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Archives for: August 2009
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August 30 2009
by Ron Rose 
Reunions are like rest stops on the road of life--a Kodak moment on life's journey. They are standalone experiences shared by people of the past, milestone friends who remind us of who we used to be. These friends in place and time prepared us for adventure. Each was filled with unknown dreams and abilities, hidden for a time, underneath the ever-present need to be accepted.
It was my first high school reunion, Richmond Union High School class of 1964.
For a few days prior to the reunion, I visited the old haunts, Giant Hamburger, Casper Hotdogs, McDonald Ave, Nicholl Park, and Alvarado Park. Much had changed, but it was still my "place," my sights and sounds and smells; it was my used-to-be world. Regardless of the changes, the places triggered memories that hadn't seen the light of day in decades.
Finally, I visited my old schools; the only one that had survived the years a without a total mutation was my grade school, Riverside Elementary.
I stood there looking at that small little building that looked so big in 1951. The memories swarmed in random order, one stacked on another, till it was time to go. That place had blessed me before I knew it; as I returned to the car, I was preoccupied by a strange concoction of gratitude and satisfaction. I loved it.
Now to the reunion: It was great to reconnect with those "old people" who shared the same cafeteria food, wandered the same hallways, and sat through the same classes. A central table was filled with assorted yearbook pages and old pictures. The images prompted stories, some based on fact and others on fantasy. We shared place and time, but not secrets.
There were so many hidden stories, secrets that we thought no one else would understand. Truth was, everyone was hiding secrets. It was our desperate hope that at graduation we would finally be free, free of secrets, free of parents, free of authority, free of limitations, free of high school. But to our surprise, there was much more to learn.
Our high school years were really only "large group preparation" for the personal challenges of the real world. Those exciting years prepared us for what we have become. And, we are still unfinished. We are still morphing. With the passing of each year, we are becoming a better and better version of ourselves. In a truly wondrous journey, whether we know it or not, God is still shaping and mentoring us. He is connecting the dots and preparing us for life at the next level. There is always more.
I think there are those at every reunion who go hoping for a miracle; hoping someone notices them, sees past the name tag and discovers the treasure that is yet to be revealed. So many of us are still lost in mystery, yet to find our way. But we are always watching and listening, longing to be noticed. In some way, all reunion goers long to be noticed and remembered.
I discovered places are special because they remind us of people. Moments in time are remembered because of the people. Pictures are saved because they capture people. So you can still have a high school reunion even though the high school has been torn down. It's all about the people, the unfinished classmates.
I began the evening trying to remember names, but I left blessed by life. As I walked to the car, I was overwhelmed by that now familiar concoction of gratitude and satisfaction. I loved it.
August 17 2009
by Ron Rose
Lee wasn't having a very good year. He lost his job, his wife, and his friends. When his problems became public, his reputation in the community was tanked. Ashamed and embarrassed by the man they used to call Dad, even his kids turned against him. His family was paying a horrible price for his bad choices and private demons.
His life-long friends had deserted him and conveniently forgotten his name. No more backyard barbeques, no more hunting trips with the guys. In fact, no one even wanted to borrow his tools anymore.
Even his mom and dad had given up on him. The intervention failed. By everyone’s account, Lee was a lost cause. He was alone and hopeless.
His wanter had quit on him. He just didn’t have the desire to get better; his normal life was buried in the graveyard of the past.
Finally, Lee walked out—taking nothing with him but misery. Before long Lee sightings began to surface. The rumors poured in. Some reported his ghost like appearance; others talked of seeing the shadowy recluse hiding in the caves. Soon stranger things emerged: he was seen talking to himself, arguing with himself, yelling at himself. The stories of his craziness become legend. He refused to get close to anyone, but from a distance you could see the battle scars and sores that looked inhuman.
Lee felt more like a zombie than a human. His neighborhood was now more about death than life. In some bizarre way he had become the spokesperson for the shadow world. His only words were about despair and darkness.
But this day was not like all the others. This day felt strange.
He could sense something unwelcome even before he saw the strangers. Normally he had a routine for strangers: a little yelling, the wild eye stare, and a lot of swinging arms and rattling chains, whatever it took to keep people away; but, this visit had the feeling of anything but normal.
Part of him pulled back in fear and foreboding, while something deep inside him compelled him to move forward in spite of his panicked apprehension.
“What do you want with me? I didn’t ask for this. Get away. I just want to be left alone.”
Everything inside him poured out. Unified by panic, his personal demons gave voice to his fear. Together they cried, “Leave us alone.”
The gentle stranger asked, “What is your name?”
He responded, “My name is Lee…and his demons added “gion” (well, it could have happened that way).
Mark tells that story in chapter five.
It didn’t take long for Lee’s demons to assess the situation. Retreat was planned. “We are finished here. This guy is toast. He is wasted.
Send us into the pigs…that’s a sweet ride.
The stranger made it so. The pigs ran, not out of the area, but they did run out of land…over the cliff and into the Sea of Galilee.
Lee watched with new eyes. No more zombie; his past, his fear, his torment and shame and bitterness, his doubt and despair were buried in the sea. He was clean and fresh and free.
In that moment, everything changed.
He turned to Jesus, “I want to stay with you. I don’t know what’s next. I’ll just go with you. With you, I’m safe. OK, if I go with you?”
Jesus refused, “NO!”
Lee had become a chapter in God’s book. He was a walking miracle and therefore he had a story to tell.
Jesus said, “Go home to your family and friends and tell them what God has done for you.”
For Lee it was more than words. Lee was a new man, not a restored version of the old Lee. He was brand new, and that, well, is totally amazing.
If God can make Lee brand new, what can he do with you and me?
August 11 2009
by Ron Rose
The current economic recession is a gift! It's our time to shine, to make a difference in the lives of people around us. It's a Game Day for faith. Light is most dramatic and eye-popping when cast against a background of darkness and despair.
We are not called to be fans and spectators. We are called to be players. The recession crisis is a dramatic playing field for game day faith. I'm loving it. I'm pumped! How about you? This isn't a practice or a scrimmage; this is the time we quit talking and huddling. It's game day.
In spite of how things may look and feel, we are not alone in this, Believe it; we are never alone. We aren't just playing with his symbol on our jerseys, we play with his Spirit in our hearts. We play the game for him...in honor of HIS life, not ours.
Some of us have been on the couch so long, our faith is more talk than substance. The darkness has blinded eyes and invaded hearts.
I have a friend who is just about to give up. All he can see is failure and fear. Because his job search has come up empty and his prayers have seemed to come back marked "Return to Sender," he feels abandoned.
There are no magic words that can force a discouraged believer out of victimhood and hopelessness. There IS a hope option, however. It's right in front of us. God has placed his Hope smack-dab in the middle of the current crisis; His game plan is not found in denial or retreat or fantasy. It's found on the street where you live. It's your faith.
Can you see it? It's in the recession, in the job loss, in the hospital, in the total inventory of brokenness, failures, and challenges in your life. Thus far my friend is choosing to squirm in the mire of self-pity and nostalgia. He can talk about God's hope option, but he seems unwilling to leap, to trust it, to choose it.
What about you? Ready for action? Ready for God's game plan...his hope option?
Can you feel the excitement, the new season? No more excuses, no more complaining, or arguing, or blaming. No more armchair quarterbacking; no more analysis. It's time to play the game.
Get out of the huddle and get ready for God to call your number. It's time!
Remember the words from Hebrews 11, “It was by faith that…” you fill-in the name and the crisis. God is still using crisis times to put his people in the moment. It might begin…
By faith…Mel lost his job but that gave him free time to ask questions, the questions that could not be easily answered, the ones that encouraged a group of young men to listen carefully for the voice of God.
By faith…The accident put Ed in the hospital for a months, but those months opened his eyes to see the future in others before they could see it in themselves.
By faith…Sandy lived through her mother’s suicide and found her calling in encouraging and healing the brokenhearted.
By faith…Kathy reached out to a troubled imprisoned friend while “good church people” judged and shunned her for doing so.
By faith...Kent lost his savings and financial security, but found unexplainable joy in giving beyond his means. He chose to bless others, instead of worrying about how he was going to get by.
With faith, we see the future… we see what’s needed, what’s redemptive, what’s missing; we become agents of his mercy and grace and forgiveness and hope. So, are you in the game, or in the stands?
August 6 2009
by Ron Rose
During the last few months my online faith team outreach has lost major funding. We have paid the bills and kept the webpage going and growing, but salary needs have literally gone begging. Just as the ministry is poised for explosive growth, the money for salary slows to a trickle. Enough for ministry, but not for salary.
Last month I sent out this email:
"The request is simple: Can you help us meet salary for two months beginning asap? And/or do you have a project I could help with, or a website you want to build, or photos you need taken, or a writing project you need developed, anything I could do for you to supplement income in the next 90 days?"
God has humbled me. I don't like these kind of requests, but this is exactly what I believe God was leading me to do.
I have looked for writing jobs, for projects in communications, for photography and design projects, and for Press Agent gigs.
In all, I felt torn between God's calling and God's prevailing silence.
Then, in the midst of silience, came the unexpected. Donors responded with promises of August gifts, churches contacted me to speak, and a friend who is developing a new product called me to consult as a press agent.
The silence was just making room for the unexpected. We are not out of the woods, by any means, but God is present and faithfull.
I certainly identify with Jacob, who, overwhelmed with loneliness and alienation and anxiety, laid down on a rock to sleep. Then in his sleep God woke him up. It changed everything. When morning came his first words were, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it."
He's there... whether we know it or not!
August 3 2009
by Ron Rose
Check it out: Read Luke 18:16 NLT: Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God."
Now, let's wonder a minute...
These were little children, daycare-age, who were dependent and vulnerable; they were a long way from their potential adult value. Yet Jesus saw their worth and welcomed them as is... he blessed them... he expressed the good in them, before they were capable of seeing it in themselves. He opened the Kingdom door for them and without thought of positioning, or planning, or posturing they walked in.
The context here puts the focus not on their innocence, but on their lack of prominence in the culture. Little children were powerless; they had not earned status, or acclaim. Their potential had yet to be discovered. And, they had yet to be warped by control issues, or power plays, or political agendas. They didn't count in the adult world, so what could they bring to the Kingdom?
Nothing! That's it... nothing. It's not their Kingdom. They are just glad for the invite.
Are we there yet?
The secret behind this upside-down teaching of Jesus is that position, power, and prestige even in religious people is not what makes them Kingdom-worthy. We are not invited into the Kingdom because we are so strong, or good, or powerful. Church membership, years of Sunday School attendance, holy titles, an evangelical pedigree, the study of theology, doctrinal orthodoxy, and Christian friends don't open Kingdom doors. The only thing that opens the doors of the Kingdom is your personal awareness of your total need for God. That makes it all a 'God Thing.'
Jesus is still opening Kingdom doors for those who have nothing to bring, even if he has to knock us back to childhood for us get it!
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