What we did on our Summer Vacation (and the rest of 2008)

Hey Everyone,

At the prompting of Matt Yakel (http://frame45.blogspot.com/), I wanted to post the link to our video that gives an update of what God has been doing in us this year. It is not professional in any way, but it was a lot of fun to put together. Thanks for praying and supporting us!!!

Ears to hear

This is the manuscript of the sermon I was able to preach at MERCYhouse, Dec. 21, 2008.


Two things used to always get me in the Christmas spirit for sure. One was going down the snack aisle of the store and seeing that the Little Debbie’s Snack Cakes had been changed from their octagon shape to the Christmas tree shape. It happens every year around Christmas and for me it always was the Yule Tide shot heard round the world. The second is this:



I love Charlie Brown because of its’ simplicity and directness. Linus becomes a prophet and preacher here when he proclaims, “Charlie Brown, this is what Christmas is all about”. This morning I want to explore a little bit more of what Christmas is all about.
We see in Luke 2:8-21 that Jesus has been born into the world fulfilling prophecy after prophecy and setting in motion the salvation of the world, the single greatest act of worship in all of history and indeed even the purpose of history itself. So after Jesus is born, something a bit strange happens; lets look:
“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luk 2:8-20)”
So we see that near where Jesus was born in the stable, there were shepherds watching their sheep at night. Shepherds… farmers… keepers of the land… rednecks….the lowest of the low. Being a shepherd stunk. (Literally & figuratively) Shepherd was the rung just above starving to death. So Jesus, the Savior and Redeemer of the world… the Messiah and promised King arrives to save and serve and the first people invited to worship and observe this arrival are … redneck sheep wranglers?
Jesus was born in a stable, possibly close to the Inn had no room for his parents and was full of people who could afford a room. Why weren’t the angels sent to the people of the Inn to come out and worship and observe this arrival? Why wasn’t the Inn Keeper, a small business man, the backbone of the Bethlehem economy and the one who had to turn Mary and Joseph away, invited to come celebrate? What about the King over the land, Herod, why wasn’t he there to celebrate… wait, he had other plans for Jesus in a Moses sort of way. Shoot, why didn’t He send the angels to the Mayor of Bethlehem? Surely he knew about the prophecy of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem and he had a file in some drawer on what to do when the Messiah is born in town and large plastic key ready to give to the baby once it is born right? Why go to the shepherds who were further out in the fields? Shepherds who had no societal standing at all? Who were the “nobodys of nobodys?”
I think we get some insight into why when we see Jesus address the purpose of his coming and who it was for in His own words: “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mar 2:17). Jesus came for the sick, the lowly, the sinner. That is what Jesus was called and known as, “a friend of sinners”. From the beginning of His life here on this earth, Jesus drew, as he describes them, “those who have ears” to come hear him.
For whatever reason, the shepherds had ears. Now it would be easy to have ears to hear if you had an angelic host singing too you and telling you all of this, but God’s grace is often times just as shocking and jolting. I see it time and time again when people are affected by the free grace to us, but the expensive grace to Jesus. I remember when I actually got grace. I fought it. It scared me. I didn’t want it. I wanted to earn it. I wanted to do something to have some right to call the righteousness it brings my own. Grace frightened me. Like the communication from the angels, grace is big and scary and hard to ignore.
Look at what the angels say when they appear before the shepherds: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” The second part of this message was a commonly known phrase and expected future occurrence. It was a cultural phrase that was passed down from the oral traditions. Kind of like “Four score and seven years ago...” or “Give us your tired, your poor…” It, in a very small way, is like knowing that in a couple of months someone will walk on a stage and say “This years Academy Award for Best Actor goes to…” or “The winner of Miss America 2009 is…”. It is common phrasing. Jewish people were looking for the Messiah. They knew that prophecy was out there that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. That was common knowledge. What was uncommon was that this was being proclaimed by an angel, to a shepherd and for all people.
So let’s break this down. Angels are messengers from God. Their job is to do what God tells them to do. They glorify God and worship Him. Period. They are God’s. When you see angels in scripture, they are there representing God and doing his work. We get a very small picture of this when we see the Secret Service work. They do the work of the President. They protect, clear, deliver messages, etc.
So an angel, messenger of God, is sent to … a shepherd. Kind of like a member of the Secret Service sent to the hog farms in Arkansas to give a message, not to the owner of the farm, but the teenage kid who is feeding the pigs so he can earn a little bit of money to buy a Wii or the illegal alien who is working there late at night to send money back to his family in Mexico. That is the stark contrast that we see here.
I believe the angels were sent to the shepherds because they had ears to hear. They knew their brokenness and place in society and they needed, looked for and cried out for help. God used these circumstances to give them ears to hear. Christ can give everyone ears to hear. Christ’s work and redemption is for all people. However, not everyone hears.
I once had the privilege of talking with a man named Dave Busby. Dave was the second oldest living person who had Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is a hereditary disease that affects the lungs mainly and causes mucus to fill up the lungs and the person affected to eventually drown in their own mucus. I got to sit down with Dave who was an amazing man who loved God. We were in a church in Atlanta and he had his oxygen tank on one side, his mask on and he slumped a bit because of the polio that had formed in him as well. I sat next to him and asked him what his condition insight about God gave him that I and others who don’t have this disease are missing. He simply said, “I understand my need for Him daily, probably, better than you do.”
Dave understood that his condition gave him better ears to hear. He understood that the fight to breathe gave him more of a capacity to appreciate and worship God the few moments in those few moments that he could breathe easily. Dave was given ears to hear and respond to God in the midst of some really difficult and painful times.
These past two weeks Christie and I have walked through some rough stuff as well. Two weeks ago tomorrow, we learned that Christie was pregnant. Christie was shocked and I couldn’t get the smile off my face. I love being a Dad. I love being a child of the King first. Then because I am a child of the King, He has called me to love being a husband and to love my wife as He loved me and I absolutely adore my wife and being married to her. She is the person that I get to demonstrate the love of Christ to most and in turn glorify God in the most. Then, because of this love, God has blessed us with 3 amazing daughters who are fun and bright and so amazing. My thought is and has always been “If one child is this much fun, how much more fun and full of praise will two be. And if 2 is that much more fun and full of opportunities to praise, how much more fun will 3 be” and so on. So we found out that she was pregnant, but the doctor told us that because of some of the things happening with Christie, we need to check some other things out. So we did a series of blood test throughout these past two weeks and we found out that Christie was miscarrying. There was no more pregnancy. The time between us finding out we were pregnant and we weren’t was less than 48 hours, however, we fell in love with the idea of being pregnant and the coming baby in that short time. Our hearts began to be shaped for that baby. When we found out that the baby wasn’t coming, it hurt. Our hearts hurt. We still mourn this baby we never knew and only had knowledge of for less than two days. So it is natural when you go through trauma like this to ask “Why?” However, I have found through this and other things like this in life that the question of “Why” is not nearly as important as first asking “Who?” and then asking that Who “What?” What are you saying Lord. These things are happening and the Grace that you brought through this child that laid in that manger now allows me to hear from You. To have ears to hear. What do want to say? What do I need to see? How do I need to respond?
How do I know the shepherds had ears to hear and responded to this message? How do we know? They said so. “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They recognized that what had happened was from God and they responded with action. They were afraid but the message was clear and they followed. They didn’t just talk about what they saw and how cool it would be to go and worship in theory. They responded and worshiped. They went and found Jesus and glorified him in the only way they knew how. I would love to have been there to see these bunch of rednecks worship. “That sure is a purty Savior baby aint it?”
Whatever they did was effective. Scripture here shows us: “And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” We see that the shepherds story was a topic of conversation and people that heard it wrestled with it. We see that is was a blessing to Mary and we see that it changed them. They returned praising God for what they had experienced. They lived out the Glory of God and in turn, worshiped I believe in Spirit and in Truth.
So the message to us is the same today. A child has been born. A Savior has been sent. He is the Good News and the Joy. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Do you have ears to hear this morning? How do you know you have ears to hear? You are serving, sharing, living and loving.
Is God speaking to you to respond in worship of Him, to maybe give some of the glory that you are giving to yourself to Him? Is He allowing you to see more and more of Who He is and who you are not?
If so, that may scare you. It is not easy to know that we are not what we think we are and we cannot do what we think we can do. It is a startling thought to recognize that we cannot save ourselves or that our degrees, our grades, our family history or good works (however many they may be) cannot save us.
Maybe you don’t get it. Maybe this is so foreign and out there that it all seems like I have been speaking German. Then I dare you to ask God to give you ears to hear. Ask Him to show Himself and who He really is. Go home today and read the book of John and you will see Him, I promise.

The Flounder of Holidays

Whether it is Wal-Mart, TBS or my wife, one thing really bothers me. I hate it when Christmas stuff starts appearing and taking center stage before Thanksgiving has come and gone. I hate it when Wal-Mart becomes Santa's Third World Country Sweat Shop of Love. I hate it when The Grinch That Stole Christmas is broadcast on November 14th. I hate it when Christmas music fills the house when we haven't even reached Turkey Day yet. It is as if we are opening the door to see that it is Thanksgiving and saying "Screw You! Go back to the Nerd Holiday Hole with Arbor Day and Boxing Day!" We treat Thanksgiving like Larry and Kent "Flounder" Dorfman from Animal House when they went to the Omega house and were promptly taken to the area of the room with the Indian guy, the blind guy and kid picking his nose. Thanksgiving comes along every November and we take it by the shoulder and bring over to the couch and introduce it to Presidents Day and Earth Day and say "Well that's great, you guys will get along well. Stay here and get to know one another.", as we run back to dance to Christmas tunes played by Otis Day and Knights. "Wait till Otis sees us! He loves us!"

I know what you're thinking: Why can't I have a moral conscious like Ryan? Why doesn't this same genius fall on me like it does Ryan? Why can't I be more like Ryan and enjoy Thanksgiving without offending it by looking at the cute holiday right behind it?

I don't know Pedro, but I will pray that Thanksgiving takes it's rightful place among American Holidays even if it has to assault us in a armored Lincoln Continental inside a Turkey float that has the words "EAT ME" across the side of it. Maybe then we will learn to care. Maybe then we will be a little more human.

Oh by the way, feel free to send my wife a note and congratulate her on finding the "Holiday Sounds" channel on our cable.

Top 10 Things I learned on Twitter Today

10. Matt Yakel is at war with his printer at work. TRANSLATION: Matt needs to get out more.

9. Fallon had a horrible case of the Mondays and hates parking in downtown OKC. TRANSLATON: Fallon needs to stay in more.

8. Cara Yakel threw a kid out of class today. TRANSLATION: Cara needs anger management classes soon.

7. Matt Duke has a crazy name like SOH Priest for his Twitter account. TRANSLATION: I will get an e-mail later explaining what it means and how out of touch with Charles Spurgeon I am.

6. I may have to fly to Oklahoma to beat up some Freshman in college. TRANSLATION: Cara is rubbing off on me.

5. Geoff Moore is not mentioned nearly as much on Twitter as he is on this blog. TRANSLATION: Some things just can't be explained.

4. Matt Yakel, Matt Duke and I are going to reenact the fax machine beating scene from Office Space. TRANSLATION: Cara's influence is epidemic.

3. Matt Yakel has a crack problem. TRANSLATION: Wouldn't you if you had to live with that angry ogre?

2. Food stamps in Oklahoma can be used to buy cigarettes. TRANSLATION: See explanation note for #5.

1. None of us got a single thing done at work today. TRANSLATION: Tomorrow is another day.

The Next Great President

Here is the short list of who I believe would have made the best President in this last election.

1o. Osama Bin Laden - When he shows up to the inaguration, we shoot him. Duh, come on people work with me here. Sure it will hurt for a while to have your President shot, but it will be fine because his Vice President, Clay Aiken, will step in.

9. Elmo - Could it really be that much of a intellectual change from W?

8. Ronald McDonald - His great plan for America will be the Great Happy Deal: A Mcrib in every pot.

7. John Hagee - For those of you who don't know who he is ... well, don't waste your time. It would be a hoot though.

6. Hulk Hogan - Because he has done such a solid job with his own family. I'm just sayin'.

5. Yoda - "Govern you, I will."

4. Theo Epstein - Seriously, the guy led the Red Sox to win the freaking World Series. My guess is that if he had all of the United States to choose from, he could even find a real shortstop as well.

3. My neighbor Steve - Seems like a nice guy, likes NASCAR and hates Jeff Gordon. Same qualifications as W. Actually more qualified than Obama.

2. Jaime Farr (The guy who played Klinger on MASH) - I doubt he is very busy and if we ever get in real trouble and he wants out, he puts on a mu-mu and then hilarity and hi jinks ensue in the Oval Office.

1. Elmer Fudd - "SSSSHHH ... I'm hunting Bin Wadin..."

See what this stupid political season has driven me to. Praise God it is over.

Brian "Barnabus" Omulokoli Eulogy

In some ways, I feel like we are here to memorialize a superhero; like we are here to memorialize Batman or Captain America. Hearing these stories told and songs sung about someone really makes me think that this is an enormous task to memorialize such an amazing life. I don’t think Barnabus had any superpowers, although I did see him run really fast and beat Shawn Elledge in a foot race in the parking lot of the I-Max theatre. However, I don’t think Barnabus possessed any real comic book like super powers.

However, when we look at the life that this young man lived, it is easy to see how people can talk so lovingly and heroically about Barnabus. Take for instance the story Barnabus’ mom, Rose, tells about how as a kid, she would buy him a suitcase full of clothes, then leave for a while and when she would return, Barnabus would have given the whole suitcase full of clothes away to the workers of the village and surrounding areas. Finally after numerous suitcases full of clothes, she stopped getting onto him and she, instead, helped him simply give the clothes to the people in need as well. Or there was the time that she bought him a brand new coat here in America because the winters were a bit different than in Kenya. Rose sent Barnabus out with his new coat on the bus. When he returned home, he was without the coat and she began to scold him about losing something that cost so much. When she finally came around to asking where it was, he told her it was with a friend. She asked who this friend was and who his or her parents were so they could go get the coat. Barnabus then explained to her that the friend he gave the coat to was not a friend from school, but rather an older gentleman who looked down on his luck and cold and besides, he didn’t know who the man’s parents were.

Well there were these other legendary times while Barnabus was employed by J Sarge to be the math tutor and like most jobs, Barnabus was only paid for the hours he worked as a tutor on campus . Regularly, Barnabus would invite people to his house after the tutoring center closes because he hated telling people that he couldn’t tutor them after hours. Many family members and friends encouraged Barnabus to become a private tutor and charge those who came to his house for his time, but Barnabus just couldn’t do it. He just had to help those people who needed help and he couldn’t even think about charging them.

You know, now that I think back to all the story of heroism that I heard from people about Barnabus, I believe there may actually be some superpowers there that we need to examine. Maybe it is the superpower of giving. He gave more than anyone else I knew. His Mom said he had a special way about him where he could never say no to anyone. He would simply help everyone at anytime. He simply put himself aside for other people.

Maybe his superpower was encouragement. I am guessing there will be many smiles on many faces right now when I simply mention the thought of Barnabus’ smile. It wasn’t only his smile that was encouraging; he had a way with words as well. He could let you know how special you were as a human being and give you practical advice for how to best accomplish your dreams.

Maybe his superpower was wisdom. If you ever talked politics with Barnabus, you may not have agreed with everything he said, but he was very wise about his view of whatever situation you were talking about. If you were ever blessed enough to study the Bible with Barnabus, you know that his silence meant that he was developing some insightful wisdom about the scripture that he would deliver in a humble, low unassuming voice which was known to make people around him simply sit stunned in awe.

I know what you are thinking, “There are no such things as superpowers. What is this nutjob in a suit talking about?” All I can do today is present to you what everyone who knew Barnabus knows. Barnabus had the capacity to love, serve and encourage in a way that was beyond human. So what was behind Barnabus’ abilities? I believe the answer may have been found as I read a few of his journal entries. In a line titled “The American Dream through the Holy Spirit”, Baranabus had this verse from Galatians:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Gal 5:22-23)

You see Baranbus really did posses superpowers. He was given the fruit of the Spirit because of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins. Barnabus not only believed in Jesus or had faith in Jesus, he lived Jesus. He became more than someone waiting to get to heaven, he lived life here as if somehow he could make a difference and make this place look a little more like heaven.

Here is the point to Barnabus’ life: He knew all life was a blessing of the grace of Jesus and he lived, not to be a nice person and have Jesus greet him last Sunday and say, “Thank you for being a great guy and helping all of those people. That was really nice of you. Come over here and talk about that with Me.” No, Barnabus lived life that he knew was not his own. He lived the gift of life out loud not for his own glory, but for the glory of Jesus. He hoped that after he finished helping you with your Calculus or Trigonometry, that you would have encountered the love of Jesus. He hoped that by him helping you move or by giving you the shirt off his back, you would remember the love of Jesus, because it was that love that compelled him to live out supernatural service, encouragement and love.

On many occasions, Barnabus spoke about his need for a Savior as well as the need of his country, continent and new home here in America to confess their sin as well and receive salvation from Jesus. You see, the Bible is very clear that all have sinned. We all worship things that are not God. Barnabus often commented about the trap of material things here on earth that distracted him from his first love. He knew that these fleeting things could not sustain, could not fulfill. He also knew that he did pursue those things as well and worship them, created things, instead of the creator and that was sin.

Barnabus knew that his sin separated him from God. He became aware from his Grandfather, that sin is an offense to God and creates separation from God that we cannot cross back to God on our own as well as a penalty that we cannot pay. He was also aware that sin destroys him. We prayed many times about having a pure heart free from the effects of sin.

Barnabus believed that in order to be rescued from his sin, he needed someone who could save him. He knew he could not do it on his own. His grandfather again taught him about Jesus and His payment for what we owed to a Holy God because of our sin. He learned that Jesus took our place even though Jesus’ life was absent of any sin.

Barnabus’ life is a testimony to the renewing power of Jesus grace and mercy. He was led to Jesus by his grandfather and Barnabus confessed his sin and surrendered his life, all the decisions, all the plans, all the desires to Jesus and began to live as His Word directed him to live. Do you want to know the source of Barnabus’ superpowers? It is the promise that once a person surrenders their life, Jesus takes residence in your heart. He sends His Spirit to live in us and guide us to live a life holy and pleasing to God. Do you see it? This is why Barnabus could live such and extraordinary, superpowered life, because it was not Barnabus, but Christ who lived in Barnabus who compelled, equipped and guided him to live in such supernatural ways.

As I prepared for this time, I knew that Barnabus would be very disappointed if I didn’t let you know that you have the opportunity to surrender your life to Jesus today. If you ever admired the heart of Barnabus or his ability to be selfless or his desire to see humanity be better, then pray today and ask Jesus to save you from the penalty and consequences of your sin. Barnabus’ life and now his death is being used to communicate Christ’s love to you today. Listen and respond in prayer.

So what about Barnabus now? Where is he? He is with Jesus. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, he was surrounded by two thieves. One of those thieves, that very moment, worshipped Jesus as God and Jesus said, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Today, Barnabus is with Jesus in paradise. Psalms 84 gives us amazing insight into what it’s like to be in the presence of King Jesus:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

(Psa 84:1-12)

Despite my initial shock and sadness over losing a dear friend, it was another dear friend who reminded me of:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

(1Th 4:13-16)

You see, finally today, we do not mourn because we will not see Barnabus again or because we are unsure as to where he is. No we mourn today because we love him and miss him. Our mourning today is for us and that is OK. Jesus mourns with us. What we can’t do is be fooled to think for one second, Barnabus would choose to leave the side of his King right now. He is too busy dancing and singing in honor of Jesus, because being near Jesus makes you want to dance and sing. So let’s sing today. Let’s celebrate a life poured out for Jesus. Let’s celebrate by praying for ourselves to mourn and heal. Let’s pray to accept the gift of salvation today. Let’s celebrate by singing about the glory and majesty of Jesus. Let’s celebrate by mirroring the generosity and selflessness of Barnabus by giving as God leads to help his family get him back to Kenya for burial. Let’s celebrate by being one in Christ today. Quite simply, let’s celebrate because Barnabus did an amazing job showing us how.

Brian "Barnabus" Omulokoli, My friend

I woke up this morning knowing that I had a very important meeting with a man from a missionary sending agency that was critical to our support and ministry here in Massachusetts. I slept in due to a very long weekend at our Fall Retreat and a long day of service and ministry yesterday at church. I quickly jumped in and out of the shower and began to dress for the day. Our washer broke, so we had the repairman here to look at it and tel us what needed to be done to fix it ($150 and about a weeks wait of course). As I was telling the girls and Christie goodbye, I got a phone call from my friend Matthew Ussery. I thought he was calling to tell me about his internship at his church or maybe what dumb thing the seminary had done now. I began blathering on about our church and how great it was to be in Western Mass really doing what I felt God had created me to do. I talked non-stop about discipleship and ministry. Matthew waited for a pause, by this time I was nearly at the end of my driveway. Then he said, "Speaking of people you have helped disciple, have you heard about Barnabus? I saw a conversation on Facebook about him dying yesterday." I heard the words and as my brain processed this information, my body went numb which unfortunately meant my hands and feet which were driving the van. The van rolled to a slow crawl as I began to listen to Matthew apologize for having to tell me this.

I turned the van around and ran into the house asking the girls to move from the computer so I could confirm what Matt was talking about. I got onto Facebook and saw message after message from my friends and students talking about Barnabus and how much they miss him. I got off the phone with Matt and looked at my phone and saw that I had my phone on silent and that I missed several calls and my friend Shawn Elledge who works at the North American Missions Board had left a message last night telling me that Barnabus had died.

Barnabus is gone. I will never be able to pick up the phone when I see Barnabus is calling and hear him say, "Hello Mr. McCullah." in his thick African accent. I will never get to see him dance again hear on earth. I will not get to celebrate when he goes to Virginia Tech which he so looked forward to.

I will however get to see Barnabus again. He is now walking alongside Jesus and singing praises to Him. He is dancing for Jesus, because being near Jesus and knowing Jesus just makes you want to dance. He is there because of Jesus, because of submitting his life to Jesus and trusting that in Him is real life.

I will see Barnabus again. My heart hurts until then.

Aug 31 Sermon from Mercyhouse

So I am worn out. So worn out that being goofy and writing a lot is simply not an option right now. However, I did preach a sermon and here it is.

Later,
Ryan

Breaking the wind beneath my wings.

I was joking around with one of my good friends at our goodbye dinner and we began sharing our true feelings about how we felt toward one another. We rotated sharing and it went something like this.

Ryan: "James, did you every know that your my hero?"
James: "Really? Well, you're everything I wished I could be."
Ryan: "Oh James, I can fly higher than an eagle, because you are the wind beneath my wings!"

This was followed by a fair amount of manly hugging and giggling.

I then began to tell James the story of how in high school, at one of the graduations one year, this song was actually sung during the graduation ceremony. It got me to thinking.

I wonder if they were aware of what exactly this song was saying and who it was being said to? So let's begin with the first lyric, "Did you ever know that you're my hero?" Really? A pimply faced 18 year old who managed to show up to class more often than he didn't and who has a 95% chance of misspelling "Baccalaureate" is your hero? What sad existence do you live in when this is your hero? How do we live in a society that lauds the great accomplishment of a student graduating high school along side a life long mentor or a rescue worker. Let's see, a kid goes to school for 12 years and doesn't flunk out or a fireman pulls a baby from a burning building. Now be careful, what if I told you that student had to take Geometry? Holy Crap Ronda, fire up the karaoke machine I gotta reward this kid with some Bette Midler.

This reminds of Chris Rock. For those of you that believe in this sort of thing (I don't, because I don't see color), Chris Rock is apparently African American. Ad for those of you that believe again in this sort of thing, I am apparently what is referred to as Caucasian or Pasty-White. With that being said, feel free to let your mind wonder to Michael Scott doing his best impression of Chris Rock as I recount this joke. Chris Rock tells the story of going back to his neighborhood and talking with people back there and before he knows it, people are asking him to buy them cars or give them money. He asks them why he should do that and they respond "Because I haven't been to jail." or "I take care of my family and support my kids". He then begins a funny tirade yelling at them about how they are supposed to not be in jail and they are supposed to take care of their kids.

Singing this song is a lot like that. We have people sing sappy crap like this at graduations, because we are sad that these kids are old enough to be graduating, not because graduating high school is some hero making accomplishment. Like Chris Rock said, you're supposed to graduate. It's not that big a deal. So here is my hope. When it comes time for high school graduation next year, act like your going to give the graduate a big hug, then right before you embrace, smack them on the back of the head and say, "What are you standing here for? We could have put a monkey in a cap and gown and marched him across the stage tonight and had him do what you just did. Go to college, get a job, and make something of yourself. Quit just standing here Nancy!"

Deep down, I think they will appreciate the encouragement.

It's coming...

Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for...





Wait


for



it....

If I had my way...

This trip to Oklahoma has been a blessing and a curse at the same time. We have had an amazing time with so many of our friends and family and at the same time we know that the time will come soon (next week to be exact) when we will have to leave and go back to telephone and Internet relationships. So in honor of that, let me dream a bit about what a perfect Ryan constructed world would be like. Consider this like an alternate universe for all you comic book geeks or Neverland (not to be confused with Neverland Ranch) for everyone else.

Our family would live in a town outside of the Bible Belt where few people know Jesus and we would be planting a church. The staff would include our future ministry team at Mercyhouse and our new friends from Fuelchurch in Poteau and the same excitement and hope would be leading us that is leading them toward the cross right now. My great friend Matt Duke would be our lead elder and specialize in ministering to Chicago Cub fans who are crushed yearly by the expectations of a World Series. His wife, Angie Duke, would serve as our Care ministry coordinator and minister. She would take care of all the felt needs of people that will build bridges to eventually carry the weight of the gospel. My friend Matthew Ussery would help me teach and stay theologically straight as we ministered together. He could also relate to the Cub fans because he is from Seattle.

On staff with us would be my great friend Josh Craig who would serve alongside my father in law, Robert Beavers as the counseling ministry and team of our church. When those Cub fans sink into that deepest depression, they would go see Josh and Robert and they would walk them through what it takes to connect with Jesus again. These guys would help our church go where few churches have gone before as we communicated through, prayed through and faithed through setting up a proper foundation of where church and community coexist with counseling and health.

Our staff would also include my next great friend Will Joyce who would head our arbitration and reconciliation ministry. Will would be available to the community and area to help arbitrate and settle disputes between people who simply can't come to a resolution, but trust the character of the church and Will so much that they will live by what he and his ministry team decide.

My mentor Tom Westbrook and his family would be the patriarchs of the church, because every church needs Godly leadership and a wise kick in the backside every now and then. Tom has a rich history of kicking my backside.

My wife Christie would partner with our dear friend Kelly Carlson to lead a ministry that engages in the lives of International Students and provides practical service and ministry to these overlooked segments of American population. Cara Yakel and Brittany Gumm would both lead various parts of this ministry to reach these students and without a doubt, this ministry would be full of compassion and mercy with these three precious women involved.

The graphic design and video team of our church would be beyond belief. My great friends John Carlson, Kelly's husband (he loves being introduced that way) and Cara's husband Matt Yakel (he doesn't mind so much), would lead a talented team of designers and Mac lovers that would include our friends, Jace Tuttle, Josh Craig's soon to be fiance, Emily, our amazing friends Matthew and Michelle Thorne. There would not be a video and design team more creative, talented or fun in all the world.

Our church would offer a free clinic for people to find basic medical and developmental needs and our friends Paul and Shanda Yasuda would lead this ministry as Will Joyce's wife, Rachelle would also work with kids with speech problems to help them in whatever developmental problems they may have. My sister in law Kara would help kids who are having trouble in school or learning situations by ministering to help their families recognize what might be going on from a learning development situation. Our precious cousin Jennifer Richards would help organize and distribute the needed medicine in this clinic.

My brother Justin McCullah would lead the sports and recreation ministry of this church. His wit and wisdom that he uses daily as a coach in OKC would serve him well as he provides opportunities for ministry in a fun way. Jennifer's husband, Fred Richards would help take care of the Golf Tournaments and grounds of this church. Christie's brother, Michael Beavers, would be in charge of leading all hunting and fishing expeditions. And this ministry alone would be grounds for more competition, male testosterone and turned ankles than any other ministry.

I would try to convince my friends Colt Westbrook, Eric Meyers and/or Jason Goodson to come lead the band of our church. Many of those that I already mentioned would add to this team that would lead us weekly (daily?) into the presence of the King through song.

Our friend Fallon Brooks would give direction to the buildings and the structure of what we would need from a campus perspective. She would also serve, along with Brittany Gumm, as encouragement coordinator, simply by being who they are today and a testimony to what Jesus has and can do in the lives of people who seek Him.

My dad, Gene McCullah would fix all the little things that might go wrong on these building and grounds. His wife Joanne would help us figure out how to pay for all of this ministry stuff and be the minister of Ooey Gooey Butter Cake.

Our mom's, Vickie Jirash and Judy Beavers, would provide the grandmother touch for all the children that are involved in such a dream like this. They would lovingly guide and represent what is best about family. Between these two, these kids would be blessed with the gift of music, reading and the best brownies you have ever tasted in your life. They would be helped by Terrie Brown and Ashley Barry who would give love and compassion daily as well. Our Sister-in-Law, Meagan Beavers would be in charge of the animal rescue shelter and coordinating the kids time playing with and learning about all of the animals.

I would have all of our other friends and family attend this church and we would work to love and serve the community at large. We would also partner with, support and pray for our missionary friends like, many of whom are in crazy places of the world that would don't look kindly upon missionaries. (This may or may not be a veiled attempt to point fingers at Massachusetts.)

If we had all of these people doing all of these things, then I could simply slide fully into my role of minister of janitorial services and enjoy the beauty of what God would do through a team such as this.

I know this is a dream only. Truth is, if I lived around most of you for an extended period of time, you would want to shoot me in the face with a high powered rifle. But, I hope this communicates the encouragement that I take from each of you and your families. It has been amazing to see what amazing husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, friends, leaders and followers of Christ you have all become where you are. I am sure that God's plan of having you where you are and taking us where we are going is part of His greater plan to spread His fame.

Satan's Pillow

As many of you know, we are on a tour of Oklahoma, seeing family and sharing the vision of what God is doing in our lives. We are blessed to have family that will love us and allow our children to "redecorate" their houses. (Mikiah is making a fine wallpaper stripper. That almost sounds dirty.) We have been made comformtable and shown love everywhere we have been.

However, there is one thing that must be addressed to all of America and the world. I believe it is at the core of why America's ecomony is slipping, we are paying $4 for gas and the borders are not secure. The reason for all of these things is this pillow that you see here. Apparently it is called a Gathered Pillow Sham. All I can say (actually that is not true, but it is a figure of speech) is that it certainly is a sham... a sham of a pillow!

Somewhere, the woman who invinted this tool of Satan is smiling and laughing aware of the evil that she unleashed on the world at large. How do I know it is a woman responsible for this? LOOK AT IT! No man in his right mind would create that on the sewing machine, stand back and marvel "Holy crap Jeff, I think I just made sumfin good here."

I'm not a moron. (Stop laughing!) Iknow that these things are more for looks than anything, but every bed I have slept in has had pillows like this stacked on them that look like a challenge from Double Dare. I am afraid to remove them the wrongway or else I will get slimed. It is like culling through the carcassas of the dead on the battle field in order to find a place to erect a statue in your honor.

This thing is a pillow, usually really flat or extremely plump, with a frilly piece of cloth sewed around it. It serves no purpose and is impossible to sleep on. The frill sticks out and ends up tickling your nose or stuck in your mouth. (Where is your hand? Between two pillows. Those aren't pillows!)

I can't help but believe that these things are the great symbol of the feminization of the American Male. They are placed there to say "Look at us, we're a pillow...a special pillow just for you big boy." We as men don't want and shouldn't have to settle for "special" pillows; we want plain, white and firm.

Now for a man pillow, you must go to the body pillow. Seen here. That is a pillow with a purpose. It is for the man to wrench and wrestle into submission, then pass out on top of. Man pillow. Pillow of the man. Do us all a favor and help stop blatant liberalism and make the switch today.

Confessions of an Addict

Isn't it amazing what stress does to us? It is 12:22 AM early Saturday morning and I am writing this because I have seen first hand what stress does to me.

Let me tell you a little about me first of all. I am an addict. I am easily addicted to things. Things in general. If something gives me a certain feeling or I can elicit a certain response with something or by doing something, chances are that I will do that thing or seek out that thing for a long, long time. Here is the ironic, goofy and fitting part of this addiction in my life: I am not addicted to the usual suspects (drugs, alcohol, sex, etc.). My addictions are much more subtle, socially acceptable and for me, dangerous. When I get stressed, I look for comfort from television, entertainment, food and pride.

Here is an example, and you will find this hard to believe, but it is a true story. In 1986, my dad, brother and I went to get a haircut at the local barber in Heavener, Oklahoma. My brother and I got our hair cut first. (It was easier to place the bowl on our heads and cut one solid line around our head first I guess.) On this particular early spring day, I convinced my dad to let us go down the street to the local pool hall and arcade and play pool. He said yes and we were on our way. When we arrived, we began to play pool and I noticed a juke box on the wall and I walked over to it and began looking for my favorite song, (remember, I am not making this up) "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship. Sure enough, the song was on there and I plugged in my money and I played the song. Then I saw that I could play other songs, so I plugged it in again, and again, and again, until "We Built This City" was played 14 straight times as we played pool. The other patrons of this pool hall were not too pleased, but it was my money and they couldn't say much. Here is the other ironic thing, I had the tape by Jefferson Starship, Knee Deep in the Hoopla in the car and we played it all the way home.

I just recently finished the whole series of 7th Heaven that we Tivoed. I am constantly watching, listening to or participating in something in order to keep from thinking.

So what have we learned, besides Ryan was raised on and addicted to really crappy music? I find comfort in entrainment. I find comfort in familiarity. I begin to seek these things out and hope that they will provide the stability, safety and salvation that I desire. Jefferson Starship couldn't in 1986 and my veiled attempts to settle for entertainment now are only mud pies in the proverbial slum. My holiday in Christ awaits and I have settled.

I write all of this tonight, because I crawled into this addiction tonight and I didn't want to get out, even when a dear friend came over for dinner. I chose to cling onto what I felt like was giving me comfort and worth. I sinned against her. I feel like an absolute a-hole. There is no excuse for my actions and I simply missed the mark.

My comfort, safety, well-being and life are all found in Jesus alone. I am finding the stress of life right now is causing me to desire these escapes more and more recently. My Tivo is full of shows that I want to watch and get lost in. My ipod is full of sermons, songs and comedy that would sweep me away with a touch of a button. I cannot settle for these things. My focus must be on Jesus. I hand them to Him and ask Him to redeem them if they can be redeemed and give them to me when they can glorify Him in my life.

Sizing up El Guapo

"In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be *the actual* El Guapo!"

Steve Martin as Lucky Day,

Three Amigos

I want to write a little bit about our El Guapos, maybe more for my own sake than anything else. I write this to chronicle what God is doing and will do only. I fully expect at some point in the future to look back on each of these things and write about how God worked them out. So here are our El Guapos.

• Last November, believing it was the right thing to do for our financial future, we consolidated almost all of our debt into a home equity loan. It upped what we had in the house, but we felt we were actually doing the right thing getting ahead of our "bad debt". So now we have no wiggle room in dropping the price of our house.
• Since we put the house on the market nearly two months ago, the market has been flooded with houses the same size as ours (if not bigger) and listed at lower prices.
  
• We put down first month's rent on a house in Massachusetts that seems to be a great fit for a church plant, but it is not without it's issues; namely, work on a bathroom and a security deposit that we simply don't have the money for right now.
• Our fund raising has been sporadic, at best, so far. We need $5000 a month, right now we have $1965 pledged.
• We have $1000 pledged to help us move. That might get us to Fredricksburg, maybe.

If we planned this ourselves, then I would feel a lot like Dusty Bottoms in this quote:

Dusty Bottoms: Time for plan B. Plan A was to break into El Guapo's fortress.
Carmen: And that you have done, now what?
Dusty Bottoms: Well we really dont have a plan B. We didn't expect for the first plan to work. Sometimes you can overplan these things.

We didn't come up with this on our own. If I had, I would be ministering to Oklahoma Sooner Football players and rich oil men. God called us to this. We are sure of this. Our faith grows.
Thanks for letting me mourn out my fear.

RYan

Urinating near a traffic jam

Yesterday, we finished our visit up to Massachusetts to prepare for our move in August. It was a great time had by all and we were able to find a great house near the town that we are looking to plant in. (Praise God! Thank You Jesus! Now we need $3000 for security deposits and rent. Praise God! Thank You Jesus!)

So yesterday, we drove over 500 miles from Massachusetts to just south of DC in a little over 6 hours. Once we got south of DC on 95 however, we went the last 70 miles in 4 hours. This included over a 2 hour dead stop in the middle of 95. On my list of things I hoped to experience before I died, "being in a traffic jam at midnight on 95 south of Washington DC" was just below "live in efficiency non-air conditioned apartment with hairy, fat sweaty man during summer".

One of the issues surrounding this traffic jam was the fact that I had been pounding Invigorating Water for the 500 miles leading up to the stoppage of progress. Naturally, once the worlds largest automotive conga line was formed, Ryan needed to relieve himself. Being a man, I am equipped to "make this happen" and I did. However, as I drained the main vein, I thought about what precautions I would take to carry out such action if this were happening in the day time. It then led me to think about what deep spiritual implications that had and how we do things in the dark that we would'nt do in the light. All of this deep theological thought caused me to loose focus and I "dribbled" all over my foot and sandle. Stupid deep thoughts.

The Ask God List

Theologically, I'm not really sure that what I am proposing is even possible and I know that this silly list will be of the last concern when I actually do get to heaven, but while I am still in the middle of writing really serious stuff (sermons, bible studies, last will and testaments) I needed to drain the silly out of my brain and this is what came to mind first.

There are big things I want to ask God like these:

1. Do you really pick and choose like a 2nd grader playing "Duck, Duck, Damn"?
2. If our ideas of "fair" are not so important, why were we made to be so consumed with "fair"?
3. There really was not Plan B after Eden was there, it was Plan A (the cross) the whole time, right?

Then there is a supplementary list that, honestly, I spend more time thinking about. Such as...

1. Who would win in a fight, Batman or Captian Ameirca?
2. Is Starbucks coffee laced with crack, like I suspect it is?
3. Would my head explode if I listened to a CD of a band composed of Jimmy Page, John Fogerty, the one armed drummer from Def Leppard, Anthony Micheal and all lyrics written by Rich Mullins? (Shoot, my head is about to explode just typing this and thinking about it?)
4. Squirrels - jumpy - The only logical conclusion is that acorns are laced with crack as well. Am I onto something there? (Note to self, eat acorn before the end of the day, to test brillant theory)
   
5. Would the Apostle Paul cuss if he had to put $4 gas in his car? I thought so.
   
6. My friend Will just texted me this one and I think it is a good one: Is there water on Uranus? Wait a minute..., that is hilarious... water on your.... I'll go to hell if I ask God that Will, so I can't ask that one. Sinner.
   
7. What is Your favorite number? Mine is 4 then 3 then 9 then 4 again.
8. OK, you can shoot straight with me, Amy Winehouse is an alien from another planet, right?
9. Can we have a one on one round robin tournament in heaven between the clones (because all of these people may not make it to heaven) of Dr. J, Micheal Jordan, Magic Johnson, Pistol Pete Marivich, Tiny Nate Archibald, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird and a play in game between John Havlicek and Kobe Bryant?
   
10. Can I ride on the ark?

So there it is. The list so far. Just a thought

Unicorns and Halley's Comet

I was watching TV this afternoon in between writing Bible studies and I was blessed to observe something as rare as unicorns grazing in your back yard and attending Halley's Comet watch parties. As I flipped channels, I landed on ESPN2 and the Euro 2008 (soccer, futbol) and I actually got to watch a live goal being scored by one of the many European clubs that is not the United States of America. I could not believe my eyes when the player (Vooucovic or Shamalamadingdong or something like that) controlled the ball near the goal and kicked past the goalie. After seeing this, I immediately knew that I had witnessed history because goals are not scored every game in soccer. I gathered the girls around me and told them to remember this moment because they may never get to witness this again.

I wiped the tear from my eye and told the girls to go journal their feelings. It was a special moment.