Mar 2009
Prayers for Blowouts
10.03.09 17:45 Filed in: Life
I came
across a website today called Prayers For
Blowouts by
Brian Allain. The tagline on the website says,
“Celebrating Sports, Faith, & Funny since
David Upset Goliath.” I think I found a guy that
can really speak my language... a site about
sports, christianity, and humor!
If you have been following the NFL lately you would know that the Dallas Cowboys have traded TO... I had to repost what Brian wrote on his site today:
PFB Micro-Sermon: Philemon 1:11
The PFB Micro-Sermon: where we take a Bible verse, add a dash of sports, and whip up a sermon in 100 words or less.
“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” - Philemon 1:11
The “he”: Terrell Owens. He’s taking his muscular physique and below-average hands to North America and the home of the tastier chicken wing.
The “you”: The Dallas Cowboys, who were not going to win as long as T.O. and his me-first attitude were clogging the vibes in the Dallas locker room. Now that he’s gone, look for Tony Romo to be the leader everyone expects him to be. (and look for Miles Austin to replicate T.O.’s production with ease.)
The “me”: The Buffalo Bills, who are now relevant in the AFC East again. Does this make them a playoff team? Probably not. Does it make them winners? Definitely not. Does it make them a story? Absolutely.
Dick Jauron, meet thy life verse.
If you have been following the NFL lately you would know that the Dallas Cowboys have traded TO... I had to repost what Brian wrote on his site today:
PFB Micro-Sermon: Philemon 1:11
The PFB Micro-Sermon: where we take a Bible verse, add a dash of sports, and whip up a sermon in 100 words or less.
“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” - Philemon 1:11
The “he”: Terrell Owens. He’s taking his muscular physique and below-average hands to North America and the home of the tastier chicken wing.
The “you”: The Dallas Cowboys, who were not going to win as long as T.O. and his me-first attitude were clogging the vibes in the Dallas locker room. Now that he’s gone, look for Tony Romo to be the leader everyone expects him to be. (and look for Miles Austin to replicate T.O.’s production with ease.)
The “me”: The Buffalo Bills, who are now relevant in the AFC East again. Does this make them a playoff team? Probably not. Does it make them winners? Definitely not. Does it make them a story? Absolutely.
Dick Jauron, meet thy life verse.
|
Stories My Friends Have Heard a Thousand Times [Submission #1]
05.03.09 13:14 Filed in: Life
My
grandpa is an avid story-teller, I think that is
where I get it... I love to tell stories. What
inevitably happens is as I perfect my stories my
friends end up hearing the same stories over and over
again. A few years ago I came up with a book idea,
that I would call: “Stories My Friends Have Heard a
Thousand Times”. It would include classics like the
one-armed monkey in China, or the infamous Huck’s Now
story... Each story would relate to or illustrate a
spiritual lesson I have learned throughout my
life--creating stories and memories and just plain
loving the life I live.
This last Sunday I encountered a new story as myself and ten others traveled across the Atlantic to Scotland on a Mission Trip. After twenty-four hours of traveling we arrived, exhausted in the international airport in Edinburgh. We wandered off of the plane, excited, smiles cracking though our worn out faces. I’m sure we were quite a site with our greasy, matted hair from trying to sleep on the flight over, fighting with our carry-on luggage as we try to remember where we placed our passports. The maze of hallways opens up into the most intimidating room in any airport--passport control.
I have had the privilege to travel quite frequently over the last ten years of my life so when my wife Sarah and I were summoned forward from the long line of wearied travelers I walked forward in confidence. I’ve been drilled by many immigration agents before so, I casually answered each question honestly... I felt like a professional baseball player in the batting cages, questions being hurled hurled at me every few seconds from a virtual border control machine. I found out later that she was the Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) at that airport, let me tell you, she is good at her job. This woman, who I am still not sure has the actual ability to smile, started off with the usual questions...
CIO: Why are you here in the UK?
Me: Uhh, we’re here to hang out with some friends in the city, probably see the castle...
CIO: Who are your friends?
Me: Mike Laberge and Tony, they work with a local church here in town...
CIO: What are you doing for the church?
Me: Volunteering in some soup kitchens to feed the homeless, possibly help with some services...
At this point in the conversation she pulled back obviously thrown off by something I had said. She quickly leaned forward again as she gathered her thoughts and told us that as of November 2008 Scotland had passed some new legislation where anyone coming into their country to volunteer with any charitable organization would have to obtain a work visa. Basically what that means is as a citizen of the United States of America you can stay in Scotland for six months as a tourist with no visa but if you want to do any sort of charity work on your own dime, you have to obtain a work visa! UNBELIEVABLE!!! She asked how many people were with us and asked us to move over to the side. At this point I blurted out, “Ma’am this a mission trip it’s not that big of a deal.” One of our team members had actually already made it through another immigration agent and already had her passport stamped. After the CIO confiscated our passports, another agent escorted us to get our bags and privately reassured us, “There shouldn’t be any problem for you to get through, she’s just making too big of a deal about this.” This legislation is in place to prevent illegal immigration into Scotland which we obviously were not trying to do because we already had purchased return tickets.
Nearly Sixty minutes had gone by, nervously we waited for an assured verdict, we couldn’t possibly be denied because we wanted to volunteer in a soup kitchen with a church could we? Finally the CIO returned with a pile of paperwork... she was denying us access to cross the border into the UK. I pleaded with her, “You have got to be kidding me, isn’t there anything you can do?!” She retorted, “I’m the CIO, it is my decision to make. You will be on the next flight back to the US tomorrow morning.” She promptly turned around and walked through the double doors and had her agents start to take each of our finger prints.
At this point I asked an agent to get the CIO to come back out because I wanted to speak with her. Thirty minutes later she appeared from the bat cave (I bet you didn’t know that Immigration Agents are actually super-heroes)... Again I pleaded, “Ma’am there has got to be some kind of a misunderstanding. Can’t you make an exception? The only reason you even knew about this was because I was honest with you. If it’s that big of a deal we won’t volunteer at all.” She stated that she had no discretion to make an exception and that her hands were tied because we had stated our true intentions. I jumped at the opportunity, “Then can I speak to your superior?” She replied, “I am the CIO I don’t have a superior.” Smirking in disbelief I said, “Everybody has a superior I want to speak to yours.” She told me that her superior was the Prime Minister. I asked for his number at which point I saw the first smile cross her face, she laughed at me... “No one has his number.” Obviously I’m not naive enough to believe that I would actually talk to the prime minister but it gives you a picture of how ridiculous our conversation was.
Meanwhile, our team, disappointed but in good spirits kept talking and laughing, enjoying ourselves despite the situation. We believed we were supposed to go on this trip. When we weren’t praying under our breath for a miracle, we were talking with the other agents, asking their names and finding out when they got off of work that day... You could tell that each of them were empathetic toward our case. One by one we were brought back to the bat cave to get our finger prints taken, the agents apologizing profusely about what was going on.
Nearly three hours had passed and we were awaiting the final “ok” for us to be able to leave the airport until 8:00 am the next morning. The CIO finally emerged one last time from the bat cave to bring us this news... “We could only get you to New York City tomorrow...” she paused. My mind was racing, fuming, they weren’t even going to get us to our final destination! Hesitantly she continued, “So you do not have to be back until 8:00 am on Wednesday morning.” A sigh of relief went through the entire group as I looked at her in the eyes and said a heartfelt, “Thank you.” She quickly responded with a dead panned face, “Don’t thank me, thank your airline. If it were up to me you’d be leaving today.” Thus confirming the miracle we were praying for.
Maybe the Lord didn’t change her mind, maybe we weren’t staying the whole time anymore, but it was indeed a miracle! God couldn’t change her mind (a little thing called free-will) but he could go around her!!!
Stories My Friends Have Heard a Thousand Times... so, what’s spiritual lesson? Maybe it’s the power of prayer... or that miracles still happen... maybe it’s the danger of bureaucracy without discretion--we follow the letter of the law hurting innocent people (like the Pharisees and Sadducees did in Jesus’ day). Maybe it’s about trusting God when our plans change, or not ruining your testimony by having a bad attitude when unfair circumstances arise... Maybe, just maybe, the lesson should be left up to the interpretation of the reader...
Whatever the case, when things don’t necessarily go your way, my hope and prayer is that you can enjoy the moment, believing that God is going to do his thing despite the circumstances...
Oh, by the way, our story has made it’s way to Parliament, and the press within less than twenty-four hours of our departure. I have been contacted personally by a reporter at a major newspaper in Scotland. in fact as I was just writing this he called me to ask some questions about what had happened. BBC among other major newspapers have contacted Rev. Andrew Smith, the Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Scotland for interviews regarding this situation. We have made history as the first mission’s team to ever be rejected from the UK, and according to the Assemblies of God, the first team to ever be rejected from modern day Europe. Not ashamed of the Gospel!
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2295195.ece
This last Sunday I encountered a new story as myself and ten others traveled across the Atlantic to Scotland on a Mission Trip. After twenty-four hours of traveling we arrived, exhausted in the international airport in Edinburgh. We wandered off of the plane, excited, smiles cracking though our worn out faces. I’m sure we were quite a site with our greasy, matted hair from trying to sleep on the flight over, fighting with our carry-on luggage as we try to remember where we placed our passports. The maze of hallways opens up into the most intimidating room in any airport--passport control.
I have had the privilege to travel quite frequently over the last ten years of my life so when my wife Sarah and I were summoned forward from the long line of wearied travelers I walked forward in confidence. I’ve been drilled by many immigration agents before so, I casually answered each question honestly... I felt like a professional baseball player in the batting cages, questions being hurled hurled at me every few seconds from a virtual border control machine. I found out later that she was the Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) at that airport, let me tell you, she is good at her job. This woman, who I am still not sure has the actual ability to smile, started off with the usual questions...
CIO: Why are you here in the UK?
Me: Uhh, we’re here to hang out with some friends in the city, probably see the castle...
CIO: Who are your friends?
Me: Mike Laberge and Tony, they work with a local church here in town...
CIO: What are you doing for the church?
Me: Volunteering in some soup kitchens to feed the homeless, possibly help with some services...
At this point in the conversation she pulled back obviously thrown off by something I had said. She quickly leaned forward again as she gathered her thoughts and told us that as of November 2008 Scotland had passed some new legislation where anyone coming into their country to volunteer with any charitable organization would have to obtain a work visa. Basically what that means is as a citizen of the United States of America you can stay in Scotland for six months as a tourist with no visa but if you want to do any sort of charity work on your own dime, you have to obtain a work visa! UNBELIEVABLE!!! She asked how many people were with us and asked us to move over to the side. At this point I blurted out, “Ma’am this a mission trip it’s not that big of a deal.” One of our team members had actually already made it through another immigration agent and already had her passport stamped. After the CIO confiscated our passports, another agent escorted us to get our bags and privately reassured us, “There shouldn’t be any problem for you to get through, she’s just making too big of a deal about this.” This legislation is in place to prevent illegal immigration into Scotland which we obviously were not trying to do because we already had purchased return tickets.
Nearly Sixty minutes had gone by, nervously we waited for an assured verdict, we couldn’t possibly be denied because we wanted to volunteer in a soup kitchen with a church could we? Finally the CIO returned with a pile of paperwork... she was denying us access to cross the border into the UK. I pleaded with her, “You have got to be kidding me, isn’t there anything you can do?!” She retorted, “I’m the CIO, it is my decision to make. You will be on the next flight back to the US tomorrow morning.” She promptly turned around and walked through the double doors and had her agents start to take each of our finger prints.
At this point I asked an agent to get the CIO to come back out because I wanted to speak with her. Thirty minutes later she appeared from the bat cave (I bet you didn’t know that Immigration Agents are actually super-heroes)... Again I pleaded, “Ma’am there has got to be some kind of a misunderstanding. Can’t you make an exception? The only reason you even knew about this was because I was honest with you. If it’s that big of a deal we won’t volunteer at all.” She stated that she had no discretion to make an exception and that her hands were tied because we had stated our true intentions. I jumped at the opportunity, “Then can I speak to your superior?” She replied, “I am the CIO I don’t have a superior.” Smirking in disbelief I said, “Everybody has a superior I want to speak to yours.” She told me that her superior was the Prime Minister. I asked for his number at which point I saw the first smile cross her face, she laughed at me... “No one has his number.” Obviously I’m not naive enough to believe that I would actually talk to the prime minister but it gives you a picture of how ridiculous our conversation was.
Meanwhile, our team, disappointed but in good spirits kept talking and laughing, enjoying ourselves despite the situation. We believed we were supposed to go on this trip. When we weren’t praying under our breath for a miracle, we were talking with the other agents, asking their names and finding out when they got off of work that day... You could tell that each of them were empathetic toward our case. One by one we were brought back to the bat cave to get our finger prints taken, the agents apologizing profusely about what was going on.
Nearly three hours had passed and we were awaiting the final “ok” for us to be able to leave the airport until 8:00 am the next morning. The CIO finally emerged one last time from the bat cave to bring us this news... “We could only get you to New York City tomorrow...” she paused. My mind was racing, fuming, they weren’t even going to get us to our final destination! Hesitantly she continued, “So you do not have to be back until 8:00 am on Wednesday morning.” A sigh of relief went through the entire group as I looked at her in the eyes and said a heartfelt, “Thank you.” She quickly responded with a dead panned face, “Don’t thank me, thank your airline. If it were up to me you’d be leaving today.” Thus confirming the miracle we were praying for.
Maybe the Lord didn’t change her mind, maybe we weren’t staying the whole time anymore, but it was indeed a miracle! God couldn’t change her mind (a little thing called free-will) but he could go around her!!!
Stories My Friends Have Heard a Thousand Times... so, what’s spiritual lesson? Maybe it’s the power of prayer... or that miracles still happen... maybe it’s the danger of bureaucracy without discretion--we follow the letter of the law hurting innocent people (like the Pharisees and Sadducees did in Jesus’ day). Maybe it’s about trusting God when our plans change, or not ruining your testimony by having a bad attitude when unfair circumstances arise... Maybe, just maybe, the lesson should be left up to the interpretation of the reader...
Whatever the case, when things don’t necessarily go your way, my hope and prayer is that you can enjoy the moment, believing that God is going to do his thing despite the circumstances...
Oh, by the way, our story has made it’s way to Parliament, and the press within less than twenty-four hours of our departure. I have been contacted personally by a reporter at a major newspaper in Scotland. in fact as I was just writing this he called me to ask some questions about what had happened. BBC among other major newspapers have contacted Rev. Andrew Smith, the Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Scotland for interviews regarding this situation. We have made history as the first mission’s team to ever be rejected from the UK, and according to the Assemblies of God, the first team to ever be rejected from modern day Europe. Not ashamed of the Gospel!
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2295195.ece