Iron Prayer

I haven't blogged in two weeks. I have been distracted. Last year I watched my son Jeremy do what is called the Iron Man. It is an endurance race that involves swimming, biking, and running. It was so inspiring I decided to do it with him this year. Right now we are in Louisville, Kentucky and tomorrow we will race. There are around 3000 people who will be doing this tomorrow. Yesterday we were in the parking lot of the hotel and started a conversation with a very fit guy who was obviously going to be racing. We talked for a few minutes. His name is Dan. Dan said, "Hey, you guys are Christians right?" He then told us he was a pastor of a church in California and invited us to what is called Iron Prayer where some of the racers who are Christians gather to pray before the big day. Yesterday afternoon we met with them. It was amazing. We met Scott who will be doing the race as a guide for Mark. Mark is blind. They will be attached by a bungee cord during the swim and the run. They will ride a special tandem bike. Scott has trained only to be the eyes for Mark. Mark talked about how thankful he was for Scott. The whole thing was moving. All of us committed to making tomorrow a day of worship. We want to be like Scott is for Mark. We want to be the ones who help and pray for those who are hurting. The time yesterday reminded me of what a special thing it is to be a part of the family of God. There is nothing more special in all the world. I am reminded of what Jesus said when he started his ministry. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Tomorrow, during one of the most difficult endurance events in the world, the Gospel will be played out for all the world to see. I love being a Christian.

Swollen and Empty

My daughter Becca spent nearly a month working with children in Indonesia this summer. It was a great experience and one that did amazing things inside of her. I would heartily recommend it for any teenager or for any of us old people for that matter. Anyway, she has been organizing the photos she took. It is interesting to hear the love still in her voice as she tells me about each child. The children remind me of the children I have seen all over the world. Jet black eyes, dazzling smiles, runny noses, and distended bellies. I remember being in the Dominican Republic and hearing a worker tell of a child who came to the orphanage. The child's belly was bloated and she was experiencing painful cramps. Eventually they figured out the problem. The little girl had been going to bed hungry. She would be placed on a little foam pad. She was so hungry she had been nibbling at the foam during the night to fill herself with something. I tell you this for two reasons. One is to encourage you to do something to relieve hunger. We have all kinds of trustworthy organizations you can use to provide food for people like that little girl. Jesus intended for his followers to bring the kingdom of God with them wherever they went. This is part of that. The other reason I tell you this story is to let you know the danger we all are in. Every day you and I wake up starving spiritually. We will eat. There are times when I have filled myself with nothing more nourishing than spiritual foam rubber and you have too. God pleads with us to come to him. "Ho, come to the waters. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money on what is not bread and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in the abundance of fair."Isaiah 55:1-3 So, today, make sure you help someone else to eat physically and make sure you fill yourself up spiritually with the richest of foods.

Now I Lay My Head

I have been reading a book called "Humility". I know some of you are thinking it is way over due. Actually it should encourage you that I am re-reading it. Even I realize I didn't get it the first time through. Anyway, today I read about sleep. I never thought about sleep as being a built in humbler. Every day I have to stop what I am doing and lay down for 8 hours because my battery is built to only last about 16 hours and then I am done. How strange! Scripture reminds me that there is "One who does not sleep nor slumber" and evidently I am not the "One". Sleep is also a gift. I find I cannot force myself to sleep. There have been nights when I got to bed late and had to get up early. I try to fall asleep fast. Have you ever tried that? It is lousy and never seems to work. I just lay there doing the math in my head. Ok, if I fall asleep right now I will get 6 hours. Ok, if I fall asleep right now, I will get 5 and a half hours. And so it goes. Sleep is a gift God gives me almost every night. When he chooses to not give me that gift then I am challenged the whole next day and just about everyone who comes in contact with me is also given a challenge. The last thing is the pattern of sleep is the pattern of the love of God. I lay down and trust that the next morning I will rise again by the grace of God. It is the resurrection I am reminded of every single night. Maybe that is why at the end of every creation day in Genesis it says,"And there was evening and morning the first day." It feels like morning comes first but it doesn't. It is always night and death and then there is morning and life. So, enjoy today but tonight as you lay down on your bed, let the joy of the Lord be your blanket and sleep in the arms of the God whose mercies will be new again in the morning.