Welcome to Joplin, Let's Roll Some T-Shirts

Monday was a day we had been waiting/preparing for since last August when the 2007 MOVE interns left Joplin. By the end of the day 20 of MOVE's 21 interns had arrived safely and participated in the now annual video scavenger hunt.

Tuesday was a day of talking and teaching - lots of orientation and explanation.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were very solid days of work. Lots of painting, building, and t-shirt rolling.

This group of interns has not disappointed. Their attitudes have been great and they have worked very hard. Personalities seem to be mixing well as do skill sets.

Amid all the good, challenges are beginning to emerge.

One intern is dealing with an uncertain medical situation of a parent.

Another intern got a call this morning that his family's home had been hit by a tornado overnight.

I am not the type to assume everything is an attack of Satan, but I have found that when people are in the process of serving that things tend to get thrown in their way. Sometimes they are simple distractions - a relationship that is new or one that is suddenly strained - other times it can be something dramatic or even devastating. I also believe that if Satan is going to attack, he will do it when Christ-followers are on the verge doing something that will advance Christ's Kingdom.

I am becoming more and more understanding of the importance of prayer as we serve as Kingdom Workers. Prayer is our primary mode of communication with God and He is the one that can sustain us in difficulties as we serve Him.

If you are reading this, please pray for the MOVE and Know Sweat interns. They are away from home and doing their dead-level best to focus on serving. Pray that God would protect them and sustain them through this summer. Pray also for CIY's staff as we prepare to embark on a summer of ministry.

All-Star Racing and Interns Arriving

I'm getting ready to mix two topics, hold on...

Last night's all-star race was pretty good - broadcast lasted forever. Racing was decent, but not great. Enjoyed watching Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin both lose an engine while leading. If only Jr.'s car had been stronger in the final segment so that he could have finished better than 8th. Easily the best call of the night was Kasey Kahne's crew chief deciding not to change tires before segment 4. Nothing in the first 3 segments had indicated old tires could compete with new ones. And yet Kahne managed to pull away from the field. The new car definitely favors track position in some cases because the way it runs in clean air is so different than in dirty air.

Changing topics...

The MOVE interns arrive tomorrow. Stop and read that again. Let it sink in. Now, pick yourself up off the floor, because they're coming. This date always sneaks up on me. I'm excited, but to be honest would love to have one more week to tie up loose ends before their arrival. Time to pull those belts tight one more time, here we go.

Welcome To Florence

I stumbled onto what could have been an incredible opportunity. I fortuitously flew into Florence, SC in route to Myrtle Beach to do a site visit for our MOVE event at the Sheraton Myrtle Beach coming up in June. What I didn’t know was that Florence is located 7 miles from Darlington, SC. To most that is meaningless, but this week that is where NASCAR nation is headed. I had no idea the track was that close. Had I known, I’d have been trying to catch a later flight out so that I could at least see the Cup cars practice or something. But alas there was no time for that, I never even got close enough to see the track.

But the real story here is the experience in the Florence airport. Think JIA with a snack bar. I guess technically it’s twice the size of JIA – 2 airlines, 2 gates, 4 rental car companies. I walked up to the security check point, just over an hour from flight time only to be told that they weren’t checking people in for that flight yet. It was like the usher at the movie theater telling you that they’re not seating for your movie yet because the previous one isn’t out. He of course waited until I had my shoes off, liquids, camera and laptop all out and in bins before asking which airline (didn’t even have to ask which flight) I was on.

So I grabbed my stuff and took a seat adjacent to the checkpoint. 10 or so minutes later I was back at the checkpoint – this time waiting in line – as I began the slowest security screening I’ve ever seen – including times when I’ve had my stuff “selected” for additional screening. The woman two people in front o f me tried to carry a 10-12oz. body spray or something on and was irritated like crazy when the guy told her she could take it back to her car, have Delta retrieve her checked luggage, or throw it away. “There goes $15…” she said as she tossed it (there’s always a trashcan conveniently located right there. By the time she got to the other end of the screening machine she was asking for the quart size Ziploc I’d offered her once already because they’d found something else (lotion this time I think and it was way larger than 3.4oz., but they were letting it go, and who really picked 3.4oz. as the allowable size? Are there products produced in that actual size? And is that a container size limit or can a larger container that isn’t full pass? And if so, who measures the amount and can they do it without ruining my shampoo? Anyone get the idea I think that 3.4oz. thing is random and not really keeping us safer? But I digress.).

Minutes later when I got to the other end of the screening machine I realized that the same lady that was watching things move through on the conveyor was also the one in charge of opening anything that didn’t look quite right. The guy at the other end was simply there to pre-screen (weed out those pesky liquids over 3.4oz.)

Now, they were nice, southern hospitality type of people, but it’s a darn good thing they only deal with 50 passengers at a time in very regular intervals or they would back up the entire commercial air system (you know how those things domino, Florence backs up the ATL, throws a wrench in O’Hare, and suddenly all planes are grounded nationwide).

I did do something on this trip that I don’t normally do. I refrained from checking a bag. Most of my trips don’t allow me that option – too many days to get away without a checked bag. I don’t really like having to drag all my stuff around airports with me, so even when I might be able to not check I tend to anyway to avoid the hassle of being so bulky and encumbered moving around whatever major airport(s) I’m flying through (10 hours of dragging all my stuff vs. 15 minutes waiting at baggage claim). The upside of course is that they can’t very well lose my luggage since it’s with me and when I hit the ground in Tulsa I’ll be out in my car before most of the people find their way to baggage claim – never mind waiting on their bags to eventually appear.

When it ALL Goes Wrong

For the second weekend in a row a great race ended badly. This time was much worse, in my opinion. Here’s the quick recap.

- Denny Hamlin lead 380+ of the 400 laps before a tire went down with less than 20 to go opening the door for Kyle Busch and Dale Jr. to fight it out for the win.
- With Dale Jr. up by just over 1 second (which is a significant lead in NASCAR with only 8 -10 laps to go), Hamlin’s tire finally blew and he stopped on the front stretch to draw the caution out so that he wouldn’t lose a lap changing it under green.
- After a restart, Kyle Busch pulled up under Dale Jr. going into turn 3, got loose and took Jr. out. The altercation left Clint Bowyer in the lead with Kyle Busch in second.
- The final restart (a green, white, checkered situation) saw Mark Martin challenge Kyle Busch for 2nd and gave Bowyer time to escape for unexpected win.
Now, for the assessment.

When the whole thing went down I was more annoyed with the cavalier driving of Kyle Busch, but after some time to think it over, if I were Dale Jr. I’d probably want to deck Denny Hamlin first (not that it would be appropriate or acceptable to do that) before dropping Busch.

Yes, Kyle took Jr. out. But it was Denny’s selfish, childish driving that caused the whole problem. If he would have gone to pit road before the tire blew or even if he hadn’t stopped on the track, the yellow that allowed Busch to get close enough to Jr. to take him out in the first place never would have happened. Hamlin was penalized 2 laps (not nearly enough in my opinion, but maybe he’ll think twice before doing that again) so it didn’t work out in his favor either, unfortunately he took out the rightful winner. Hamlin’s tire issue was no one’s fault. Jr. had the race taken from him by immaturity and…

Kyle Busch’s recklessness. Kyle is out of control most of the time and drivers generally stay away from him in order to avoid things like happened last night. It was a racing incident, but Busch lost control of his car and would have been in the wall himself (or at least would have lost positions from having to slow way down to save it) if Jr. hadn’t been next to him to catch him. Busch is a guy that runs his mouth a lot and probably should hire really good security teams to cover him at all times. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t handle himself in a pinch – did you see him run like a scared little girl when Steve Wallace grabbed his helmet on Friday night after the Nationwide race? He approached Wallace, ran his mouth and then ran when Wallace reached out of his car and grabbed Busch’s helmet.

Here’s the part of all of this that pains me. Both Busch and Hamlin drive for a man I respect deeply – Joe Gibbs (yes, the former Washington Redskins coach). Joe is a good man, a man of integrity by all accounts, but he has hired a group of 3 thugs to drive his cars. There was a time when I would have applauded Jr. choosing to race for Gibbs alongside Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin (who I hadn’t realized was such a punk back then). Stewart has always been a little bit of a loose cannon, but he’s been around long enough to choose his spots.

Unfortunately Busch and Hamlin are young, cocky, and need to have their attitudes adjusted. At one point in the race a comparison was drawn between the late Dale Sr. and Kyle Busch – with specific reference to the incident that took Jr. out. Let’s be clear. Dale Sr. did put some people in the fence on occasion and at times he was seen as a villain (before he became the most famous racer in history). BUT Sr. didn’t take people out because he was out of control. If he moved someone out of the way it was because they wouldn’t get out of the way. And in NASCAR, that is a distinction that matters. Moving people out of the way is acceptable – much like moving a hitter back off the plate in baseball – taking people out because you can’t control your car is not part of the deal. Sure, it’s going to happen, but when it does don’t come out of the car acting like it wasn’t your fault.

My advice for Jr.:
- Make peace with Gordon (and Johnson and Mears if needed) because you guys are going to have to start working together to break the stronghold Gibbs has on the series right now.
- Keep taking the high road. We all know you got ripped this weekend. Keep not lashing out in post-race interviews – that’s how you become a statesman in the sport, let others do the talking – you do the driving.
- Just keep racing, the drought will end. You’re going to get one or more wins this season, but don’t forget the big prize and you’re in a good spot to go after that right now.
- Paint your car black. Then follow Kyle around the track until he wets himself. Nah, not worth it. No one likes him anyway.

Connecting the Dots

I've been reading from the Old Testament lately and have noticed some things that are helping me to better understand why Jesus said certain things and why they would have resonated with the Jews He was mostly talking to. Here are two examples that may have been obvious to everyone else:

- His reference to "our daily bread" in the Lord's prayer would have invoked their memory of God providing manna in the desert that they had to gather daily. It was a lesson in daily dependence on God and in the prayer a request for that continued provision - though not necessarily in the form of bread showing up on the ground each morning.

- We always tell the story of Jonah and the big fish, but you don't hear much about what happens post-vomit - or at least I don't remember that being taught much in Sunday School as a kid. Jonah reluctantly goes and preaches to Nineveh, they repent, God spares them, and Jonah pouts. God comes along and teaches Jonah a lesson with a vine and a worm and then explains to Jonah that the people of that city needed mercy and to be taught (didn't know their right hand from their left). That (according to my NIV Study Bible notes) was an expression of God's desire to show fatherly compassion on them (even though they did not deserve it). This incident reminds me of the story Jesus told about the Prodigal Son. Remember, he runs away, parties till the the money is gone and then comes home. Everyone rejoices except the brother (who pouts). Finally the father explains to the brother that he will always love both his sons - even when one of them is doing something stupid. Jonah's attitude and that of some Jews in Jesus' day was that the Gentiles were not worthy of God's mercy and they preferred that the Gentiles be punished for their sin - without the opportunity to repent. In both cases God lets it be known that He doesn't usually work that way. I wonder if those hearing Jesus tell the story of the Prodigal Son were reminded of Jonah?

The more I study the Bible the more I realize that understanding context and culture really are key to understanding what the writers were trying to communicate.