My Part of the Conversation

I did it. I finally did it.

I purchased my Star Wars Episode III tickets. As a person owning the title “Super Star Wars Nerd”, I put a lot of time into making the decision. As the final addition, I had to take several things into consideration. For instance, the place, the company, and the time were all important. Those all come into place with two magical words: midnight showing.

Yes, I will be in line to see Star Wars at midnight. There will be people dressed up. There will be PDA’s, comic books, action figures, Game Boys, and laptops. Annoyed mothers, girlfriends, and wives will be tucked away in their beds at home. It will be a nerd paradise. And I will be there.

Only committed people (or perhaps those who should be committed), will be willing to go through the pains of waiting in line and staying up till 3 on a weeknight.

No little kids. No annoyed mothers. Just hundreds of Star Wars nerds like me.

Maybe they’ll even hand out some freebies I could sell on ebay- if I wasn’t such a fanatic and would actually sell them. I’m still bummed I missed out on the Luke Skywalker they handed out when Return of the Jedi was re-released. This year I already missed out on Target’s Limited Vader and Toys R Us’s Limited Yoda.

Like I said, just me and the nerds. We’ll be at the Rave, waiting to watch our movie at 12:01 AM on May 19 (that’s actually Wednesday night).

I only wish my dad could be there. We went to see all of the other ones together. Maybe we’ll catch this one later, for old times sake.

What a great weekend I have had! If you read the previous post, you probably got the sense that things were a bit busy right before leaving. If so, you were correct. If you did not get that sense, then what’s wrong with you? Why don’t you pay attention to me?!!!

Okay, sorry. Back on topic.

Anyway, the speaker of the retreat was a youth minister named Wiley Lowe. He does a lot of retreats and youth rallies, and was an incredible communicator. He used a humorous and dramatic style to communicate to the teens in a way they really could pay attention and understand. One of his best lessons was from the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where at the end Indiana is hanging from a ledge reaching for the Grail, and his father says, “Let it go, Indiana.” How we can all learn from THAT! How often do we try to reach out and take hold of sin and the things for this world, with our lives hanging in the balance, and Jesus just saying, “Let it go…”

Another of his lessons talked about horror movies, and how predictable they are. You always know that something bad is going to happen. You even shout at the screen, “Don’t go in there!” But, they never listen. How many times do the angels sit and watch us and say, “Don’t do that! Don’t go in there! There’s nothing but death and destruction behind that door! Don’t leave the safety of the group!” Wiley did a tremendous job and I think my teens learned a lot from him.

It was also a good weekend for me to spend time with the teens. Most of the time when we have activities, I’m so concerned with logistics and details that I don’t get to enjoy the time with them and find out what’s going on in their lives. Life group on Sunday night is an exception to that, but this was a good weekend to catch up with some of them. I just wish more could have come (but signed up like a week in advance).

Well, gotta run. Next big things are the youth banquet and camp. This weekend got me stoked about Camp (even if they do have dumb sports rules that seem to only come up when I am batting….).

In HIM,
Blaine

…I’ll set a cut-off date.

I’ve had like 15 teens sign up for a retreat happening this weekend. Possibly 6 have signed up today. And we leave tonight. I’m scrabling for drivers, money, getting forms out, chaperones, everything. And it’s all my fault.

It’ll come together. It’ll even be fun.

But for now, a chicken with his head cut off is easier to follow.

Blaine

Sometimes, I’m in need of a reality check.

I forget all-to-often what the world is like out there. I spend so much time working with church stuff and people doing their church-work that I subconsciously forget what is going on out there. Every once in a while, it’s a good dose of reality to hit the “next blog” button on the top of my screen… (yeah, that one). My heart can take only so many, because it seems like a large chunk of the people day after day describe their own emptiness and unhappiness.

How can I show through my life that the real Love of God is not just forgiveness of past sins (as if that isn’t enough!), but is giving us a new life with true meaning! He adopts us and gives us all the priveledges and rights that a child has- we are heirs to His Kingdom! How cool is that?

Maybe the best way for me to show it is to periodically remind myself of the same thing.

Maybe you should, too.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth, and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the exact plac es where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” Acts 17:24-28

Blaine

After taking the time to write this for the bulletin, I thought I might share it with you all as well.

Terminal Corrosion

I turned the key and the engine did not turn over. The radio came on, the air conditioner was blasting, and even the windshield wipers flew back and forth, but the car would not start. Not even a click to indicate that it was trying.

So, I popped open the hood to see if I could locate the problem. Sure enough, the positive terminal on the battery was covered in a blue-white corrosion. I sighed and began to brush it off, when the cable broke off. All the corrosion that had been slowing the electricity flow had actually weakened the cable to the point of breaking.

It was not like I hadn’t had any warning. A guy looked under my hood one day and said it needed cleaning, and even gave some helpful advice as to how to do that. I had a class in high school on car maintenance. I think I’ve even had this same problem before. But I still was faced with a car that would not start because it was disconnected from a battery full of power.

It didn’t happen all at once. At one time the batter and cable were both brand new and current flowed without hesitation. A little corrosion appeared, and I was too busy to clean it off. After all, it was hazardous and messy, and the car was still starting. Besides, it was only a little bit. But soon I found myself hunched under my hood in the pouring rain, trying to re-establish that connection.

I was amazed at how much that resembled my spiritual life at the time. I have seen God move in some amazing ways. I’ve seen people change their lives, hearts get mended, physical wounds heal, felt the Spirit move, and even heard the voice of God so clearly. Yet, due to my spiritual neglect, the relationship had become corroded.

It’s not that I didn’t know what to do or that I was living a life characterized by sin, it’s just that I wasn’t connected to God. I didn’t spend regular time reading His Word. I wasn’t dedicating time to speaking with Him. I wasn’t creating silence to listen for His voice. One day I was just too busy. The next day I was too tired. Days became weeks as corrosion built up. After time it easily broke.

That day, I scrapped and scrubbed that gunk off the post. I cleaned off the cable and reconnected it. My car roared to life once again, both in the parking lot and in my heart.

If you are feeling empty, lost, or if you just have lost that close connection and seem like you just can’t get your spiritual life going, spend some quality time with God. There’s an eternal source of energy just waiting to be tapped into.

In HIM,

Blaine Tucker