard this year.  As soon as I heard one of U2's producers was working on it, I had to go out and get it.  Hey Kent, if you're out there Counting Crows Adam Duritz makes a guest appearance on vocals for one of the songs -- it's awesome!  Other recommendations I would make are the new Keane "Under the Iron  Sea" and the new Elms "The Chess Hotel."

Everyone is posting on Super Summer, so I thought I would jump in.   First of all, being dean of the Red School was very awesome, but the most awesome thing was our staff.   I know that Tony (who did an awesome job as assistant dean!   Except he got curiously sick when the gross games came around.  Hmmmm. . . .   Just kidding -- he was really not feeling good!), Diamend, Johanna are out there in the blogosphere somewhere.   I have not gotten out notes or emails yet, but to you three and anyone else out there that helped in Red school -- GREAT JOB AND THANK YOU!!!   You have made a lifetime impact on those kids, and they will never forget you.   Especially to Diamend, Tony, & Johanna -- thanks for putting up with me and I love you guys and am proud of you guys.  Keep up all the good work!

Oh yeah -- come back and help next year!

Our 7th graders were awesome, and they have TONS of energy!   I was glad that most, if not all, of the time it was channeled towards God and the right directions.  The coolest thing about the Red School is that you get to see how the kids change from Monday to Friday.  Many of them are not just new to Super Summer, but new to worship, discipleship, etc.  To see them "get it" and embrace it is a very cool thing.   I thought a lot about Brent who was the Dean last year.   I think he would have been very proud of these group of kids and our staff.

Finally, just some final thoughts on the whole "Hero" theme.   I love superheroes and their stories. I grew up with that.  But I thought that Charles did such a great job of highlighting what a hero is.

Heroes are normal everyday people that stick with it.  They stick with Christ and His mission.  They aren't just consumers of spiritual highs.   They keep going even in the "lows"

Heroes are people like Brent who put in enormous amounts of efforts in elevating others over themselves.   They do that by paying attention, listening, caring, just all the little things that aren't that little at all.

Heroes are people that have the guts to admit what they are afraid of -- and they are not afraid to release those fears to Christ, the biggest hero of all.  

I think those are the things I learned.  My biggest fear is that I'm just going to mess things up all the time.   Church activities, marriages, kids, teenagers, etc.  I, like anybody else that breathes, have a lot of responsibilities.   I think being a hero, you realize that these things aren't "mine" at all.  I get to share in these experiences with Christ.   When Charles was reading from Colossians (my favorite book of the year!) I was reminded -- again -- that everything, EVERYTHING is made and held together by Christ.   Why do I stress about trying to hold things together, when Christ is already doing it anyway?    I learn a lot about trust, and just how small I really am.   The fact that Christ loves me and invites me to Him in my "smallness" is pretty special.   So I guess being heroic has nothing to do with accomplishing great tasks or super human feats that move mountains.  I think being heroic is embracing my smallness, and seeing how the mustard seed of faith produces big things because of Christ.

Let me leave you with one last cliche --- just because Super Summer is over, doesn't mean that summer still can't be super!!!

Have a great rest of summer -- be super!   Be heroic!   Be small!

Currently Listening All Right Here By Sara Groves see related

Sara is one of my favorites, and I just realized that I'm like 3 CD's behind -- so I'll have to work on that I guess.

People have been telling me to update.   I haven't lately because my internet has been slow lately, and I just don't like fussing with it.   It gets so bad that when I go CD shopping anymore -- I have to do it at the library.   They are working on our connection here, so I hope that when I'm even done typing with this, it will work and go through.  Plus there's just the usual "been real busy lately" and to be incredibly honest the usual "does anybody even read these things??"

And now that I'm here updating -- I've realized something.  I don't know really what to say. . . Uh. . . . .  "Hi!"    Let's see something interesting. . . . .

The family route:   Kevin is playing "coach pitch" ball and all of his games but two have been rained out.  The games they are rescheduling are on when I have to do things for church or be gone at camp.   Katie and I are having a good summer staying up late and watching movies.  It drives mom crazy, but it's summer and we deserve it.   Our favorites so far are "Aquamarine" and "Spellbound" so there's some tips for you.  We are currently waiting to watch "The Pink Panther" and "Pirates of the Carribean" sometime soon.

The church route:  Birmingham, Alabama!!  That's where we're going on mission trip.  I'm excited about that.  I'm also working alot w/ the staff on upcoming services here on Sunday mornings.   We have some good things ahead at church, but there's a lot of work to do, and it feels like it will never get done and summer will never end.  For those of you in high school, summer for me is like a heavy school week for you.  The difference is that unlike a good cramming session for a final, this is good stuff that's going on -- but it still takes a lot of work and preparation, and like a final there's always the stress of -- "Don't mess it all up!!!"

The spiritual growth route:  Just the usual things there.  God informed me this week, that I have to stop people pleasing all the time or that I will never grow into the person He wants me to be.   I know that, but I really never do anything about that.  I think God's getting frustrated w/ that.  He loves me anyway and wants to use me anyway.  I also had a great silence exercise where you had to imagine reclining w/ Jesus and hanging out at the Last Supper.   You had to process the feelings that went through your mind just knowing that Jesus wanted you to hang out with him.   First I had a junior high moment and thought -- reclining w/ Jesus?!?  Seems like Brokeback Supper to me -- no way!   Then I grew up a little and realized how immature I was being.   There was a lot of anxiety just wondering why Jesus wanted to spend time with me.   Then I thought he would chew me out or remind me of all the things I wasn't getting done or that I wasn't doing well.  Then I heard all the voices in my head telling me that I was doing it wrong, that I really didn't and couldn't imagine who Jesus really was, so why try anyway.   Then I grew up again and just ignored all that garbage, and just believed I heard him say:  "Why can't you just accept that I want to spend time with you, and that's all there really is to it?  I don't want anything or expect anything other than for you to just rest in me."  That was hard to believe because this world always expects something of you -- you have to perform for the world, and like Paula, Simon, and the "DOG!" guy the world rates you accordingly.   But not Jesus - he just wants to hang out with me because of who I am.   The exercise then said to take about 15-20 minutes and imagine that you are resting your head on Jesus' chest.  Imagine that you are listening to the heartbeat of God.   What is that like?   At first I had another Brokeback moment and thought "no - won't be doing that."  But after acting my age again, I mustered the maturity to continue with the exercise.   It's pretty amazing to listen to the heartbeat of God -- it's amazing because the biggest thing that I learned is that it beats for me.   I don't mean that to sound egotistical or anything, as a matter of fact I think that's the hardest lesson we have to learn -- that Jesus is just nuts and passionately head over heels for us.   He wants the best for us so much that it hurts.  What kind of people have we become because we have forgotten the most important lesson of all?

"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so . . . ."

So there you have it.  That's what I'm thinking about today.   Did you make it through the whole thing?   Then you are already doing better than me!   I will try to be more diligent w/ keeping up w/ everyone.

Later,

Ed

Currently Listening Essential By Roy Orbison see related

All I know is that he sounds cooler than he looks.   At least in that picture.

I am back!   Virginia went well, and the main messages I shared there were:

a)  If we aren't really living in the Kingdom of God, then we don't really have much to share w/ a campus that's looking for something to expereince, not just something to know.

b)  If we are going to do this thing called evangelism -- we need to build relationships with non - Christians, and we have to like them.

c)  We have to engage people in conversation, not get into meaningless debates.  We have to be daring enough to love people for who they really are.

I got some pretty good feedback, so I hope that it helped.   Now, it's trying to get settled back into here, which for some reason has been REALLY hard.  I think it's the nice spring weather that makes you feel like doing anything but the thing that you have to do.   But I thought we had a great ZOE last night where Kyle Shultz got arrested. . .

Not really.  We had New Berlin police to come out and "arrest" one of our youth leaders (Kyle) to get us thinking about what it would have been like for Jesus to have been arrested at the Garden of Gethsemene.  We "walked" through the Easter story from there, and I hope the studnets enjoyed it and somehow the story came to life to them in a new way.   They did let Kyle go -- but everybody is asking me today -- "Why was New Berlin police out at Western Oaks last night?   What  happened? "  So if anybody knows Kyle -- IT WAS ALL PRETEND!!!   He wasn't arrested for real.  He is a model citizen and fine young man.

But Jesus was really taken away -- for a crime he didn't commit.  Our sins.

And He's back. . . .

To forgive us, save us, and give us a challenge: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you, always, to the end of the age."