A Day In The Courthouse...

Last week I was thinking a lot about the area in which we live and the opportunities we have to live missional, loving lives around people who hurt. To be honest, South Florida is a place where people live who 1) are getting away from something or 2) think that they have no other option for opportunity and a better life. It makes it hard because if you aren't fluent in "crazy" you have a hard time making it through many conversations.

I met this guy Sunday who was going through a lot. He was facing a court hearing the next day and was scared of the outcome. He is a young black man with a wife and 3 kids (with one on the way). As he sat in my office coming to grips that Jesus was all he had, he began to ask me if I could make sure that someone looked after his family if something happened to him. Did you catch that. Here is a guy who blindly asked the church (defined here as a local gathering of Jesus followers) if they would sacrificially live in such a way that the least of these would be loved and cared for.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but some things take me a while. Although there are endless possibilities to show love, it seems that this one actually came to sit with his family and ask me point blank, "will you love us."

Trust me...I am a selfish person and I still spent time fighting the idea, but this is one that I couldn't pass up. I sat with the man and his wife for about 5 hours on Monday while we waited for his case to come up...together. It was pushed back for a few weeks, so for now, he is sitting at home with his family.

And I am sitting here convinced that those 5 hours of sitting on Monday were the best days of "real ministry" that I have experienced in a long time.

A Simple Apology

No really...I'm positive that all the pope needs to do is a simple "I'm sorry." I mean, does this look like a group that holds a grudge.

Note to Pope...you might not want to do it in person. These peaceful demonstrators might just rip you a new one.

Things I Miss...

There have been so many things that I have been considering over the past few weeks about the geopgraphy of ministry and what role family plays in it. Many mentors of mine would be quick to call me to a life of leaving (home, parents, friends) for the sake of the gospel and planting ourselves in a new place...which we have done these past 3 years. But most of those people live in the same town that they grew up in. I do find it odd that even Jesus had his family very close as he was calling his disciples to follow while leaving all others behind.

Please understand, these thoughts are coming from a very shallow motivation. This comes as I am sitting here watching Alabama football today in a quiet house. I called my brother, my dad and some of my friends and they all are hanging out in tailgating situations and I have to say it...this time of year, I miss being in Alabama.

But that isn't gonna stop me. I do have my good friends James Westfall and Dr. Kenneth Noisewater with me and I will do my part to pull the TIDE past Vandy.

ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!