First of all, let me say that service yesterday was fantastic. I got lost in the worship, but somehow stayed on the same page with the rest of the group. I guess that unity is what keeps us all connected, while still allowing us to worship with freedom. Tim had a good message, and I really enjoyed it. It was about community, and people in my stage of life are searching for that very thing - connection. Most of my friends are married now, but the few that aren't echo the same thought. Who am I supposed to be with and what am I supposed to do now? I saw this same principle a little differently while working with Andrew at Generations on Saturday as well. Nearly 30 LeTourneau students showed up to help with the remodel of our student center. All I can say is: "Wow!" When I was in college, I couldn't have even told you what 8:oo a.m. smelled like.

College students, young professionals, and the through-with-education-but-I-have-no-idea-what-is-to-come-next crowd are looking for direction, but we don't want anyone to know it. We want to be seen as people that have a clue, but we are scared to death that the clue that we have is wrong. Family, children, career, mortgage, and the pressure that is placed on us by not having all of these the way we should magnifies the sense of drifting that we experience. I have to admit that the pressure is unbearable at times. If it weren't for the comfort that I feel from my wife, I would not be able to keep my head up. She and my children keep me focused on the fun things of life while the tough things get worked out behind the scenes by God.

People that travel beside me on the road of life usually fall into two groups. The first is the group that has experienced the life-changing peace of salvation. This group usually sees the joy that is on the horizon (even though the clouds of turmoil block it from view sometimes.) They may not always be upbeat, but they know who they believe in. They trust that the hand that holds their future won't be arthritic or feeble. This idea is embodied in one family in my church that has really gone through it. The father of the family has been out of work for some time, and he has endured countless surgeries and bouts of terrible health. They are a young family with kids, and the stresses have really mounded up on them. The thing is, this man always greets me with a firm handshake, and a quirky smile. His joy is contagious, and I find myself smiling about the encounter with him even though the conversation has been over since yesterday morning. He is a fantastic person, and he doesn't deserve the pain that he has had to go through. He teaches me faith, because he holds his head up when mine is down just thinking about his troubles. To coin a phrase from him a few months back while he was undergoing yet another surgery: sometimes you just have to get up and say "Bob and weave, son...bob and weave (holding his hands up like Muhammed Ali.)"

The second is the group that has experienced the life changing pain of hurt and failure, and they don't want to leave themselves open to anything like that again. Pain makes them scared of giving way to vulnerability. It makes them a skeptic, and they have to see a record of perfect results before their hearts are opened to visitors. They are resolved to the idea that you keep yourself afloat - with or without any one's help. Any kind of trust that has been promoted has been a lie, or just an attempt to get something for nothing. Cynicism is the daily diet, and doubt is the delectable dessert at the end of the meal - because it usually does not let them down. Doubt and reservation are a means of survival, and anything preached that is contrary to that is highly suspect. Even though things around them seem to be closing in, they have made it this far and see no reason to change now. This is the people group that my heart bleeds for, maybe because I was one of them not too long ago. I remember the searing pain that would set in when I had no one to latch on to when my boat was taking on water. I just had to swallow my pain and start dipping the water out with my hands, hoping that it wouldn't sink me this time. It got harder and harder to find things to tie myself to, and I was running out of options fast.

Out of the blue, a hand reached out for me, and I had to grab it - I had no other options left. Whether I believed in it or not, it could at least buy me some time until something else floated by (notice I said something else, not something better.) I wasn't looking for something great, I was just looking for something, anything. I wish that I could say that I had some kind of Damascus road experience, but I didn't. It wasn't like I heard a voice boom from the heavens saying "follow me, and I will show you peace." I learned that true peace doesn't act that way, and I need to keep this in mind when I try to reach out to others in my previous situation. Small groups and discipleship training are great, but I need to not lose sight of the need that is present. People just want someone that they can connect to. If they wanted to buy what you were selling, they would probably be looking for a package deal that comes with a warranty - and you can't warranty it by yourself.

Truth is, the gospel doesn't need my help to do that anyway. The inspired word of God is just fine without my interpretation. I just need to keep my mind focused on the heart of the matter - love. From Genesis to Revelation, love is the thread that runs rampant throughout all of the bible that I have read. Christ was at his angriest when He saw how the religious leaders treated the "common folk." I am reading Matthew and Mark right now, and it tells of how incensed the Sadducee's and Pharisee's were when the heard of Jesus sitting down to dine with tax collectors and the scum of society. It seems that the scholars of the time had their own thing going that separated the less than desirable from their view, and they didn't want anyone messing with that. I can see the love of Christ at it's pinnacle when He prayed at the garden of Gethsemane. He pleaded with God that the cup be passed if it could possibly be. The realization that His death was the only hope for those that were to follow was the birth of true love. Funny how others were seeking to suppress this movement by murdering the person responsible for it, huh? When I think of what Jesus went through, it makes me love Him just that much more.

I think of Christ as a summer evening rain. The sweltering heat of the day presses on you when you walk out of the door. The dirt and filth seem to stick to everything available, and you can't shake it. It draws all of your strength, and leaves you a dried, cracked disaster of what you were at the start of the day. Even nightfall does little to offer shelter from the heat, as East Texas still has temps in the upper 80's at 10 p.m. during the hottest streak of the summer. Let a little thunder storm roll in though, and you will see the effects of a cleansing rain. Tonight, there is a thunderstorm brewing. Loud thunder and intense flashes of lightning pronounce the arrival of the liquid restoration. It seems odd that the brash activity provided by the thunder and lightning are followed by a very quiet, deliberately soft rain. Even now, I can hear the drops gather at the base of my back patio. I know that the dust that is now on my landscape will be settled, and the smell of the rain will force the heat of the night into submission. It isn't strange to have a 15-20 degree drop in night temps during a rain storm. During my peaceful slumber, the heat of today will have been dissolved, and another day will await me tomorrow. The blades of grass that needed that life-giving water so desperately depend on the sky alone to provide their nourishment, and they have not gone hungry this evening.

Bring the rain to people around you. Wash away the oppressive doubt and fear that has pounded them all day with the soft and gentle water of Christ. Be the soothing peace that is only found in the quiet curtain of rainfall on a summer evening. They don't need a deluge of peace, only just enough to wash away the hurt and nourish the dry soil of their hearts. Keep in mind how it feels to be washed away by flood waters. It wasn't too long ago that you were in that same sinking boat.