lifeasmission

Joey and Joanna Goforth have become two of my best friends since I moved from my home of Canton, OH to Memphis a few months ago. They have 2 great kids, Seth and Ella and the highlight of my Sunday is when Seth, who is 1ish, sees me, smiles, and wants me to carry him. Joey tagged me on one of these random, “tell everyone six random blah, blah, blah” blog things, but since I am in Afghanistan, where it is 8 1/2 hours aread of Memphis, TN (yes, 8 and 1/2), I am not going to play. Or am I?? All you “Where’s Waldo” fans out there should get this. I am not, however, going to perpetuate the madness, sorry Joe.

I am departing in just a few hours with a team of 4 others, bound for Kabul, Afghanistan.  Three of us will be helping to facilitate a number of courses around the idea of  servant leadership for a class of government and business leaders.  Zack, a doctor, will be speaking at a medical conference and offering some hospice care training.  Mike will be shooting video, taking pictures, and otherwse documenting our efforts and the context in which we are serving.  I have been looking forward to this trip for months.  I hope to be able to offer updates through the week.  We are planning on being back Monday, Spetember 1st.  Our whole team would very much appreciate your prayers for the relationships we will be forming and the ways in which we will be attempting to serve.

Rick Warren and Saddleback Church hosted a forum where John McCain and Barack Obama answered a series of questions posed by Rick. One of the questions was,

“Does evil exist, and if so, should it be ignored, negotiated with, contained, or defeated?”

The clip is below, but in short Barack’s response was,

“Evil does exist, and it must be confronted, but with humility as the eradication of evil is ultimately God’s task.”

McCain was more straightforward,

“Defeat it.”

Just wondered if anyone wanted to comment on this before I try (maybe) to say something about it. The entire transcript for the forum is here. And you can view the forum in 4 parts here.

From the Associated Press:

Ohio church: No kissing, tickling allowed

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has issued a detailed list of inappropriate behaviors for priests, saying they should not kiss, tickle or wrestle children.

The newest version of the archdiocese’s Decree on Child Protection also prohibits bear hugs, lap-sitting and piggyback rides.

But it says priests may still shake children’s hands, pat them on the back and give high-fives.

I can hear the naysayers now, “This is just good advice. It’s godly wisdom. It’s ensuring that you don’t even have the appearance of evil.” And all that.

Without launching into lengthy biblical defenses of just how mistaken those thoughts are, let me just say how sad this makes me. That the Church, the people of God called to demonstrate an alternative reality, would have to pass decrees curtailing innocent signs of love and affection.

What has become of the Body of Christ when we can’t allows its spiritual leaders to give kids piggy-back rides? Sad.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1.

We’re back.

Thanks.

It’s coming soon!

If anyone is in the market, I am selling a phone, GPS, and IPod.

The phone is a Sprint Treo 755p and comes with all the original packaging and software as well as a bluetooth headset, car charger, and if you are using a mac, the Missing Sync software ($40 value). $150.

The GPS is a Magellan Maestro 3200. I received it as a gift this past March. It was $200 new, yours for $100.

The iPod is a black, 5 Gen., 30 GB video. It comes with a leather cover, the ear phones, and an iTrip. Haven’t been able to dig up the original box for this, sorry. $100.

Well, thanks to this lovely crew (not pictured, but equally awesome are: Jon O., Greg J., and Russell M.  I managed to get all my stuff in my new home yesterday afternoon.

And the unpacking, sorting, and arranging has commenced.

I am in need of a fridge, some furniture, and some other odds and ends (Bueller, Bueller…), but I was pleased to find (after 4 months of separation from my stuff, which lingered in storage), that I had most of what I needed for the house.

If you are someone who needs my new house address, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

Now, I wonder who likes to paint????

Living here has already paid off.  I am less than a mile from my good friends, the Watson’s.  Around 10:30 last night Matthew called and asked if I could come over and stay with Nathan, their 2 year old.  He and Lisa were gonna have to take Elias (their new born) to the hospital as he was running a 101 fever.  I was so happy to.  In my mind, this is a major part of what “living in community” is all about.  You are close enough to those you want to share life with that you can be there for one another.  Far from experiencing this as a burden or bother, this request was precisely the sort to make me feel “at home.”

Thus begins the journey of discovering the truth of this popular bumper sticker…

Apparently the bacteria from my head was transmitted to my blog as it fell ill as well. A few days ago, it just disappeared for some unknown reason. I think I have given it the appropriate dose of Internet-antibiotics and it, like me,

is on the road to recovery. However, according to feedburner, I seem to have lost all my subscribers.

Very sad as I had just broken through the coveted triple-digit mark

Is that right? Are you getting this my loyal readership? If not, then I can only hope you find your way here and see fit to make me feel warm all over by resubscribing.

A week ago I had what I thought was a tiny zit on my forehead, so I tried to pop it. Turns out it was actually a bite of some sort and began to swell. By Saturday night, I thought I had it under control. There was still an ugly little mark, but the swelling seemed to be subsiding. See..

But, on Monday night the swelling started to get worse and by 4AM I was in such pain that I drove myself over to the emergency room. They drained some of the fluid and gave me a shot of antibiotics. This was the most painful shot I have ever received.

Yesterday I continued to take some of the antibiotics they prescribed and again thought I was on the mend. Alas, when I woke up this morning, me left eye was nearly swollen shut.

So, after another trip to the ER where I received an IV of antibiotics, they sent me off to a dermatologist who drained some fluid once again. So, here I sit, miserable and waiting for the antibiotics to do the job. Ugh.

Moral of the story, bacteria is bad. It’ll take you from here…

to here