Learning To Live Love

Open Hearted Moments

2010-06-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

The moments are few and far between, but when they happen, they simply knock me off my feet. The moments where you find yourself in the right place at the right time … The moments where your world is rocked and love bursts through. These are the magical moments that happen when “me and I” get set aside and love has its way.

Earlier this month Jared, one of our key volunteers, and I had an early morning meeting that was canceled so we decided to walk around and post some Live Love stickers. It was about 7:00 a.m. and the city was just staring to come to life. We began walking block-to-block posting stickers wherever we went. After about thirty minutes or so we bumped into a young woman who asked if we had any change or a cigarette.

The women had ratty hair, a lazy eye, missing teeth, tattered clothes, and seemed to have some type of mental disability. My years of experience working with homeless people told me this woman was homeless and had been so for some time. She was wearing a hospital bracelet and a name tag that read Nicole.

We told Nicole we didn’t have any change to spare and since we don’t smoke we couldn’t help her that way either. We asked if there was any other way that we could help. She said she needed to get to the police station that was “white on the corner” and asked if we would walk her there. I was not sure what police station she was referring to but I knew there was in fact a station a few blocks from where we were. So, we agreed to walk with her.

As she limped along we continued asking questions trying to understand what was going on with her and why she needed to go to the station. By the time we arrived we were able to piece together that she was not homeless at all. In fact, she had family that lived in Atlanta and was simply lost in the city. As we got close to the station I was able to get a phone number from Nicole for her family. I gave it a call and left a message.

We stepped into the police station and began to explain Nicole’s story to the officers. We told them that she needed to get home to her family. I was not prepared for what came next. The officers told us that they didn’t know what to do and offered no help. They told us that we needed to go to the Atlanta ambassador’s office next door. The ambassador’s gave a similar response dismissing us all as though we were crazy.

There we stood with a woman in need and the “public servants” were willing to do nothing.

Once I had had enough of this lack of help from the police and ambassadors I began to get upset. It was then that my phone rang… It was Gigi, Nicole’s cousin. Gigi was frantic, as Nicole had been missing for two days.

Nicole was brought downtown by her family because she had to appear for a court date. Once the appearance was over she wandered outside. Her family was not there to pick her up so she ended up wandering away. At some point she got hurt and someone called 911. Nicole was had been taken to Grady hospital, treated and released. Once released, she again went wandering through downtown Atlanta … and that is where our paths crossed.

Gigi gave us specific instructions on how to get Nicole home on Marta. We wrote the instructions down with her address and phone number, put the information in her front pocket and bought her a MARTA ticket. Gigi explained to Nicole exactly what she needed to do to get home. We walked her to the train station and got her on the train. About an hour or so after she left on the train I got a call letting me know she made it safely.

When we walked away from the train station all I could think was of the countless people this young lady had probably asked for help. How many people crossed her path before we did? How could Grady Hospital have just put her out the door with no one to come get her? How could the police and ambassadors simply dismiss us without offering any help at all? Why is our culture so hardened that we cannot see a person in need? Maybe it was the fact that she looked homeless… Maybe it was the fact that she seemed mentally unstable… Maybe it was because she reeked like urine… Whatever the reason, no one was willing to show love to this young lady.

Project Live Love was created to break through this reality. We were created to impact culture with the message of Live Love (love in action). It is our hope we can chisel away at the hardened culture and our hearts will be open to loving others no matter what the person looks, sounds, or smells like.

It is my hope that through sharing this story you might walk a little slower through life. I hope you will be sensitive to the moments where you are placed in someone’s path to show him or her love. I hope you will be open to seeing what magical moments come your way and that you will seize them when they do. I am not bragging about my community service, but merely sharing with you an experience as a way to encourage all of us to draw closer to a lifestyle of living love.

Drew Benton

Founder, Chief Lover

Project Live Love

5:00 A.M.

2010-04-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning when my alarm went off at 3:30 I sat up quickly in my bed. I was slightly confused as to why I was up so early. To be honest, I sat there and debated with myself as to whether or not I was going to go back to bed. I wanted nothing more than to climb back into my snugly covers, close my eyes and go back to sleep.

A few weeks ago I was asked to join an outreach team that goes to groups of people living homeless, connect with them, and then invite them into transitional housing. The outreach takes place at 5:00a.m. They picked this time because it is when most people are sleeping.

The main location we went to was under an overpass of Interstate 20 . The overpass covers a long area where about twenty people have shelter. Some of the people living there were in huts that were donated by volunteers. Shopping carts, sleeping bags, trash, and more covered the scene. There was a whole community of people living there.

I was teamed up with one of the new volunteers. We went to the other side of the underpass and noticed some blankets drooping down where the bridge and ground met. I went to the blankets and began announcing myself. I eventually peeled back the blankets to see a man sleeping in the crevice. To be honest he looked like he was a dead man in a tomb. I said to him, “Sir, sir, sir.” Once he finally responded I asked his name and got closer to him.

Andre said he had been living there for about two years. His clothes were torn and dirty. He was sleeping on the concrete with nothing between him and the ground but a little bit of cardboard. His hair was matted and dreaded in spots. I cannot even begin to describe for you the smells that were coming from this makeshift cave.

After a little more chitchat I asked Andre if he would be interested in sleeping in a soft bed. He said, “yes.” I explained more about the transitional housing and then asked if he would be interested in taking that help. He said he would. I said, “Get your shoes on, get your things together and come with us.”

Andre was on his way to a soft bed. He would soon have his own snugly covers trying to keep him in bed when his day was about to begin. It made me think. Love lives through us in the moments we put ourselves aside and put the interests of someone else first. I was glad I got out of my bed to help another man find his. 5:00 a.m. is not that difficult of a sacrifice to let love shine.

If you would like to come with me on the next outreach send me an e-mail.

"Live Love" From the Streets

2010-03-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of speaking at Sugarloaf United Methodist Church's 30 hour famine. The theme of the weekend was "Live Love."

Earlier in the week, a few guys from the church came downtown to do some filming. They wanted to create some videos and photos that went with the theme. We went to Little Five Points and connected with a good friend of mine named Craig, aka. Sasquatch aka. Street Poet.

After giving Craig a few words and telling him a little about what the weekend was going to be about he freestyled this poem... Check it out!

Craig - LiveLOVE from stuart atkins on Vimeo.

The Law of Live Love By: Janet Hanna

2010-03-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been invited to share the message of Live Love more and more. It is funny for me… I feel like I am returning to my roots to a certain extent. Not to long ago I was sharing at a company gathering at Kennesaw Transport. I only shared for about five minutes or so about living love and then shared a little about what Project Live Love was doing to spread that message. When the gathering was over, a lady came up to me. She introduced herself as Janet Hanna and said she was a writer. She expressed how much she enjoyed what I had to say about living love and that her heart was feeling the same way. She told me that while I was talking she began to write. She wrote an entire poem during my talk. It was then that she shared with me the poem she called “The Law of Live Love.” I thought that it was pretty cool so I wanted to share it you.

The Law of Live Love
By Janet Hanna

The law of love
Comes not from within
It comes not from us
Or our hearts of sin
For if we
Were to solve
The world’s enemy
And making laws
We would never be able
To rise above
Our own egocentricity
Or our selfish love
So when we are called
To be like God
We get out of ourselves
And begin living love.

He lived the law
The law of love
The poorest of all
The broken ones
Were those he taught
And used them too
For when the rich
Saw the things he’d do
They would be aghast
They’d be put out
They killed it fast
And stomped it flat.
So the weak, the lost,
The lame and blind
The ones who are sick
And left behind
He was sent to rescue
Save and restore
He loves them so
But they love him more
So today when you think
You are so alone
Remember if you’re low
You’re living love!!

Life Is Short... Live Love

2010-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Adam Benton 1975 - 2003

Over the Christmas break my wife Alicia’s family experienced great heartache. Her 18-year-old cousin, Caleb was driving to visit a friend and was in a collision that took his life instantly. He was coming over a hill and texting on his phone when the road veered to the right. He kept going straight and ended up in the wrong lane and ran head on into a truck pulling a horse trailer.

That Saturday we attended the funeral. Once the traditional Catholic funeral was over we returned to Mandi and Jonathan’s house, Caleb’s parents. Although the occasion really sucked, it was great seeing all of Alicia’s extended family. It was then that I began thinking to myself how important all of those people were. They were family.

A few weeks before this incident, I learned that Sequoyah high school would be retiring my brother Adam’s #13 jersey. For those who don’t know… In 2003 my 27 year old, older brother dropped dead suddenly at work. He had a massive heart attack that claimed his life instantly. The organizers of the ceremony requested some digital photos of Adam to use during the presentation. As a result, I got to look at old pictures of my brother and reminisce about his life. I still cannot believe that he is not with us. His life was taken in an instant.

Reminiscing on Adam’s life and dealing with Caleb’s death made me think a lot during the Christmas holidays. I couldn’t help but be re-confronted with the reality that life is short. We are not promised tomorrow. Today could be my last day. Which begs the question… How am I going to spend this time I have here? Do I spend it seeking after money, power and fame? Do I spend it focused on my own selfish interests? Or, will I spend my time I have left living love?

As we sat around playing poker one night with Alicia’s family, I was reminded that the love we share as a family is really what life is all about. So many other things that life offers will leave us empty handed at the end of the day, but love fills our hearts and souls to capacity. We have only one life to life… I hope to use mine to live love to my family, friends, and others. Life is short… Live Love!

Sunday Paper

2009-12-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

So... It's weird reading an article about yourself.

The Sunday paper was looking for someone to do a story on who works with the homeless of Atlanta. A good friend of mine recommended me to Mrs. Cauley and so a few weeks ago she called.

Click here to read the article. I am very honored.

Behind the Black Doors - Rick's Story

2009-11-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

As soon as we stepped inside and the doors slam behind us it was complete darkness. Rick told us to get out our cell phones and use them as flashlights. He led us to the stairs and we climbed up. Light began to creep in the higher we went. We followed the light to a door. We crossed the threshold and what we saw next changed our perspective in a unique way.

Rick is a good friend of mine that is living homeless in downtown Atlanta. Last week Jared and I had some time before a Project Live Love meeting and decided to visit with some friends. As soon as we parked and started up the street we bumped into Rick. I knew from previous conversations that Rick was living in an abandoned hotel. I asked if he would be willing to take Jared and I on a tour of the building. Once we finished recording the tour, I asked Rick to share some of his story on camera.

I invite you to watch this seven and a half minute video of what Rick had to say. Go behind the doors and see what it is like living homeless in downtown Atlanta.

Charles and Marcus

2009-10-28T13:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had some time between meetings downtown. I began driving around trying to visit with some of my homeless friends. I drove to a side of town I had not been to before. It was there that I bumped into two guys I had never met.

Charles and Marcus lived under an overpass off I-20. They were huddled by a bucket campfire when I drove up. I pulled over and got out to go meet them. After talking for a few minutes, I asked if they would be willing to share some of their story on camera.

Filming this world and these people is all very new to me. I have shot only a few short videos in the past. Let me know what you think??? The rain and traffic made a few parts hard to hear… sorry. So… here are their stories.

What A Beautiful Sight? - Atlanta Homeless Connect

2009-10-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

That is the sight of several hundred homeless men and women getting connected to resources in Atlanta.

Some time ago a few people from the United Way and the Living Room got together and began talking about bringing a national initiative called Project Homeless Connect to Atlanta. I had the pleasure of attending the initial meeting where this concept was pitched to a group of Atlanta leaders. During the meeting it was decided that we would go forward with bringing this event to Atlanta and thus Atlanta Homeless Connect (AHC) was born.

After several months of hard work from so many, yesterday was the event. It was awesome. Over forty-five different organizations that serve the homeless and poor came together to offer their services on one day. There were housing options, work programs, drug rehab programs, legal aid, HIV/ AIDS testing, mobile medical units, haircuts, phone home stations, and so much more. People came from all over the city to connect with these resources.

Before the event started I was called outside to help keep the line under control because people kept cutting the line. My job then morphed into being in charge of the door and keeping the line calm. I loved this assignment because I got to greet everyone as they came in the event. I got to just hang out and love on these beautiful people.

As people entered through the door, I would ask them why they attended today. Some would say they came to try and get a job or find housing. Others just came for the free lunch and to see what was going on. No matter why the 700+ people came each person was impacted in some why by attending. The overall impact of this day will only be measured in time.

More than 300 volunteers came together to help make the event possible. Thank you to everyone who put their love in action and helped make AHC a reality.

Helping Atlanta Flood Families Day 2

2009-09-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos of the great work that is being done to help Atlanta families rebuild and some of their stories.

Day 2 was cut at 2:00 as the rains were causing the water to rise again. We will be putting together some projects over the next few weeks. Please let me know if you would like to join in.

Helping Atlanta Flood Families Cleanup

2009-09-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of serving some families who were in need of some help. They were all victims of the floods that Atlanta experienced earlier this week. A friend of mine, Eric Jones, lives in a neighborhood where many homes were affected by the floods. On Thursday we put the word out on Facebook and some awesome students from Atlanta Bible College answered the call. Here are some of the families’ stories and the work we were able to accomplish.

Last night I took an old white t-shirt of mine and wrote with Sharpie the words LIVE LOVE in big letters across the chest. The question I heard the most today was, “Why are you here helping?” It was awesome to explain to people that I was there because I wanted to show others love in a real way.

We worked for several hours today and only made a dent in the amount of work that needs to be done. Please join us tomorrow as we head back to these families to continue the work we started.

It looks like it is going to rain tomorrow so please come prepared. The details and directions can be found here.

Ways to Live Love to Atlanta Flood Victims

2009-09-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

I must admit that as the images came in on my TV screen on Monday and Tuesday I was in a state of shock at what I saw. I could not process that these images were coming from my hometown. In fact, for the first few days I thought that other people would take care of this tragedy and that it would soon pass.

As time went by the reality of what had happened to my friends, family, and neighbors became overwhelming. I could no longer just sit and watch the TV and do nothing to help my community heal. As of yesterday I set out to try and find ways that I could donate my time, talents, and treasures to help the thousands of people who were affected by the Atlanta Floods. I found one small way to help that I shared yesterday, but that was not enough.

Earlier this week I had spoken with my friend Eric Jones who had personally experienced flooding is his house. When he told me of his neighbors whose houses had been flooded so much worse than his own my heart sank.

Now that the reality of what was going on had set in, I picked up the phone and called Eric back to see if I could help. He shared with me that he and his neighbors would be working through the weekend to try and clean up their houses. I told Eric that I would love to come and help. As a result, I am leading a team of people Friday and Saturday to help Eric and his neighborhood clean up from this storm. I would be delighted if you could join me on one of those days. The details are at the bottom of this post.

I am not the only one who had the reaction to help their fellow man. So many others have organized efforts to help their community. Below is a list of every way I know of so far to help. Please find some way to live love in the face of this tragedy.

Project Live Love – We are doing cleanup starting at 10:00 Friday and Saturday. We are meeting at 1160 Windbrooke Dr. Powder Springs, GA 30127. Please wear closed toe shoes, jeans, work gloves and bring a long sleeve t-shirt. Google directions will not work for this one because there are still roads that are closed. Please use the directions below to get there. Send an e-mail to drew@projectlivelove.com if you want to help or if have additional questions.

From 285 - Take South Cobb Dr towards the East West Connector (outside of the perimeter)

L on the East West Connector

L on Powdersprings Rd.

L on CH James Parkway

R on Brownsville Rd.

L on Hiram Lithiasprings Rd.

L on Meadows Rd.

R on Windbrooke Dr. – 1160 Windbrooke Dr.

Reflections of Trinity – Volunteer projects are coming very soon. You can make donations of diapers, clothes, food, gas cards, bottles of water, etc… and they will make sure it gets to those in need. They are located at 4037 Austell Powder Springs Rd. Powder Springs, GA 30127. You can call them at 770-222-6511. They are there from 9:00-6:00pm daily and 1:00-6:00 on Sunday.

Reflections of Trinity will also serve as home base for volunteers in the community. The Salvation Army will be there with hot meals from 1:00-4:00. They will also have clean up kits for volunteers to use on projects.

Additionally, anyone in need can report to Reflections of Trinity for help.

HopeATL.com – This site is amazing!!! It has been put together in only days and has the pulse of how to help people in Atlanta. From here you can find ways to be involved in the relief efforts through four different avenues. Please visit the site.

Kroger/ Salvation Army - Kroger is doing a round up campaign to help those in need. In other words… If your groceries are $25.13 you can choose to round that up to $26.00 and the balance will go to the Atlanta Flood victim’s fund through the Salvation Army. Here are the details.

United Way – For those who are in need they can use the 211 service. Anywhere in Atlanta you can simply dial 211 from your phone and be connected to someone who can direct you to resources.

Red Cross – Find ways to volunteer, donate or give blood through their website.

As I hear of more ways to live love I will try to share them with you.

Atlanta Flood – A Small Way To Help

2009-09-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

Words cannot begin to describe the horror that we have been looking at for the past two days on our TV screens. I still cannot believe what I’ve been seeing is real. My family and I were extremely fortunate that our house did not flood. My dad’s basement flooded only a little, but he caught the leak early and was able to save almost everything.

I spoke with one good friend of mine whose entire basement was under water. His house was in the best condition of all his neighbors. At one house in his neighborhood the water was up to the second floor.

As I begin to hear these stories and watch all of the destruction on TV I am moved to do something. My heart is broken for all the people who have lost everything. With all of the widespread destruction where do we begin?

Last night just before I went to bed I saw a story on the news about Clarkdale Elementary School. Of all the coverage I had seen I had not heard about this school. They showed how the water had been up to the roofline. Everything inside was totally lost. All the computers, school supplies, books and more.

This story gripped my heart. So, this morning I went online to see if anyone was helping this school regain all that was lost. I found out that there is an effort at work. 11Alive and School Box are collecting school supplies to help replace all that was lost. From now until Sunday they will be collecting K – 5^th grade items at the five locations listed below. It’s something small, but it is something we can all do to live love today.

Most of all, find a way to live love in this crisis. There are so many in need. Find a family to serve, help a neighbor, volunteer your time, or make a donation. When crisis hits so many ways to live love emerge. Together let’s put love in action and heal Atlanta.

School Box Locations

Austell
3999 Austell Rd.
Austell, GA 30106
(770) 739-2244

Conyers
1486 Dogwood Dr. SE
Conyers, GA 30013
(770) 602-3151

Douglasville
9559 Highway 5
Douglasville, GA 30135
(770) 577-6503

East Cobb
1205 Johnson Ferry Rd.
Marietta, GA 30068
(770) 578-4445

Gwinnett
3865 Venture Dr.
Duluth, GA 30096
(770) 497-1005

City Walk Photos

2009-09-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the pleasure of leading a small group of photographers on a short city walk. It was raining that night so we did not get to visit with as many people as we would have liked. However, we did get to visit with some amazing people and they allowed us to capture their lives on film. These are only a few of the photos that Lauren Ward Hammonds shot while on our walk. To see more of her photos click here.

The top photo of this post is my favorite. If you look closely you will see a toothbrush in the middle of the cardboard bed. We did not stage that. In fact, none of these photos were staged. That photo speaks to the humanity of the issue of homelessness. From now on when I brush my teeth before going to bed I will think of this photo and people it represents. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as me.

Shelia - Love Changes Things

2009-09-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

From the hundreds of people that met Shelia over my last two summers at Safehouse Outreach to those who have only learned her name through a facebook or twitter post, so many of you have been on this ride with us. Before I begin this blog I would first like to say thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart. Words will never describe my gratefulness…. Now to the blog. (sorry for the length)

Two years ago I was leading a team of students on a project called Homeless for a Day when I bumped into a middle aged, frail, homeless lady who asked me and my group for money. I do not make it my practice to just hand out money on the street so I tried to quickly dismiss the lady and told her we didn’t have any money.

She began to share with us a little of her story. She told us that she was living in the abandoned building across the way and that she needed money for her medication. She then explained that she had several medical issues. It was then that someone from the group asked Shelia if we could pray for her.

Once Shelia realized we were people of faith, she began to share about her faith and her testimony of how she had survived near death experiences. She explained that three times she woke up in the abandoned building with different medical conditions that she could have died from and all three times she survived with a best-case scenario.

I then asked her why she lived in the abandon building. She responded with, “You mean the abandominum?” She continued by explaining to us that she ended up in the building because of her choices. Not that she chose to live there, but as a result of her choices she lived there. She then explained that she had an addiction to drugs and that she had allowed her choice for drugs to lead her so far down that she now lived in the abandominum.

Shelia’s story was so strong and the way she spoke had such an affect on me that it changed my life forever.

Several weeks later I was walking by the abandominum with a group and bumped into Shelia again. I asked if she would share what she had shared the last time we met. She agreed and began to share with my group her story, her discourse on choices, and the conditions of the abandoned building.

This continued for the next two years. Every time I would go near the building I would look for Sheila. If she was not there I would ask around for her. When we connected she would share with my groups. Hundreds of people got to hear her story and embrace her with hugs and prayers.

Each time she finished sharing I would spend a few extra minutes with Shelia away from the group to make sure she was doing ok. She would always reassure me and say she was fine.

It was near the end of my second summer with Safehouse Outreach when a photographer friend asked if we could go in the abandoned building. I told him I would check with Shelia to see what she thought about that becoming a possibility. I had been in the building once before and did not want to go back without an invite. Shelia agreed to take us in and show us around. She then asked for something she had never asked for before… Help.

She said, “I will do this for you Drew, if you do something for me.” I said, “What?” She continued, “I want your help getting into a recovery program.”

Wow! I could not believe that Shelia was asking me for help.

I then reassured Shelia that I would figure out something. I told her that when we came to take the pictures that I would have a plan to help her.

Nathan, who was interning with me at the time, made several calls and found a rehab in Tennessee that would take Shelia with no income. The only problem was there was a waiting list of four to six weeks to get in. As a result, we had to find somewhere for Shelia to go until her bed opened up in TN. Additionally, Shelia had to complete a week of detox before she would be able to attend the rehab.

I shared this with Shelia and we made arrangements to go to the hospital the next day at 12:00 to check her in to detox. Unfortunately I had an appointment that ran late that day and did not make it to Shelia until about 1:00. Pastor Errol from Safehouse and Nathan went with me to get her. When we got there I began to call out for Shelia. Finally she came to the window of the abandoned building and shouted, “Drew, I’m here… I didn’t think you were coming.”

Because we were running later than expected Shelia had given up hope and had gone back into the building and was using aggressively. Shelia then climbed down and got in the car with me and the guys. We started driving around the block talking about what was going to happen. Shelia did not want to go to detox. She did not want to give up her addiction. She gave us every excuse in the book as to why she couldn’t go right then.

Finally, I looked Shelia in the eyes and said, “What is stopping you from going to rehab with us right now?” Shelia froze and said, “I hear you. Let’s go get my stuff.”

We drove back to the building and Sheila went inside to get her things. It was pretty funny seeing her throw down her clothes in stuffed trash bags out the window of this abandominum. One bag landed and splattered all over the place. Once we were loaded up we took off for the hospital.

When we go to the hospital, Shelia was crashing hard from all the drugs she had taken. The triage nurse took Shelia’s blood pressure measurement and realized that her BP was 70/40. Shelia was on the verge of death and in immediate need of fluids.

The next day I heard from Shelia and she told me the severity of her condition. She said, “I had one foot on a banana peel the other on the grave. One more slip and I would have been out of this world.” She told me that the doctor believed she was going to be fine after a few days of fluids and monitoring.

In the meantime I was trying to figure out where Shelia could go once she came out of the hospital. We still had three weeks before her bed would be open. I shared the need with my father Marty Benton. He and his Sunday school class at First Baptist Church Woodstock stepped up to help with an unbelievable gesture of love. They paid for Shelia to stay in Woodstock at an Extended Stay motel until her bed opened up at the rehab. Additionally, they provided a new wardrobe and a cell phone.

For the next two weeks Shelia hung out in Woodstock. People from FBCW, my father, and myself went to check on her regularly. She attended AA or NA meetings each night and helped out at the clothes closet at FBCW from time to time.

Finally, we got the call from the rehab that her bed had come available. Thanks to John Chapman at Love Thy Neighbor, we had her bus ticket and everything was in order.

The morning of Shelia’s departure came and we drove downtown together to the Greyhound station. I had several meetings this day and decided to get Shelia checked in and then go to my meetings. I left Shelia around 3:00 with her bus leaving at 6:30.

That whole evening and well into the next day I did not hear from Shelia. I tried her on her cell several times and heard nothing. Late in the afternoon my cell rang. It was Shelia. She was acting weird on the phone and would not answer a direct question about where she had been. Of course in my heart I knew the answer.

I immediately got in my car and drove to Atlanta to meet up with her. By the time I got there she was back at the Greyhound station. She had gotten her ticket changed so she could leave later that night. We called the rehab to make sure she could still come in a day later and they agreed. Shelia still refused to answer a direct question to the point that we both got upset with each other and I left the station.

A short time later I got a call from Shelia. She said, “I don’t want to talk. I just need you to listen.” She then explained how she went to Five Points after I left her and bought drugs. She went on to share how she took her drugs to the abandoned building and used all night. Then she hung up.

The next day when I woke I checked my voicemail. I had several messages from Shelia from her overnight travel. She had arrived in Memphis and was being admitted into rehab. I tried calling her back that day, but could not speak to her because she had to go through detox all over again and was not allowed to have phone calls during that time.

On Monday of this week Shelia gave me a call. We talked for several minutes and I found out she is doing great. She is attending meetings regularly and in her words, “learning how to live again.” She told me she has gained twenty pounds since she has been there. She is on her road to recovery.

This process has been one the most difficult things I have ever been apart of. There have been more lessons I have learned from this experience than I can put into words. Here are just a few short takeaways I wanted to share:

1. Never give up on someone – Shelia has been addicted for 25 years. She has been living homeless for the last 3. Nobody is outside the reach of love.

2. Addiction is one of the most powerful forces man knows – Shelia had all the arrangements made and all she had to do is get on the bus. Her addiction took her back into the building. However, love is stronger.

3. I have so many people in my life that love me – Through this process I learned that there are so many people that love me and have my back in life. From all my facebook and twitter love to the very tangible things people did to help Shelia and myself.

4. The power of living love can change things – By me showing up and loving Shelia unconditionally, her life is forever changed. Even if it is one life at a time… Love changes things.

So, where does the Shelia story go from here? Stay tuned… It is guaranteed to be a wild ride. I love you all and hope these words will inspire you to continue to live love.

Steve

2009-09-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is a video I filmed with my friend Steve some months ago. He was kind enough to show Alicia and I where he used to live. I hope you find it interesting.

A Day In The Life

2009-08-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

As many of you already know I am transitioning away from Safehouse Outreach. Saturday will actually be my last day on full time staff with SHO. I am leaving to start an organization called Project Live Love. I look forward to sharing more on this in the near future.

About a month ago a friend of mine asked if he could follow me around with his camera to see what we might come up with. Hassan hopes to one day pursue a career in photo journalism and thought following me around would be a great way to learn. When he got done with the photos he recorded an interview with me and then spliced it all together to create a really cool piece of work.

The best part of this project for me is I will forever have these memories to look back on as I make this transition. Hassan did an amazing job capturing a day in the life of Drew Benton at Safehouse Outreach. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Here are just a few photos. To view the entire project click here.

My Confession – Anger The Opposite of Love

2009-08-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

This is perhaps one of the most vulnerable blogs I will ever write, but I feel like it is necessary. Let me begin with two stories…

The other day I was driving through downtown Atlanta with my wife to meet a friend for lunch. As we were cruising down Piedmont road a guy turned out in front of me from a side road and nearly caused me to hit him. I then honked my horn in protest to the fact that I had just been cut off.

About that time this guy slammed on his breaks, came up along side my car and started yelling at me. I thought to myself, This guy had already cut me off and now he was going to try and yell at me for honking???

I was not about to take what this guy was dishing out so I started to yell back. I went crazy. Cuss words were flying everywhere. It told the guy to pull over and we would see how big and bad he was then. The confrontation ended shortly after that by him turning down a side road.

This one is harder to share…

Some friends, my wife, and I went out to eat the other day at the Mexican restaurant. We were all having a great time until I decided to bring up politics. Something about this subject just puts people on edge. While dinner was concluding some of us had gotten into a pretty heated discussion.

Alicia and I then went home where we were going to meet our friends and play some cards. On the way home Alicia and I began to argue with each other. I think the tension of the conversation at dinner had carried over to our conversation and we were arguing like crazy.

Eventually I got so mad that I began yelling. I made the entire situation so uncomfortable that all of my friends went home. That made me even more mad because I had ruined the night. Alicia and I continued to fight and I continued to yell until eventually I yelled the words, “I hate you” to my wife.

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Anger is a nasty beast. It has a way of creeping in to one’s heart little by little until one day they explode. Once anger fills the heart one’s ability to love ceases. Anger blinds love.

Unfortunately anger has become a reaction for me when I feel overwhelmed or challenged. I have been under so much stress lately that I am not allowing love to have it’s way and I am allowing anger to override. My anger led me to say words that I will forever regret. My anger led me to act in ways that are the total opposite of love.

The truth is there is nobody in this world that I love more than my wife, but yet I allowed my anger to say to her, “I hate you.” The truth is I love people like crazy and would do anything to help someone, but I allowed my anger to nearly get me in a physical altercation.

I was sharing my road rage story with a friend the other day when she said to me, “you should love the people in those cars the same way you do the homeless in downtown.” This truth was extremely difficult to hear. It challenged me at my core. I spend all day loving the people of downtown, but I can’t love the people in traffic? What does that say about my love? What does that say about me?

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The purpose of this blog is to confess to you that I have reacted with anger and that I am walking away from that emotion. I am learning to transcend my anger with love. I have been forgiven by my wife for my words and we are continuing to learn how to love each other more and more. If I knew who the man in the car was I would apologize to him as well.

I want love to be at the forefront of all that I do. I don’t want to just be someone who loves at work, but not at home. I want to be a lover all the time in all circumstances and I want to live love to everyone who crosses my path.

Two More Examples of Biz Love

2009-07-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to be great?

Martin Luther King Jr. was perhaps one of the greatest people who ever lived. There is an amazing speech that MLK once gave on the idea greatness. In this speech he shared that in order to be great, one must be a servant.

I think this idea of greatness or significance is starting to seep into the American fabric on a deeper level than ever before. Now we are starting to see company after company find ways to share love with others through their brand. I believe that much of this behavior is brought about by a deep rooted desire to matter in the world. A desire to be great.

What Snickers and Hamburger Helper are doing matters. They have leveraged their mighty brands to team up with Feeding America to get food to people who are in need. They are leaving a footprint of greatness.

The greatness of any individual, company, church, or organization will not be wrapped up in how much money they make, how many widgets they sold, or how many people they got to attend. Their greatness will be determined by what they did for others.

Please take a few minutes to check out what these two brands are doing by visiting their websites. I hope we will all take this as an opportunity to consider ourselves what we are doing to live love towards others.

Lessons I Learned

2009-07-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

As part of the summer experiences that we host here at SHO we include an educational project called “Homeless for a day.” Earlier this month we hosted a team from the suburbs of Atlanta. They brought a different group of about 40 students to SHO each day to do this homeless experience with us. So for four days in a row I lead a team of about 20 students on an 6-8 mile trek visiting shelters, meal locations, churches, abandon buildings and more.

After day one, I thought it might be interesting to broaden my own understanding of homelessness so I decided I would sleep on the street over night. After clearing it with my family I set out to extend my homelessness for 48 hours straight.

I remember that morning thinking what is this going to be like? Where will I sleep? How will I sleep? What are the streets like at night? Will I be safe? These questions and more began to fill my mind.

Once we got back to SHO from visiting all of the locations the team I was leading went home. There I sat with the option of going home or staying to see what the night would unfold. I chose to stay.

I hung out with the folks at SHO until well after the impact service was over. Things began to finally wind down and people were heading to their cat holes to bed down for the night. It was then that I was talking with one gentleman from the street who told me that he found it patronizing for me to sleep outside with everyone when I clearly had the keys to the building we were sleeping outside of.

I didn’t like hearing that I was patronizing the people I was so desperately seeking to learn from. As a result, about midnight I decided to go on in SHO and sleep there for the night. I slept on the floor of my office… not quite the concrete of the street.

So, I still have no idea what it feels like to sleep on concrete, but I have a much deeper understanding of homelessness. I hope to do it again sometime soon only stay outside alone.

Although I did not say on the street I was still dealing with so many other emotions and thoughts. It has taken me quite some time to process all of those thoughts. Here are some of the lessons I was able to glean from spending those four days submerged in the homeless environment. Perhaps I will come back and expound on these in the short future.

1. Humanity is all the same. All though we are all different… we are all the same.
2. Being homeless is hard work. Trying to memorize feeding schedules, making and tearing down a sleeping place daily, walking 8 miles a day and trying to find a place where can you go to the bathroom are just some of the obstacles the homeless have to work around.
3. Homelessness is exhausting… emotionally, physically, spiritually. I don’t know how people do it day to day. I was spent after just four.
4. Happiness and Homelessness are not attached. It is not an issue of “things.” Some of the happiest people ever live right here on the streets of Atlanta.You can be homeless and still serve others. Some of the most amazing people I know that are living love are the people on that have no place they call home.

These are just a few thoughts I picked up that week of being homeless. I look forward to sharing more in the future.

Naked

2009-06-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

About four to five years ago I began a journey that did not have much clarity or direction. All I knew was that something was off in my life and I needed to get to the bottom of what that was. Even though I was a minister, I felt as though something in the church was off and we were missing the heart of the matter. During that time I started a blog to work out many of my thoughts called “Naked.” It was my thoughts uncut, unreserved – naked.

That journey took me through some seriously high highs and some seriously low lows. I began to question everything I had ever been taught in church, school, home, etc… as it pertained to my relationship to God. I wanted to purge my mind of my old way of thinking and allow Him to give me new lenses through which to view the world. The worst part of it all was the fact that those closest too me could not understand what I was going through. Some of them criticized me and still many more turned their back on me all together.

For the first year or two of my journey I struggled with understanding what my issue with today’s church was. I was finally able to articulate this thought, “We (the church) preach and teach a love that we do not live.” Once I was able to articulate that issue, I then set out to learn how to live out the love I had been singing and teaching about. That journey landed me on this one central thought… Live Love.

I say all that to say this… Over the weekend I was able to figure out how to merge my old blog that I started in 2005 with my new blog that I started in 2008. The blog entries from 2005 and 2006 are indicative of where I was at the time. Perhaps the best blog to provide a snapshot of what I was thinking is the last one I wrote called Questions Volume 1.

After writing Questions Volume 1 I did not feel as though I should go public with thoughts that I was trying to “work out.” I felt like I should wait until I arrived at some type of a conclusion before I started sharing again. As a result there is about a two year time span that I did not post blogs.

Now every day I wake up with a passion to live love. My journey looks much different today than it did those years ago. Now I have clarity and direction. My purpose and passion are clear. So, now my journey/ blog is about "learning to live love.

If you would like to take a look at some of the thoughts that I was wrestling with feel free to look through some of my old posts from 2005 and 2006.

Moving Out

2009-05-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

I turned thirty on Tuesday of this week. This year was perhaps the best birthday I have ever had. It was the best for so many reasons. My friends and family threw me an amazing birthday party. I was given some great gifts. I was surrounded by people I love all day. Perhaps the biggest factor that made this year better than years gone by is because the day began with me having a chance to live out my purpose.

The twenties are difficult. At least they were for me. I spent the majority of my twenties trying to figure out what direction I was going in life. The best part about leaving my twenties is the fact that I have finally found my purpose. I was created to live love.

Ever since I connected at Safehouse Outreach more than two years ago, that purpose has become clearer and clearer. This year on my birthday I had the privilege of putting my love into action by helping a man move his things out from under a bridge.

My friend lived there for more than a year while he tried to put things back together. I was able to get him into a program where he can live for free for the next 90 days as he saves money to move into his own place. The special thing is I was able to capture about eight minutes of this experience on tape. This is the first thing I have ever filmed while working at SHO.

After having helped my friend that morning the whole rest of the day my spirits were high. I love living love. It is my purpose. Thank you for joining me on my journey as I continue to learn what it means to live love more and more. I hope that through me sharing my journey that you will be inspired to live love as well.

Thanks to all who made me 30^th birthday amazing!

Need Magazine Post - A Dream Loved Back To Life

2009-05-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having a blog posted on the Need Magazine Blog. Check it out here.

Georgeology?

2009-05-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I posted a tweet that read, “GOD - I would rather know Him than about Him. That's why I traded my theology for theognosis.

I got some interesting feedback on that comment so I decided to post my entire thought process behind it. This was a blog I wrote two years ago.

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In my opinion Star Wars is the greatest movie ever. I am the quintessential “hardcore” Star Wars fan. My wife and I have two cats. Their names are Obi Won Kenobi and Mace Windu. For you no- Star Wars weirdoes those are two Jedi in the movies. If you don’t know what Jedi are then you need some serious counseling.

For my birthday some time ago my wife bought me a real light saber. No, not a cheap flashlight wannabe light saber you buy at Wal-Mart. It had a die cast metal hilt and an actual halogen beam. The hilt was motion sensitive so when you moved it around it would make the wooooo woooo sound. It was freaking awesome.

Darth Vader sits on the edge of my desk right now. Across the room is a great gift my best friend bought me, Darth Tater. It is a Mr. Potato Head that looks like Darth Vader. I have about twenty five Star Wars Posters. My little girl was Darth Vader for Halloween last year. I have seen all of the movies about on hundred times each. I even have and wear Star Wars underwear.

Like I said, I am a hardcore Star Wars fan.

I personally think that George Lucas is a brilliant man. I loved every single Star Wars he made (Yes…even the new ones). To be honest I think George Lucas could make a movie of Luke Skywalker mowing the grass and I would probably think it was incredible.

When you become such a fan of someone you begin to try and learn as much about that person as you can. Because I looked up to and respected George Lucas I began to study his life and learn as much about him as I could. I watched documentaries about his life. I bought books and began to read about him. I even got a photo of him and put him in my office for creative inspiration. I began to learn anything and everything I could about this man.

You know what sucks? Even though I have read all his books, seen all his movies, studied his life, and bought all his merchandise, I have never had a chance to actually meet George Lucas. I only know the little pieces of him that he has put in his biographies.

Never have George and I sat down over coffee and discussed his likes and dislike. I have no idea what his favorite color is. I don’t know what season of the year he enjoys the most. I don’t know if watches sunrises and thinks or goes to bed early. I don’t know if he bags his groceries in paper or plastic. I don’t know if he loves people or they get on his nerves. I don’t know what he wears to the beach. I don’t even know if he likes going to beach. I don’t know if likes to read or watch movies. I have no idea who George Lucas really is. I have a general Georgeology, but no Georgegnosis.

If given the chance to meet George Lucas and take him to coffee and actually “get to know him,” all of the stuff I read about him in my books and all the stuff I learned about him in documentaries would fade in comparison to having a chance to meet the real man.

Now having said that let me see if I can clarify my point. Let’s just say for some crazy reason George Lucas decided he wanted to have a relationship with me. He wanted to be my friend and every Sunday we were going to go to coffee and hang out.

The first time we go to coffee we begin with our silly small talk. Then our conversation moves to deeper discussion about life. He begins to tell me this story of the time he went sailing with his friends. He enlightens me that he likes sailing. He then proceeds to share with me a funny story that happened on his sailing trip. While he is telling the story little pieces of his personality begin to shine through. His humor becomes evident. His attention to the details of the story ring out. His great ability to tell the story becomes noticeable. All of the unseen things that make him an awesome man begin to come clear to me.

I leave our discussion with an new understanding of who George really is. During that short conversation about stuff I began to really get to know George. Not just facts and figures, but personality and person ability. Two things were happening as we talked.

First, I was learning about George- Georgeology or about God- Theology

Second, I was getting to know George- Georgegnosis or getting to know God- Theognosis.

In order to get to know the heart of George or the essence of George I was confronted with the facts of who he is.

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Enough about George. Let’s talk God. When I put my focus on getting to know God I naturally begin learning about God. Getting to know Him takes me down paths of learning about Him.

When in this order one naturally leads to the other. Theognosis naturally leads one through theology. However, when they are inverted theology does not always lead one through or to theognosis.

You can study all day long every day about God and not actually know Him. The problem is when you invert these two and put Theology first.

Theognosis speaks to the heart.

Theology speaks to the mind.

This is why I am going back to innocence and trading in my theology for theognosis. If I simply get to know God and fall in love with Him more and more the theology will come. I will no longer live bound to the dogma of crossing my “T’s” and dotting my “I’s” of God. I am letting go of religion and diving into love. Theology is no longer my priority. God/ Love is.

My Birthday Wish - TOMS Shoes

2009-05-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created a company that would match every pair of shoes sold with a pair given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.

The fact that companies like TOMS are forming with a greater purpose in mind speaks to the increasing spirit of love that is surfacing in our culture. I am excited that this year for my birthday my wife ordered me a pair. I am joining the TOMS movement to live love through shoes.

To learn more about TOMS visit their website or take four minutes and forty five seconds to watch this video.

The Diamond Miner

2009-05-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, at Safehouse Outreach, we had our monthly Advisory Board meeting. As in each of these meetings, one of the staff members will share about their department and their latest work. This month our Mentoring Program Director Errol Boyland was invited to share.

He began by saying, “It has been said, ‘diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’ We men like them every now and then too.” The room had a good laugh and then he continued to share this story about a young man who was a shining diamond in the dust.

This all took place earlier in the week at the gathering Errol and his wife, Darlene, lead at the Forest Cove apartment complex. Just to set the tone, Forest Cove is one of the darkest places I have ever visited. When we did an outreach there on MLK day there were about twenty to thirty drug dealers hanging around as we began setting up. I can remember seeing beer caps ground into the sidewalks all around the complex. Many of the apartments I got a glimpse of were dirty and in need of much repair. We were told by some of the people that gun shoots are heard in the area on a regular basis. Forest Cove is a dark cave of despair.

Each week Errol and Darlene go to Forest Cove to lead a gathering in one of the family’s homes. When it came time to read the scripture, a seven year old young man asked if he could do the reading. Errol was slightly hesitant to let him as he was not looking forward to a seven year old stumbling through the words. However, he agreed and the young man began to read. Much to everyone’s surprise this young man began reading like a pro. Even the big words were no challenge for him.

Once the gathering was over, Errol took the young man to his mother, as his father is in prison, to brag on him. After they told the mother, she went to back room and got a notebook full of this young boy’s achievements. This seven year old is an amazing student and is even being considered to transfer schools to one more challenging for him.

Errol wanted to reward the young man’s academic achievement and show some positive reinforcement in his life. So he went out and bought the boy a skate board, helmet, and pads. When he delivered the skate board the young boy was so excited. Tony Hawk, the pro skater, is one of this boy’s biggest heroes and now he too has a skate board.

When Errol shared this story, he kept coming back to the idea that this boy was a diamond in the ruff. As dark and dingy as Forest Cove is, it had produced an amazing diamond. Errol finished by asking the entire room, “What if this young man had the right influencers around him? What if he had a mentor to help lead him in the way he should go? Imagine what an amazing shining diamond he could be.”

As I walked away from the Advisory Board meeting, a different perspective came to my mind. That is the perspective of the diamond miner. There are diamonds in caves all over the place. The problem is that there are not enough miners willing to get dirty enough to dig them out. You see, we all want to wear the shiny diamond around that has been mined, sized, cut, and polished, but how many of us want to go into the dark dirty mine to get it? I am so thankful that Errol and Darlene love the children of Atlanta so much they they’ll go into any mine to look for diamonds sparkling in the dust. I am challenged by their constant commitment to live love in the lives of these kids.

Perhaps Errol is such an amazing miner because he is such a beautiful diamond himself. Through his life he has risen above homelessness, addiction, gang banging, and more. He came out of a dark cave, has been cut and shaped and now is a shining diamond who seeks to mine out the beauty in others. Thank you Errol!

If you are interested in becoming a mentor please contact Errol or Darlene. This brilliant seven year old boy still needs a mentor. Become a diamond miner yourself.

Squidoo

2009-05-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

About five months ago I bumped into an online tool called Squidoo. It is a knowledge networking site that gives money to charity. You have heard of social networking…. Now be introduced to knowledge networking. This is a place where you share what you know and allow others to connect with that information through a networking platform.

Squidoo makes money from ads and affiliate links. 5% of what they earn, right off the top, goes to charity. 45% they keep to cover overhead and stuff. That leaves 50%. That goes to charity or to the creator of the page. That decision is up to the creator.

I share this with you for two reasons.

First, I find it interesting that when Seth Godin and his team were putting together this resource that they built donations to charities into the business model. From the beginning they did not intend on keeping all the money, but rather chose a model by which they could invest in organizations that are making a difference.

I think this speaks to an underlying trend that is emerging in today’s culture. More and more people are looking for ways they can build outlets for love into what they do naturally.

Second, this is an easy way to live love. Go make a page today around whatever subject you are most knowledgeable about. You can make a lens about anything. It’s easy, it’s free, and by sharing what you know you can make a difference in someone’s life.

I started a page five months ago on Homelessness In Atlanta. Since the time my site has climbed to #7 in it’s category and has donated several dollars to charity.

I hope you will join me in the world of Squidoo.

Pay It Forward Day

2009-04-29T13:48:00.001-07:00

Many of us saw the movie a few years ago called “Pay It Forward.” The story of a young man who had a plan to pass on good deeds has been something that has seeped into American culture. In fact, organizers who wanted to go beyond the film developed a day each year where people are to focus on and live out this idea.

The cool thing is they have provided tools in the form of little cards to help make sure the person you show love too extends that on to the next person. I hope you will all join me tomorrow in planting seeds of love and inviting others to pay it forward. Visit the site, print some cards, and love on some people. It will be interesting to see how your one deed of love spreads into many.

Leveraging Twitter to Live Love

2009-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

About six months ago a friend of mine introduced me to an amazing social networking tool called twitter. I have had a blast using twitter to stay connected with friends, network with others, and sharing knowledge quickly. It has been fun seeing how people everywhere are being turned on to twitter. It is catching on around the nation and has been the subject of many news stories lately.

Over this last week there was an interesting development in the twitter world. Ashton Kutcher and CNN began to race to see who would be the first to get one million followers on twitter. What I found so amazing about this story is the fact that once the media storm had been created they saw a way to leverage that to make a real impact in the world. They used it to bring awareness to a real need and help meet that need with resources. Please take the next two minutes and fifty five seconds to watch the full story.

Words In Motion

2009-04-22T13:35:00.001-07:00

As we continue down the road of life our paths cross with so many different people. It is funny when one of those people is in fact a old friend from the past. I recently crossed paths with a very old friend of mine, Casey Darnell. In fact, we went to school together when we were still little kids.

Since the days we were young, both of our lives have taken many turns. What is great is that we have both landed in a similar place. We are both passionate about leading people beyond words and into action. When Casey and I sat down together over coffee his heart of love began to really shine through. He spoke of orphans and homeless people he has had the chance to minister too and how each group had impacted him.

Casey’s latest album “Words in Motion” is an expression of what is going on inside him. The words of these songs are written to motivate people to move beyond singing/ talking and into action. There are a couple of really powerful songs on the album. I hope you will check it out. His music is an encouragement for me to continually live love.

Find The Need And Show Up

2009-04-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of leading a team from an area church to Hurt Park to do some outreach and love on our homeless friends. Many of the volunteers that were part of the outreach began having conversations with different people in the park. One volunteer in particular began a conversation with a young man named Chris. After talking together for some time the volunteer decided to introduce me to Chris because he was only twenty one.

Chris and I began talking for a few minutes. I asked him if he was interested in getting of the streets. He said he was not quite ready to leave. I then shared with him that he didn’t need to be living on the streets. I told him that the streets were unsafe and that he needed to go home with family as soon as possible. Then I said, “If you ever want to get off the street, give me a call.” Then I handed him a card with a map to SHO on the back.

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People all too often try to praise me and others for what we do for the homeless here in downtown. What we do is not really all that praiseworthy. All we do is show up where there are people in need.

In the city of Atlanta there are over six thousand counted homeless people. Many of them hang out in the parks during the weekend. Knowing this, we show up in the parks time and time again because we know we are going to intersect people who are in need.

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When I arrived to work on Monday, Chris was sitting in a chair in the parking lot waiting for me to arrive. When I got out of the car and walked over to him to see what was up he said, “I am going to take your advice. I want to go home.” I then told him I had several morning meetings, but if he would hang until that afternoon I would make some time to get with him to figure out a plan to make that happen.

The very next day Chris and I got in my car and I drove him home to west Georgia. Chris is off the streets and now living again with his family all because people Showed Up where the need was.

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What are the needs in your community? Is there an epidemic of illiterate children? Are there families going hungry? Are drugs on the increase in you area? Is AIDS infecting more and more people in your community? Only you can answer that question.

I remember hearing in college someone say, “If I want to get hit by a Mac truck then go stand on an interstate.” If you want to live love then go stand where the need is. Find the needs in your community then show up to help make change in those lives. Love for people does not always have to be some huge gesture. Just show up where needed and see how you will be able to live love towards others.

The Jeans - Love Hurts

2009-04-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I was approached by one of my homeless friends out in the parking lot of Safehouse Outreach. He told me that he thought we were the same size and wondered if I had any jeans that I wasn’t using that I could give him. I told him I did and that I would try to remember to bring them to him. Fortunately I remembered and gave him the pants a few days later.

About a week or so after that exchange I was on a city walk with a team of teenagers. We bumped into my friend and I noticed that he had on the jeans. So, as a way of starting a conversation I said to him, “are those the jeans I gave you?” He quickly denied that they were for some reason. However, I could tell that they were, in fact, the pants that I had given him.

Little did I know, but when I asked him abut the jeans I had hurt his feelings. You see, my friend did not like feeling like a “charity case.” He did not want others to know that he was wearing used/ donated pants. So, when I came to the park and said that I hurt his feelings and embarrassed him in front of his friends and my group.

It was not until this past weekend that I learned I had offended him. I lead a team to Hurt Park to do some outreach when I ran into my friend. He was already chatting with a few guys from the team when I approached. I asked him how he was doing he responded very curt with me. I could tell he was upset.

I pushed him a bit further and then he became very upset and started verbally attacking me. He began to use statements that I had made in the past out of context to try and make me look bad in front of this group. It was then that the real reason of his anger came out.

He looked at me and told me that he had washed my pants, had them bagged up, and was going to give them back to me the next time he saw me. He told me that he did not want my charity because I only gave them to him to make myself look good. I tried to defend myself for a few minutes. I then realized it was futile and I left him alone.

As we were finishing up in the park I went over to my friend one last time and told him that I was very sorry, and that I did not mean to hurt him with my words. I told him I was simply trying to spark up a conversation and the jeans were something we had in common. I then told him, “Keep the pants or throw them away. I meant them to be a gift of love.”

+ + + + +

You know… this is one of those things I don’t like about love. You try to reach out to help someone and they end up hating you for it. You show them love and they end up hurting you in the end. Or worse, you show someone love and they receive it as hate.

All I have ever done is try to help this guy. I have connected him to two programs, given him my own clothes, found a house for him to live in for free as long as he didn’t use drugs, established a mailbox for him, and feed him every night for years. I have bent over backwards to help him and still my actions caused hurt in him.

Sometimes love hurts. That is a reality that too many people are not willing to accept. We think relationships should just be a walk in the park. Love takes a lot of hard work. And sometimes, it hurts real badly because the person you love does not reciprocate. This is where we have to push past the hurt and choose love anyway.

The only reason I have been married for eight years is because my wife and I love each other unconditionally. She has done many things to hurt me, and I don’t even want to think about how many ways I have hurt her. Still, we choose to love each other through the hurt. The best part is we always emerge on the other side stronger and more in love.

+ + + + +

After I walked the group back to Safehouse Outreach I went back to the park by myself to find my friend. By this time my apology had sunk in and he was receptive to me. We spent the next few hours together just hanging out talking about life, homelessness, faith, and family. It was awesome. We were both on the other side of the pain and our relationship had become stronger than ever.

Not Enough Love

2009-03-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

It is ironic that this is going to be the blog to follow my previous post. In my previous blog I talked about how I am loved. Being loved by others has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember. I have no question that my parents loved me growing up. I have no question that my wife and kids love me unconditionally. I have no question that my brother and friends love me. Most of all, I have no question that my heavenly Father loves me. I feel loved by so many so often. I can not understand how it would feel to have never experienced love.

+ + + + +

Earlier this week, I took a group of young professionals on a city walk. When we got to the Five Points building we bumped into one of my good friends Sheila. It was great to see her and to learn that she was staying in a shelter while she awaits a bed to open up in a rehab. I told her how excited I was to learn she was going to embark on the journey of recovery. Shelia then shared with my group for a few minutes and we parted ways.

Thursday morning I received a phone call at my office from Shelia. She explained to me that shortly after we parted ways earlier in the week, Sheila began experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. She went to the hospital to be seen and was admitted.

Sheila then said, “Can you come see me Drew?” She explained how she was very lonely in the hospital as she had no family or friends that cared to come see her. I told her I would work some things out and come see her later in the afternoon.

Later that day my friend Courtney and myself went to go see Shelia. After visiting with her for a few minutes Shelia began to tell a story of how she and a man named John first met. John is an extremely compassionate man and helps many homeless here in the city.

As she finished her story she began to say that John was the first person in her entire life that ever saw her as she had value. She said, “He saw me as a person to be respected. He had compassion for me. He reached out to me.”

I then stopped Shelia and asked, "Do you think ‘Love’ would be a good word for what you are trying to say?" Her eyes then filled with tears as she looked back at me and said, "Yes, that is exactly the word to use. He loved me. Just like you love me Drew." She went on to say that between John and me, we were the only people who had ever “loved” her.

How can this be? How can it be that this lady has been through so much of her life feeling unwanted, uncared for and unloved?

Mother Teresa once said, “The greatest disease in the west is not TB or leprosy. It is being unwanted, uncared for, and unloved.” The disease that Mother Teresa so eloquently pointed out is spreading all too fast. There are countless Shelia’s in the world.

As a result of what Sheila shared, my passion to put more love in the world has intensified. My heart breaks for people who have not experienced real, true, unconditional, Love. There is simply not enough love in the world.

Friends, It is up to us to put or love in motion towards other people. It is only through us pouring out our love onto others that they will experience love themselves. It has to happen through us.

Share your love with someone today. Reach out to someone you would not normally. Let’s together be the cure for this disease.

I Am Loved

2009-03-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

March 17^th is always a day that I dread. It is the day my brother passed away in 2003. So, when I woke up this morning I woke up with a heavy heart as I deeply miss my big brother. As if dealing with that reality were not enough my morning was soon about to become much more interesting.

As I was driving into work I saw a homeless friend of mine walking toward the city. He was still a long way away from downtown so I offered to give him a ride. As we got close to the city on Marietta Street we came to an area where the left lane of traffic is always trying to turn left so I got in the right-hand lane to go around the turners. About that time I looked up and realized that there was a car stopped in that lane. I immediately slammed on my breaks, but it was too late.

So there I sat sad, angry, confused, upset, and hurting.

It was the events that were about to unfold next that made me come to the realization that “I am loved”. I immediately called my wife after the accident. She then called my boss and co-workers to let them know what had happened.

As soon as my friend Rob found out I was in an accident he immediately hopped in his car and headed my way. He was there before the police. He gave me a hug and told me he was there for me and if I needed anything to let him know.

After about two hours of dealing with the police etc… I finally made it to work. I checked my facebook and saw that some fifteen people had responded to my headline with words of encouragement. Others had sent me texts and e-mails to let me know they were thinking about me today. Messages continued to pour in all day long. One friend even offered to take me home if I needed a ride. Several of the staff members at SHO made a point to give me a hug. The love that people poured out on me was humbling.

You know… It’s funny… the more love I put out in the world the more love is poured out on me. Love is the only thing I know of that will return one hundred fold.

Thank you to everyone for living love towards me in my time of need.

An Easy Way to LL - GiftCardGiver.com

2009-03-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

About a week ago Alicia told me about a new charity that collects old gift cards that have not been completely used. They collect all the cards and organize them in secure bins by company name. When they obtain a reasonable mass of dollars in gift cards (between $100-$500) they give those cards toward a project, person or organization that can best use that gift card for a significant need.

Once I became aware of this idea I went to my wallet to see if I had any left over gift cards. Between my wallet and my desk I had four different gift cards. I put them in an envelope and mailed them to the specified address.

What an easy way to Live Love.

Thanks to Jeff and the crew that put GiftCardGiver.com together.

Somebody Is Listening

2009-03-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I started this blog about six months ago. I have enjoyed putting my thoughts together and putting them out there for the world to see. As much as I enjoy writing, I equally enjoy knowing that the words I share can impact people’s hearts and minds. It feels good to know that others can learn from the lessons and experiences that I have been learning on my journey.

The other day I was contacted by the moderator for the Need Magazine blog. The man explained to me that he had come in contact with mine and Alicia’s blogs and that he was interested in having us do some writing for the their blog. I immediately told him that we would be honored as I have been a reader of the Need blog for sometime myself. Their mission is, “We are not out to save the world but to tell the stories of those who are.” They run a quarterly magazine that is absolutely amazing. I got my first copy yesterday.

I am deeply honored to be a contributor on the Need blog. My first blog went up on their site yesterday. Alicia will be writing once a quarter and I will be doing the other eight.

It is good to know that somebody is listening. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my thoughts these past few months.

Please visit my post on the Need Magazine Blog. Also, check out NeedMagazine.com to learn more about subscribing.

Love Starts At Home

2009-03-02T08:28:00.001-08:00

On Sundays I come to SafeHouse Outreach and open the building so the morning service and feeding can take place. As of lately I have been bringing my daughter Emma with me and while the service is happening we usually go for a walk to one of the Atlanta parks or playgrounds. This past week while we were on our way to SHO I noticed that Emma had picked out one of her Barbies to bring with us. Out of an attempt to make conversation with a six year old, I asked Emma why she picked that particular Barbie to bring with her. That was when she explained to me that she loved this particular Barbie because Alicia, my wife, had made all the clothes for the doll. She then said to me, “there is a lot of love in this one.”

When I turned and looked at the Barbie I noticed that the clothes were in fact hand made. Alicia and Emma had sometime ago made Barbie clothes out of old socks and fabrics we had around the house. This particular Barbie was made with a fabric that had lots of hearts in the design. I suppose that is what my six year old was referring too, but I found a deeper meaning in her words.

Alicia, who is a stay at home mom had taken the time to help Emma make dresses for her Barbies. That may not seem like a big deal to some, but to Emma it meant the world.

Love is often times spelt T-I-M-E. I am always confused by people who love the whole world, but loose their family in the process. I must admit that I have tendencies in my own life to do that very thing. If am going to show love to complete strangers then I must first start by making sure those closest to me are loved.

I think Mother Teresa said it best when she said, “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”

Friends, I hope you will learn this lesson with me. Live Love at home… Then look to see how your love can make a difference elsewhere.

Not Too Busy For Love

2009-02-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time with my new friend Tom who holds a top executive position at a prominent Atlanta company. He has worked with the company for several years and has advanced through the ranks and is now leading one of the largest projects the corporation is undertaking. He is working all around the world to put this project together.

As you can imagine, Tom is an extremely busy man. Just scheduling the meeting took me several months to get forty-five minutes of his time. When I went to go meet with him at his office I felt like I was going to meet the President of the United States. Tom mentioned to me that he was squeezing me in between appointments and he only had a limited amount of time we could spend together. Like I said… Tom is extremely busy.

But, not too busy…

Tom and his family had become friends with the owners of a local Thai restaurant near his home. The family had moved here from Thailand to start this small business. Shortly after getting to know the couple Tom learned that the husband had had a major heart attack and had died. Tom’s heart was moved with compassion for this lady and her family and so he asked if there was something he could do for his new friends.

Suzy, the wife, then told Tom how her husband had purchased several thousand book bags, over the shoulder bags, gym bags, and duffel bags to open a second small business. Now that her husband had passed away she was stuck with all these bags. She suggested that maybe Tom could help her find a home for them. Tom then said to Suzy that he would make some calls and see where they could donate the bags to charity.

That is what brought Tom and me together… He called me just before Thanksgiving and asked if we could receive 1,000+ various bags. I told him that we could and that we would love to use them at our upcoming outreach.

So, this super busy business man and his son decided to take their Saturday to rent a truck, drive to Suzy’s house, load the bags, and deliver them to SHO and another large Atlanta charity.

SHO then distributed 700+ bags the Saturday after Thanksgiving to homeless men and women who desperately needed something to tote their items around in. The remainder of the bags were given out at Christmas to children who needed a new bag to finish out the school year. All in all close to 1,200 people were impacted by Tom’s single act of kindness.

Friends, we all have so much that we are trying to accomplish out of our day to day lives. I know what it feels like to be busy and overloaded with all that life has thrown at us. I hope that Tom’s story will be a reminder to us all to not become too busy to love. Be sensitive to see how your life can make a difference in someone else’s. You never know when the next opportunity to live love will appear.

More Fear

2009-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a group of 35 junior high students from Perimeter Church. This team came to serve with us at SHO for the weekend. We engaged them in a whole variety of projects. We were homeless for a day, did work projects, hung out in the park, served meals at the evening services etc… One of the projects we love to do with groups is called midnight meals.

Midnight meals is a project that begins around 10:30 or so and we go look to find people living in the parking garages, under bridge ways, in parks, or sleeping on the street. When we get to the people we give them a meal, ask if they have any needs we can meet through our resources, offer them new resources, and pray with them before we leave. The project usually lasts until well past midnight. Hence the name.

This particular night my intern from the summer was able to come down and take over my group midway through. So, we departed at Grady hospital and began the long walk back to SHO by myself. I was nervous for most of the walk. Yes, I was even a little bit fearful.

After about 10 minutes of walking I finally got back to the SHO parking lot. Once I arrived I felt safe as I was on familiar territory. About that time a man yelled out to me from the street. He then started to approach me and ask me for food. I quickly told him that it was 12:30 at night and I was heading home to my family. He then asked if I would give him money. I told him no and started to get in my car to leave.

About that time a man pulled up on our parking lot in an SUV. He was one of the parents of the students who were out on the project. The man asking me for money then left me and went to go ask this parent for money. I quickly then walked over there to stop the man and to escort him off the property.

As soon as I told the guy that nobody was going to give him money he became angry with me and started threatening me. The worse part is by this time another man had come into the parking lot and kept trying to get repositioned behind me. I kept moving so I could keep them both in view. Finally, I positioned a car between me and the other man. However, the main guy was still in front of me and continuing to try and distract me.

The leader of the two then said to other, “No, don’t hit him.” As I turned to look to see if I was about to get attacked, the man closest to me put his hand on my neck and said, “boom! You’re dead.” I immediately withdrew from the guy and dialed 911 from my cell phone.

For the first time ever, 911 picked up on ring one. I immediately told the operator where I was and what was going on. As soon as the guys realized that I was on with 911 and the police were coming they headed out. I watched to make sure they were out of site and I then told the operator to call off the police.

I share this story with you so you can have an insight to my world. For some reason fear has been on my heals. I don’t why, but it feels like more and more fearful experiences keep coming into my path. For me, fear is perhaps the largest opposition to love I have.

You see, for me this fear paralyzes my love. I don’t want to reach out with compassion to someone who potentially could rob me, hurt me, or violate me. Further more, now that I have been violated in such a fashion it is going to take me a while to get over what just happened. If I were to come in contact with that man right now the chances are I would kick his ass all over the place. What he did to me crushed my heart and I am angry.

Again… all the opposite of love.

The only choice I have is to release this fear and let love replace it. This is not going to be easy. My friends who believe in the faith, please keep me in your prayers.

FEAR The Opposition of Love

2009-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Last week I was working my usual Tuesday night impact service at SHO. Once the service was over and everyone was leaving one of our guests started getting unruly with one of our volunteers. The volunteer came and got me and told me how the guy had tried to assault him. We have a strict no fighting policy at SHO. If you fight, you are banned.

So, I went to the man and told him to leave the property and that he was not welcome to come back to Safehouse again. The man then became very upset and started telling me that he was going to punch me in my face. He refused to leave the property and told me that if I touched him that he was going to attack me.

I don’t know about you, but when someone begins to threaten me, fear begins to enter my heart. As the man went on and on threatening me my heart began to fill with fear. Eventually, my fear turned to anger. I was so mad that this guy was talking to me and to the volunteers at SHO that way.

Finally, after asking the guy to leave one more time and his refusal, I lost it. I then reached out towards the guy and grabbed him up in a big bear hug. I grabbed one of his arms and stuck it behind him. Another volunteer swooped in and grabbed his other arm. We then together took the man to the edge of the property and literally threw him out on the curb. Love had been suppressed; fear and anger had gotten the best of me.

Fear is so powerful.

Fear is a humbling force. It has the ability to attack us and cause us to suppress love. Weather it is fear in a relationship, fear in finances, fear in your job etc… All fear competes with love. It fills our heart and makes it so love can not escape.

In my case, I allowed fear to lead me to anger. I did not respond with love towards this man. Sure, I should have had the man removed from the property. But, I did not have to physically throw him out on the curb. Even the man who has threatened me and others is deserving of love and respect.

So, how do we transcend fear?

One thing I have learned from this experience is we have to confront our fears head on. Through doing so, we will breakthrough the façade of fear and love will have it’s way in our heart again.

Teens For Jeans

2009-01-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

This is a great example of another company that is leveraging what they do naturally for the greater good. This initiative that begins today is an attempt to collect lightly worn jeans for the homeless. The organization DoSomething.org teamed up with Aeropostale to execute this effort. The best par is Aeropostale is giving you %25 off a new pair of jeans if you bring in your old ones.

What a great example of collaboration for transformation…

MLK Part 3

2009-01-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

Today, when I finally sat down to write my blog, my wife asked me if I had read her blog yet. I told her I hadn't and sat down at the computer and read...

When you visit the website for The King Center you are greeted by audio of Martin Luther King, Jr. This clip contains one of my all time favorite quotes. Dr. King says ... "If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be a servant. That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning the thing that I like about it, by giving that definition of greatness, it meas that EVERYBODY CAN BE GREAT BECAUSE EVERYBODY CAN SERVE. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, (and a) soul generated by love and you can be that servant." Wow. Those words have been a huge inspiration to both myself and Drew. Those words are one of the things that fuel why we do what we do ... but that's something to dive into another day ... The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday was created to bring honor to the life that he lived and the service that drove him and ultimately ended his life. He was truly an amazing man. He was great ... because he was a servant. In that theme, SafeHouse holds a day of service on MLK day every year. We go into neighborhoods that most people pretend do not exist for the sole purpose of showing them love and friendship. Yesterday we went to Forest Cove Apartments on the west side of Atlanta. These apartments are located directly next door to the Federal Prison. It looked like a TuPac video ... hoopties rolling by, dealers congregating on the street corners, very young children wondering around alone. I say that just to paint a picture of the neighborhood we were in. We rolled in with our tents, mobile medical unit, bounce house, hand-up services, entertainment and groceries (compliments of Convoy of Hope). The day went off without a hitch! It was a beautiful day of blacks and whites, rich and poor, urban and suburban, young and old, police and dealers just being people hanging with people. The walls were down, smiles were on, fun was had by all. It was a fitting tribute to my personal hero, Martin Luther King, Jr. To me, that's what it's all about ... people ... people loving and serving and just being real. I'm so grateful that I got to be a part of such an amazing day!

-------------------------

I think Alicia said it good enough...

MLK Part 2

2009-01-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

Here is one of his most famous speeches...

Mr. Davis

2009-01-15T09:51:00.001-08:00

About a week or so ago, I was out on a city walk with a group and we stopped by Woodruff park to see how everyone was doing. As we were wandering through the park visiting with several of our homeless friends, a man asked my wife if he could use her phone to make an important call. She quickly responded, “Absolutely.” The gentleman then introduced himself as David Davis and began dialing his number.

Once he completed his call, he handed the phone back to Alicia and then began explaining his situation to her. After a few minutes of his story, Alicia called me over to see how I could help. Mr. Davis was in a position we find all too many people in. He was being evicted from his apartment because the land lord is a crazy drug user and wanted him out for no real reason. He had been on the street for three months prior to finding the apartment and did not want to end up right back on the street after staying there for only a week.

Mr. Davis receives a SSI check and is on a fixed income. He had tried time and time again to receive HUD housing, but kept being denied because of an assault charge that has been on his record for 10+ years. He and all his stuff were about to be on the street in two days if something did not happen quickly.

On a side note: What is a man in this position supposed to do??? Society has made it almost impossible for convicts, sex offenders, etc… to get back into society. I digress…

As a final act of desperation, Mr. Davis filed again with the HUD housing to see if he could get in. I don’t know why, but this time it went through. To be honest, I can’t believe it went through. And, it only took three days.

Yesterday, I drove to the apartment that Mr. Davis had been evicted from and helped him load all of his earthly belongings into my car. When I got there he was waiting outside with all of his stuff. As a matter of fact, he had stayed outside with his stuff all night because it had been placed on the curb by his landlord. We then moved his belongings to his new apartment.

When we got done moving all of his stuff into his one bedroom apartment that is no bigger than my office, Mr. Davis said, “No more shelter”. He was home.

I share this story for two reasons...

1. To encourage you with positive stories like these that happen day to day in my life.

... and ...

2. To show you how powerful a simple act of compassion can be. Alicia’s small act of compassion toward Mr. Davis lead to a chain reaction of love. By just being available to let a man use her phone Alicia played a role in getting Mr. Davis home.

This story should serve as a reminder to all to love others with our actions no matter how big or small the act may seem. Live Love to others and see how your life will make a difference.

MLK Part 1

2009-01-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

As many of you already know, Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my biggest heroes. He is my hero for so many different reasons. Perhaps the biggest is the fact that MLK Jr. spent his life on behalf of others. He was a man that served and loved others and I have found inspiration in learning about him.

With MLK Jr. Day coming up on Monday I am going to share a series of blogs about his life, love and service to others. Hopefully these short pieces will give us all better insight into the life of MLK and motivate us all to love and serve others.

The first piece I want to share is a rather sobering video. This video chronicles the last few moments of King’s life on earth.

Today, Love Wins!!!

2009-01-08T12:44:00.001-08:00

I can hardly contain my excitement. This morning was one of the best mornings I have had in a long time. Each day at SHO we fight against the seemingly never-ending curse of homelessness. We do everything we can to help people get out of homelessness and become thriving parts of the community again. Sometimes this ongoing battle can feel like we are making no progress. However, this morning was a different story.

About two months ago I had the pleasure of meeting with the Executive Director of the Regional Commission on Homelessness from the United Way. During our time together I learned that the United Way had secured several apartments and housing units across the city. They are using them to place “chronically homeless” individuals (on the street for more than a year) in them. They allow the person to live in the fully furnished unit for free until they can put the pieces of their life back together and get a place of their own. The program had been tested before in Atlanta and was successful with over one hundred men from the Atlanta Union Mission.

When I learned of the program, I became extremely excited and wanted to know how some of my homeless friends from SHO could take advantage this awesome opportunity. Monday of this week, Philip and I had a follow up meeting to put the final pieces in place. We decided that on Thursday we would start with an initial run of ten people.

Today was Thursday…

When I got to SHO this morning, eight of the ten were there waiting for me to arrive. They probably slept on the steps last night, they were so excited. Nobody could process the reality that they were going to have a bed to sleep in tonight. I asked one of the guys, “When was the last time you slept in a bed?” He said, “A year and a half.”

Then the guys began to make light of what was about to happen to them. They joked about not having to wake up in the middle of the night because it’s raining or because someone was coughing on them in a shelter. I wished I could have put it all on film for everyone to see. It was beautiful…

I am excited because I am in love with these people. Some of these guys have become great friends. Mrs. Carmen is one of the first people I met at SHO. I deeply love them all. Love is a powerful force.

Love has the ability to motivate people to act on the behalf of others. When we love, we die to ourselves and allow it to dictate our actions. It was love that motivated Philip, Safehouse Outreach, The Regional Commission on Homelessness, The United Way of Atlanta and I to collaborate together to develop this solution for these ten people.

So, today love wins! Even if tomorrow, every person in the program ends up leaving it or the number of homeless in Atlanta doubles … Today, Love Wins!!!

... here are my friends that are giving the program a try... Good Luck Everyone!!!

What I've Been Up Too: HomelessAtlanta.com

2009-01-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Wow! The three weeks stretch from Christmas to New Year is a very difficult time for me to stay focused. As a result I have not had much to say about love over the past several weeks. Most of my attention lately has been placed on simply loving my friends and family. Rather than focusing on what I could learn from my experiences I simply took them in for all they were worth.

However, I did manage to direct my creative efforts towards something else. One night over the holiday break I was surfing the internet late at night and bumped into something called Squidoo.com. As I began to surf some of the pages I quickly realized that this is a way of knowledge networking with others. You have heard of social networking??? This is knowledge networking.

Being curious in homelessness, I immediately did a search for homelessness in Atlanta. Nothing came up in the search accept this short statement that read, “You are the first person to search this subject. Would you like to start a lens on this subject?” I clicked yes and in ten minutes I had a website.

Over the next few days to come I imputed everything I could think of concerning homelessness in Atlanta. All of the stats, definitions, papers, documentaries, and organizations concerning homelessness specific to Atlanta that I know of are there.

If you are interested at all in the homeless cause please check out the website. I will constantly be adding new materials and keeping the page updated. I originally started the page so I could have one location for the information I have on homelessness. Hopefully, the resource will develop into something that is beneficial for many.

Visit www.homelessatlanta.com and let me know what you think.

People Are People

2008-12-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

It seems like yesterday I stepped onto the property of SHO and was totally freaked out at the sight of several hundred homeless men and women. Being a middle class suburban kid I had never been exposed to such a sight before.

At first, I was not sure how to respond to what all I was experiencing. I did not know I should go up and talk to people or stay to myself. To be honest, I think I was on homeless people overload. I felt as though I had stepped into a third world country. The poverty these people were living was too much to bear.

My background in the suburbs had taught me these people were lazy, crazy, or addicted. Much of my impression of “homeless people” had been shaped by television and pop culture. These thoughts and others raced through my head as I began to walk across the parking lot of SHO and began looking into the faces of these people.

About that time I heard someone shout out at me, “young man.” As I turned I saw a man sitting in a chair wearing a sock hat and holding a cane. I went over to the man and introduced myself. He told me his name was Marlon and he could tell I was new.

Marlon and I had a good laugh at the fact that I looked totally freaked out. We then continued to dialog about all kinds of different topics. We talked about God, family, life, and more. His insight was incredible. The more we talked the more we began to connect. The more we began to connect the more I forgot I was talking to a “homeless” man. Marlon was not very different from anyone I had ever met before. His circumstances were very different, but he was in fact no different than anyone else… including me.

Marlon started to open my mind up the reality that people are people no matter what their circumstances. Yes, even the smelly, poor, homeless man is in fact a man. He has real passions, desires, dreams, hurts, pains, feelings, etc… He is no less a man than me or anyone else.

The word “homeless” is just a label that we use to group people together. It is funny how that word has found its way into so many different facets of pop culture. The other day I was playing the game of Life with my family when I landed on the spot, “help the homeless, and earn a life tile.” It was then that I realized that even in children’s play games the label of “homeless” is used.

The lesson I learned that day with Marlon I continue to learn every day as I make new friends who shatter my stereotypes. I have come to an understanding that people are people no matter what and they are all deserving of love and compassion. In order to communicte true love to others we must realize that we are all the same.

P.S. Marlon was the first person I met working at SHO. He is doing well now. He is living in an apartment and is dating Yolanda. This picture was taken of us last week during one of our monthly lunches together.

Bikes or Bust

2008-12-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

My friend J.R. Lee is one of the craziest people I know. As long as I have know him he could come up with the most creative ways to pull a stunt so that we could all tell the story about for years to come. J.R. and I became fast friends in the ninth grade. We bonded over shooting water balloons at cars, neighbors, and old ladies on lawn mowers. That then evolved into better ides like going Olympic diving late at night, bobsledding on a lawn chair, riding a bus to elementary school after graduating, and shooting water balloons at public safety in college. We were always coming up with crazy ideas to participate in.

J.R. and I stayed close friends and were actually roommates in college. He is now the pastor of Freedom Church in Acworth. J.R. and has once again come up with a crazy idea. The cool thing is that he is using his creativity to lead him to do something for his community. J.R., his staff, and members from the church are living in a 50ft. crane for the next 50 hours in an effort to raise 250 bikes for children from their community. They partnered with two local schools to help get the bikes to children.

I love this idea. I have recently been asking the question of myself and others, “How can love be shown in a sub-urban environment?” This is an example of one idea. Check out the full details and the live feed they have from the crane at bikesorbust.net.

The Giving Spirit

2008-12-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

It’s the time of year again that we all love. Somehow the chill in the air inspires in us excitement and anticipation for Christmas. Decorations are up, sale signs are out, carols are in the air, and another Christmas season is in full swing.

A big part of the Christmas spirit is the act of giving. This year Americans will spend billions of dollars on all kinds of different gifts for their friends and family. On Christmas we will exchange them with each other and thrive off of the energy and excitement giving gifts generates.

The giving spirit is contagious. Each year at Safehouse Outreach we have a huge influx of people wanting to volunteer their time. Others are moved to give financially or with in-kind donations. The giving spirit finds a way to grab our hearts and move us to action.

There is just something about giving to others that feels so good. We have all heard it said time and time again, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Denver Moore said, “I have never missed anything I’ve given away.” What is it about giving that makes it more blessed than receiving? Why do we feel so good when we give?

I believe it is because giving is one of the best expressions of love. As soon as you begin to think about giving to someone your mind is no longer focused on yourself. You are allowing love to move through you and cause you to put your attention on others. In his book Freedom, Love, and Action Krishnamurti says, “Love is the total absence of me.” If that is true then giving is one of the best ways to experience/ express love because I/ me cease to exist in the light of others. The gift becomes an expression of love.

As the giving spirit begins to move you to action here are some ways you can give of your time or resources this year.

Support Safehouse Outreach – Make a donation through facebook, pay pal, or volunteer one night to help serve meals.
Buy your gifts through Trade As One
Check out what Toms is doing.
One of my favorite blogs Need Magazine posted a great list of ways to give.
Christmas morning help feed the homeless. Contact Fred Beebe 678.393.1700

If you know of others please let me know as I would love to pass on the word.

Rember LOVE

2008-12-09T13:23:00.001-08:00

Those who know me best know that I can not remember anything. For some reason I was not blessed with one of those minds that can recall things in an instant. Instead I struggle to remember things from day to day. As a result I have been forced to develop systems for myself to remember what I am doing. I constantly set reminders for myself and write things down.

Of those reading, several of you are like me in this sense. You set reminders, keep lists, and constantly seek to find ways to remember what it is you need to do. How many times does Love make it on the list? What kinds of reminders do you have to remind yourself to love?

About a year ago my wife and I did the typical Atlanta tourist thing and went to dinner at the Hard Rock Café. When we were looking through the menu I stumbled on a picture that I found to be very intriguing. It simply read, “Remember Love.” Beneath the picture was a brief explanation of it. Apparently John Lennon hand wrote the words and hung them in his bed-in.

Lennon’s words inspired me. Shortly after seeing this in the Hard Rock’s menu I decided that I needed a similar reminder in my life. Since I need help remembering everything else, I figured it would be smart for me to have a reminder to love. As a result, I went to my office, scribbled the words, "Remember Love" on a piece of paper, framed it and hung it above my door. Some time after that my I had my wife paint a watercolor of a heart with wings and a banner that reads, “Remember Love.” This painting serves as a constant reminder me and others to love.

My wife and I have lots of reminders for love set up for our family. If you were to come into our living room you would see on the mantle the words Live and Love. Alicia tattooed live and love on her wrists. I tattooed a red rose (a symbol of love) on my right arm. Alicia buys clothes for our kids that have the word "love" on it. My salutation on my letters and e-mails is “Remember Love.” Alicia’s is “Love Wins.” Each of these serves as a reminder for me and my family to constantly think about and live love.

I want the love to always be at the forefront of my mind. As a result I have set up reminders and signs to keep me focused on it. If you don’t already have reminders for yourself I encourage you to do so. Write “Love” down and hang it in your home or office. Buy t-shirts and clothes that say "love" on them. Change your desktop on your computer to read “love.” There are so many ways you can set reminders for yourself. If you haven't already, set one today.

The best part of setting reminders for yourself is others will see the reminders and be moved as well. I can not tell you how many people have commented on my “Remember Love” painting. If we really want to change the world we live in for the better, what better way than to remind others to love. I believe that if we could do more to bring love to the forefront of people minds that people would actually begin to love each other more and the greater society would be affected as a result.

Friends, join me on my journey to live love and lead others to do the same. Let me know if you set up a reminder for yourself and others. I would love to know what creative things everyone came up with. Remember LOVE.

Hugs and Smiles

2008-12-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we were all fortunate enough to experience a day of hugging on International Hug Day. What a wonderful way to share with others your love and affection. I went through my office and hugged everyone in it. Soon after I hugged Rob, he took off and hugged everyone in the office as well. Hugging at SHO became contagious. Just because the international hug day has passed does not mean we have to stop showing others gestures of love. Those gestures can be large or small.

Today when I got to work I was checking my morning news, quotes for the day, emails etc… Here is what the Mother Teresa quote of the day had to say, "Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

It is true. A smile is a beautiful thing. Smiles can light up a person’s life. They find a way to appeal to the soul of others and demonstrate joy, happiness, delight, and more. They are reassuring and comforting to others. As Mother Teresa said, they are “an action of love.” It is amazing how such a very small gesture can communicate a large message of love.

Smiles, like hugs, are contagious too. Try smiling to ten people you interact with today and see how many of them smile back. Smile at your waiter when they greet you. Smile at your client when they come through the door. Smile at your family when you see them next. Smile at each and every person you interact with and see what comes of it. Love is the only thing you will give away that will return.

International Hug Day

2008-12-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

So this morning my wife sends me a text that says today is International Hug Day. I was curious where she got that so I Googled it. Sure enough, there is such a day. Thanks to the help of Wikipedia I was able to learn that today is in fact International Hug Day.

In 2004 Juan Mann started the Free Hugs Campaign, a social movement involving individuals who offer hugs to strangers in public places. As a part of the campaign he started the International Hug Day. The campaign caught traction in 2006 with their music video by the Sick Puppies and an appearance on Oprah.

So there you have it folks. Today is the day to freak out your coworkers and share some mutual space with others. Go spread the love. It is crazy how much love a little hug can communicate.

Chili Outreach - Verizon Wireless

2008-12-04T06:23:00.000-08:00

Each year at SafeHouse we have our annual Chili Outreach. The event has been going on in Atlanta for several years and continues to grow from year to year. In spite of several challenges, including rain, we had an amazing event. We were fortunate enough to have nine tents donated at the last minute that we used to develop a rain contingency plan.

About 700 homeless guests and 650 volunteers came out in the rain. For this year’s event we had the mobile medical unit doing health screenings and minor triage, hair cuts, live music from One Atlanta, winter wear, foot care, paper work assistance, chili for everyone, and a call home station that was sponsored by Verizon Wireless. Guests were able to access each of the stations and get the services they need. So many awesome stories emerged from this day of service. One story in particular I wanted to highlight…

One of the many who used the phones was a young man who had not spoken to his mother for quite a long time. He made contact with her using our Verizon Wireless Call Home station. They spent over 45 minutes on the phone. When the conversation was over, he hung up the phone, and with a huge ear to ear grin handed it to one of the women working this station, gave her a big bear hug then proceeded to walk to the corner of Ellis Street and Courtland Street and hop in the car with his mother! Without the phones there would have been no calls. Without this call this family would still be fragmented. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Verizon wireless and SafeHouse Outreach this young man has been reunited with his family and is now off the streets!

Verizon wireless was only doing what they do naturally, providing phones and phone services to customers. This time they took what they do naturally and used it to impact someone’s life. More and more companies are starting to follow this trend. They are taking what they do naturally and finding ways to invest it into a worthy cause.

Thank you to Verizon for teaching me more about living love. I am thinking about more ways that I can involve what I and others do naturally in worthy causes.

What do you do? How can you use it live love?

Cultural Shift

2008-12-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing I have noticed in our culture lately it is the shift we are making towards love. With TV shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Oprah’s Big Give people are starting to think more about giving back. The ethos of American society is starting to shift and we are starting to see more intentional actions of love popping up all throughout our culture.

One prime example of this cultural shift is the Subaru commercial I came across this week. As an incentive to draw more business to themselves, Subaru has created a sales concept that allows people to make a donation to the charity of their choice by buying or leasing a Subaru vehicle. As I recall, SunTrust did this first. The point is… LOVE is showing up more and more in today’s society. It is now showing up as sales pitches and company slogans. A commercial like this one would not exist if a shift in culture were not already in motion. Subaru is marketing to a culture that is eager to give back.

Love is gaining traction in the hearts and minds of people all across the nation. This is just one small example.

Get Involved

2008-11-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

As Thanksgiving approaches people begin to think beyond themselves and start noticing all that they have. We become thankful for all that God has added to our lives. As we begin to reflect on our blessings, the realization that others may not have it so good creeps in. We begin to feel for those who are less fortunate and our heart begins to move us to take action.

What kind of action needs to be taken? How can I get involved with those who are less fortunate? These questions and more are some of the questions we will ask ourselves. These questions are asked of me very often as I work every day with the homeless.

As many of you know, I love doing City Walks. When I finish most city walks people are usually asking lots of questions about how they can get involved. As a result I decided to develop a list of ways people can engage in the homeless cause. Knowing that the holidays are coming and people will be looking for ways to get involved, I decided to publish this list. Hardly does this list have all the ways you can get involved but it should be a good place to start. Take a look and get involved.

Volunteer at Safehouse Outreach or one of the many other organizations designed to help the homeless
Contribute financially to a homeless organization
Organize a winter items drive and donate the items to a homeless organization
Contact you city’s officials about the issue
Find ways to get involved in preventing homelessness i.e. mentoring a at risk child or help a needy family
Take action to increase awareness
Add links to your blog, facebook, myspace, etc… to a homeless organization
Join a homeless organization’s facebook cause or group.
Start a blog about homelessness in your area
Do a benefit concert or art show that the proceeds go to a homeless organization
Buy a meal for a homeless person
Get familiar with resources for homeless people in your area. United Way has a lot of resources to help
Specific to Atlanta Homelessness: Check out the Regional Commission on Homelessness website. It gives the city’s response to helping the homeless.
Google “Homeless” and your city’s name to see what comes up
Visit local media websites and search for up to date articles concerning homelessness in your area
Take others to or host a showing of “My Concrete Mattress”Make a documentary on homelessness in your area
Mentor a homeless person once a week
Say, “hello” to homeless people you may encounter

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and you all find a way to give back to someone less fortunate than yourself.

Random Acts of Kindness

2008-11-24T08:06:00.000-08:00

One of the things I hope to do with this blog is to point out to others where I see love in the world and celebrate it. At the end of last week here at Safehouse Outreach we had an experience happen that has to be highlighted.

Towards the end of the day on Thursday a very well dressed gentleman walked through our front door. The man had a look on his face like he had seen a ghost. He appeared to be shaken up and a little confused. He said to Ken, the volunteer running the front office, “I would like to make a small donation.” The man then reached into his wallet and pulled out a wad of cash. He began to peel back twenties until he got to over two hundred dollars.

By this time Ken was a little confused. He knew the man looked disoriented and we do not have people just start handing us money very often. Finally, Ken asked, “What brought you to Safehouse Outreach today?” The man then began to explain why he was so shaken up and why he was making the donation. He was the recipient of a random act of kindness.

About twenty minutes before this man showed up at Safehouse he was at a gas station preparing to fill his car with gas. He was then approached by someone who informed him that they would be filling his tank and paying for it. He protested at first as he is a man with great means. The person insisted and informed the man that he was to, “pass it on.” He was then given a card that explained that he was to do a random act of kindness towards someone else.

This well dressed business man was so impacted by the random act of kindness that he immediately wanted to act with kindness towards someone else. After finishing being filled up he got in is car and drove a few blocks to a place he had passed many times but never stopped before. It was Safehouse Outreach.

I found out later that the cards were created by 11Alive.com. The people at 11Alive decided to start this “random acts of kindness card” to see what would happen. Each of the cards is numbered and can be tracked through the 11Alive’s website. Once a person does an act of kindness they can share the story on the site. You can also track a card to see where all it has been and who all it has impacted.

I felt like this was a story worth passing on to others. I think it is great when people are willing to take their time to do something for someone else. I hope that everyone reading this will check out the 11Alive website and read some of the stories. I also hope you will take this opportunity to think of how you could do a random act of kindness towards someone today. Let me know what this story inspires you to do. I would love to hear your stories as well.

Love and Conversion

2008-11-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

I have to begin by saying this is a concept that I do not fully have my mind around. I have been learning about this for sometime and now I am trying to articulate where I am on the subject at this point. For some reason this seemed to be the subject of much of my conversation with friends, colleagues, and family this week so I am going to share some of these conversations and conclusions.

Love and Conversion. Where to begin???

The other day my friend and I engaged in a healthy debate about how love and conversion are married. Let me explain a little of what I mean. My friend and I were talking about where love comes from. I acknowledged to him that love is God and God is love. My friend Gregg Kennard says this all the time. 1st John 4:7-8 explains to this truth as well, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is Love.” I believe that Love flows from God and that my motivation to love others is because God has loved me first.

My friend and I both agree on this point. The difference we have is about how we need to present this love to others. He believes that I needed to be more proactive towards people about the fact that they need to engage in a relationship with God. He believes that in my ministry I need to be more direct with people in telling them about how they can be converted so they too can experience the love that I am so blessed to enjoy. He like so many other evangelicals thinks the only way to truly love someone is to share your faith with them. He believes that everything we do in ministry needs to be ended with an invitation to embrace faith. I see this a little differently.

I believe that if you love someone with the motivation of them being converted that you do not really love them at all. I think that if conversion is the motivation, we pervert the very beauty that is love. Conversion can not be the motivation … Love must be the motivation. Love must be the main reason I want to be in a person’s life. Love must be the primary reason for me engaging and connecting with others. In fact, God’s love in us becomes the motivation to love others. When love becomes the true focus it moves you to feel compassion for others, serve others, and in general look beyond yourself. When getting someone “saved” is your main focus, you miss out on the true nature of love. You miss out on getting to experience true love because you are clouded by an ulterior motive.

My friend Brian Audia had a great comment to add to this discussion. We were having lunch this week and he said to me, “Drew, it’s not that conversion can not be what you want for someone; you just can not let it become your ulterior motive.” I agree with Brian. I am not saying that we dismiss from our minds all together the potential of someone embracing faith. I want others to connect with the loving Father that I have encountered. However, I am not motivated by conversion. I am not simply out to “get them saved.” I am out to show them the love of God by first embodying it and putting it in action toward them.

A friend of mine was kind enough to give me several hours of his time over breakfast earlier in the week. This subject came up in our discussion as well. He shared the thought that there is a fundamental, theological misunderstanding in the church today. He explained that if conversion becomes the motive for love, we continue to do the very thing that has turned the world off to the Love we posses. My friend has been studying the perceptions that non-Christians have of Christians for years. He understands better than anyone the current brand of faith that we are offering and sees some of the root issues that are creating that brand. Always pushing conversion with people is one of the main reasons we have developed a negative brand in the eyes of the culture. What if we just loved people for the sake of loving them and waited to see what effect that had on them.

I run the summer programs at Safehouse Outreach where I work in downtown Atlanta. One of the perks of running a summer program is interns. This summer I had two amazing interns Lindsay and Kevin. Lindsay came from the University of Georgia. She had just graduated and wanted to “give back” to a non-profit organization before she moved on to the work force. When Lindsay came to work for us, she had been dealing with some serious personal stuff and was trying to figure things out about life. She had developed a drug addiction which was her outlet for pain. For some reason Lindsay felt like I was a safe place to talk about some of the things she was dealing with. I simply tried to hear Lindsay and love her without judgment.

Later, Lindsay explained that she saw in me love without discrimination. She could not believe that I loved without judgment or agenda. Lindsay was wrestling with an addiction and she felt like she was so lost. She told me, “It felt like you didn’t even see that in me. You saw past the addiction. You saw past the negative in me and others.” Lindsay then thought to herself, “no human can do that.” She was forced to realize that it must not be me, but it was something else loving through me. It was God loving through me to her and others without judgment, without discrimination, and without an agenda … unconditional love.

It was then that Lindsay came face to face with herself and realized that God did not want her to be perfect to come to him, but that he loved her just as she was. She realized that as she hit her rock bottom that that was what God wanted. She reached out for help. She reached out to someone beyond herself. She reached out to God and embraced faith. That experience has set Lindsay on a totally new track of life. She has overcome her addiction, loves God, and is growing in her faith. She is going to be baptized at The Buckhead Church soon as well.

Conversion will take place as a result of real love. When people come face to face with real love they can not help but embrace it. Instead of always trying to force feed people faith - why not embody love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. When a person comes into a room and they encounter perfect peace they will be drawn to the God in you. When people experience real joy permeating from you they will be drawn to the God in you. When people encounter real love that is active towards them, they can not help but be drawn to the God in you. It may not be overnight, but it works.

Friends, like I said at the beginning, “I don’t fully have my mind around all this.” I am still trying this out in my own life to see how it works. This summer Lindsay embraced faith as a result of experiencing real love. I can’t help but think there are millions more that would embrace our faith if they experienced pure love ... if they experience someone who was not just preaching love, but was living love. We have to become people that live love, and as a result others will embrace the truth.

Oakleaf

2008-11-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday I had the pleasure of hanging out with one of my long time friends Will Goodwin. We have known each other since my FBCW days. It was great to re-connect with my friend. We always seem to have the best discussions. Every time we talk I am stretched and grown in so many different areas of my life and this Wednesday was no different.

When Will got to downtown, we decided to go on a city walk. I thought I was going to teach him all the things I know about homelessness and how to reach out to one’s community. Little did I know that I was about to have a whole new lesson delivered to me about what it means to love one’s community.

When we began our walk, we started a discussion about the “church” and how it should be reaching outside the four walls of the building. I told him my frustrations of how the church has become extremely inward focused and turned away from the world around them. Churches everywhere are shriveling up and dying as a result of this reality. I went on to share that I believe the only way faith is going to survive to the future is if churches start looking around the community and finding ways to serve within it. The church has to become the solution for community needs not the government or social agencies.

Will then began to share with me about a church plant that he has become apart of. It is called Oakleaf Church and it is located in Cartersville, GA. He shared that they have been trying to find ways to embrace their community and serve the people of Bartow County. He said, “We don’t have a huge population of homeless in Cartersville.” In fact, he named the two he could think of. Cartersville like much of America is middle to upper class. Sure they have some areas of poverty, but the majority of the people are pretty well off.

How do you serve a community of people that have everything? This is an ongoing struggle that I have been grappling with. You see it is easy to serve those who are in poverty because their need is so great but, what about those whose needs are not so great? They still need to feel loved. They still need to experience love in action toward them.

The best part of it all is Oakleaf is doing that very thing. They are finding ways to embrace their community. The past year during the huge spike in gas prices the church partnered with a local gas station to pay people’s gas for them. Over Christmas they gave one weeks worth of offerings back to the congregation and told them to use it to serve someone in their community. They didn’t just stop there. They furnished members with a list of ways to use the money. Near Easter they sponsored an Easter egg hunt (yes, an egg hunt) that touched six thousand people.

The church is only two years old and has grown to over eight hundred people. Is it because they have great music? Is it because the pastor has an amazing personality that just draws everyone in? Is it because they have the best lights, sound, and media equipment? I don’t believe it is any of those reasons. I believe it is because they serve their community. They are choosing to not only sing, talk, and preach love… They are living love. As a result, the community sees love in action, feels loved and it is being transformed.

I am so thankful to Will, his pastor, and the people of Oakleaf for finding ways to live love in their area and for teaching me new ways to serve people who on the surface don’t look like they are in need. I am excited to live in a day that the church is re-thinking how it serves the world. I am excited that reformation is coming and love is at the center of it all.

Love Is The Killer App

2008-11-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Love in the business place? Now I know people have been told we are to leave our emotions at home when we come to work, but how is that really possible? How can someone just simply check who they are at the door and become a mindless machine for eight hours until the bell rings and then reassume their identity as they leave? People always have a desire to love and be loved. Even in the business world.

Tim Sanders wrote a book several years ago called Love Is The Killer App. I read it some time ago and then recently re-read it because I loved it so much. Tim addresses the concept of love in the business place. In fact, he says it is going to be the application that separates the successful from the unsuccessful in the future.

In the book, love is defined as, “The act of intelligently and sensibly sharing your intangibles with your bizpartners.” The intangibles that he describes are one’s knowledge, network, and compassion. Tim says, “Leveraging these three on the behalf of others is the key to true bizlove.”

The lessons I have learned from this book are shaping my understanding of living love in a new and unique way. I am learning what it means to live love in the business place. I am developing into a “lovecat” who shares his intangibles with others. I recommend anyone interested in loving people read this book to hear Tim’s perspective.

The irony is, this is a non-religious book. Tim was the Chief Solutions Officer for Yahoo! when he wrote Love Is The Killer App. It is strictly a book from a business man’s perspective as to how LOVE works no matter what. Even in the business world.

Listen to Lenny

2008-11-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

The new Lenny Kraviz album that came out in February is called “It’s Time For A Love Revolution.” Check out what Lenny has to say about the album. Anything that is promoting love, peace, and God I can connect with.

Tough Love

2008-10-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday one of the worst things happened at Safehouse Outreach. A friend of mine stole several hundred dollars worth of stuff from us. The good thing is I learned yet another lesson about what it really means to love people. Let me tell you how the story unfolded.

Each Sunday I come to Safehouse Outreach and unlock the building for that week’s ministry to have service and feed the people. The churches that come for Sunday morning are usually old school urban churches. Needless to say their style of worship is not exactly my style of worship. So, I usually hang in my office and do some work, read, or write. I have two or three homeless guys that I trust to help me with the Sunday morning duties. One of these guys is named Billy.

Billy and I have been friends for some time. He is one of the first few people I met here at SHO. Billy used to wash my car for ten dollars every now and then. One time while he was washing my car, we had a heart to heart conversation about him living on the street. Billy promised me that if he did not have himself off the street in a year he would allow me to help him make it happen. (You can not help people unless they want your help.) When Billy would introduce me to people he would say he was my uncle. We always had a great laugh because he is one of the darkest skinned men I know. The point is, our relationship was really tight. I looked at Billy as someone I could trust.

Last Sunday Billy asked for my keys to go unlock the restroom inside the main hall where we have Sunday morning service. Little did I know, Billy took my key and unlocked not only the bathroom, but the doorway to the back hallway. In the back is where we have our clothes closet, hygiene items, and extra storage of diapers wipes, etc… During the middle of service I went upstairs to do some writing. Billy took this opportunity to act on the plan he had set in motion. He went to the back and packed up diapers, socks, underwear, clothes and shoes into black garbage bags. He then started taking stuff to a parking deck a couple of blocks away. He was stashing it there so he could later sell the stuff on the streets to get money for drugs.

Fortunately one of the other homeless guys noticed that Billy kept leaving the property with large trash bags of stuff. The guy had the smarts enough to video Billy with his cell phone. He then came and got me and told me what was happening.

Because Billy was taking so much stuff and the bags were so heavy he would take a bag about a block away and then go get the next one. Once everything was stashed he then started moving the goods to his hiding spot in the parking deck. Once the other guy told me what was happening I went looking for Billy. I got about a block away when I saw Billy running with three big bags of stolen goods on his back. I told him to stop and he just picked up the speed. I then started running after him. Billy dipped into a parking garage and went through a series of twist and turns trying to loose me. Fortunately I listened to hear doors closing so I was able to determine where he went. It was like a scene out of a movie.

Finally, Billy quit running. He was tired and he knew he was had. I said to Billy, “You are done at Safehouse.” He responded with, “This is for my family!” I then looked Billy in the face and said, “Billy, if you had a real need, who would be the first person to help you meet that need? You stole from me and my family. You could have cost me my job. Not only that, but I view the people we serve as family and you stole from them.”

My heart is still very hurt by the fact that Billy took my kindness for weakness. He betrayed our trust. Fortunately I have been able to learn a few lessons from this experience.

Love is not always rainbows, butterflies and bubbles. Sometimes love is tough and hard. Cornel west says, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” This is not one of the lessons we lovers really want to learn. We have to love people enough to discipline them when they get out of line. Billy is not allowed in the building of SHO anymore other than to receive a meal at night. I hate that fact, but is the just thing to do in this situation.

The final lesson I learned from this unfortunate day is the fact that we have to forgive people that take our kindness for weakness. We have to forgive those who wrong us. I can not harbor what happened in my heart or it will make me jaded towards the next person. What Billy did is what Billy did. He is not every homeless man in downtown. Forgiveness is one of the biggest forms of love. What did Christ say while the world tortured him on the cross? “Father forgive them.” Wow! What a beautiful picture of love?

I am learning every day more and more about what it means to live love. Some of the lessons, like this one are painful. Please pray for Billy. I have not seen him since Sunday.

Courage To Care

2008-10-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a luncheon called Courage To Care. The theme of the event was, “Atlanta unites with compassion to help the homeless.” Of course homelessness is one of the issues I am most passionate about seeing as I work with homeless men and women everyday. The event was designed to bring awareness to the issue as well as showcase each of the organizations in the city working to address it.

It was a great day. Over six thousand people came together representing over fifty different organizations, businesses, and churches in downtown Atlanta. The event was able to raise over $1,000,000 for homeless organizations in Atlanta. Ron Hall and Denver Moore were the keynote speakers. They are the co-authors of the book “Same Kind of Different as Me.”

Ron Hall shared first. He shared the story of how Denver and he came to know each other through his wife Debbie. He shared about how the book idea came about and how the book had caught on as a New York Times best seller. One of the things he mentioned during his speech that really stuck out to me was the difference between being a blessing and a help. Ron was speaking in the context of giving the homeless money. He said that giving someone money or a meal might be a blessing, but it is not always a help. Being a help to someone usually takes an ongoing relationship.

This made me think. You see, I have been working with the homeless now for almost two years. I have read all the statistics, all the news articles, and all the up to date information being published on the subject. I have come to the conclusion that there is no magical formula that is going to “end homelessness.” It is a case by case issue. It is only through developing a relationship with someone you can actually begin to address the real needs of the person. Giving them a meal, blanket or a coat may keep them fed and warm for a night, but it does not restore their dignity or give them a job. It does not keep them warm, clothed or feed for the long run.

The real needs that people are dealing with will only be discovered by spending time with them. Just think, if everyone who attended the conference yesterday would have went out the door and found one homeless man or woman and became intentional about building a relationship of love with them we could have ended homelessness in Atlanta yesterday in.

As a result of Ron Hall and Denver Moore’s inspirational story I am very seriously thinking about developing an adult mentoring program. I think the best way to truly attack the issue of homelessness is to pair people with people to work through their individual issues. Their story has inspired me to find new ways to connect people one on one.

A relationship is the bridge that truth can be passed across. Without a bridge your knowledge is worthless. The old statement, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, rings louder and louder in my mind. The only way to build a relational bridge is through love. Pure, unconditional, non-judgmental, LOVE.

Unthinkable Project

2008-10-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

This past year I had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Goode. We bumped into each other at the Buckhead church one Sunday by chance. Jonathan then came to meet with me a few weeks later and introduced his idea of spending twenty four hours on the streets with four different people. I then introduced Jonathan to Tony, Mitsy, Antwon, Sherlock, Debo and Carmen.

Jonathan captured my friends on film in a way that moves people to action. The theme for the project is See, Go, Do. Everywhere they show the film they partner with local charities to get people serving. They are leading people to Live Love.

Here is the trailer for the film that just came out. Visit the Unthinkable Blog to see what is happening new with the film or to contact Jonathan about a showing. Jonathan was kind enough to name me as one of the “executive producers” on the project even though I didn’t really do anything for it.

Shelia

2008-10-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

One of the places I go a lot in downtown is an abandon building across the street from the Five Points MARTA station. I have many friends who live there and I meet new people every time I go. Shelia is one of my friends who lives in this building. We met this past summer and became fast friends.

Shelia is fifty two years old and has lived in the building for more than a year. Through the pieces and parts of her story that I have been able to collect, I have learned that she came to Atlanta to live with her mom. Her mom then passed away a few months later and the pain of that experience sent her down a spiral of drugs and depression. Several months later she lost everything and ended up on the streets of Atlanta.

One of the most refreshing things about Shelia is her honesty regarding her situation. She openly admits that she lives in the building not by choice, but as a result of other poor choices she made along the way. She chose the lifestyle of addiction and as a result she ended up in an abandon building. The last time we spoke she shared that growing up she did not even know such a place existed let alone that she would one day live there.

Yesterday I took a group of fifteen college students on a city walk. When we got to the building Shelia was coming out of a hole that is used as the entrance. She came up and greeted me with a hug. I then allowed her to address the group. She shared her speech about choices and then told a little about what the building was like inside.

Every time I go to the building I look for Shelia. The other day I came looking for her and she was not around. I asked a few people where she was and they mentioned she was out but would be back again.

As she continued to share with the group yesterday, Shelia said something I was not expecting. With tears in her eyes she looked at me and said, “I can not remember the last time someone was looking for me.” Her words floored me. My heart broke at the thought that this sweet lady had no one who loved her enough to even come looking for her.

She went on to say that most of her family was dead and her two sons will not have anything to do with her. Shelia has nobody that loves her. She was overwhelmed that I cared about her enough to go looking for her. This simple act of compassion lead to a chain reaction of love in Shelia’s heart.

Love is not always some huge gesture. It is not always affection. Sometimes love is simply caring enough to take the TIME to see how someone is doing. This is a lesson I am learning in my life. I have so many friends from years gone by that I have stopped loving enough to call and see how they are doing. I have family that I have not spoken to in months or even years.

I am working hard to re-wire myself to care enough to see how people are doing. It has been a fun journey so far. I am re-connecting with so many old friends and family. My immediate family bonds have grown as a result as well. I don’t know who said it, but one of the best ways to spell love is T-I-M-E. Thank you Shelia for teaching me this lesson of what it means to Live Love.

City Walk

2008-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wednesday this week a friend of mine asked if I would take him and his eight year old son on a walking tour of Atlanta. One of my favorite things to do at Safehouse Outreach is to take people on a city walk. I get to show people things they have never seen before or never realized what they were looking at. I show people the other side of Atlanta. It is an eye opening experience for many.

By working with the homeless in downtown now for more than a year I have been able to build some really strong relationships with some of the people. Many of them I would call friend. As a result they show me how they live. They show me where they live. They show me their day to day activities, and so much more about their life. It’s during the city walk I share with others what I have learned from my friends.

To save a little bit of time we went between stops in my car on Wednesday. Our journey started by going to an area we call “Jurassic Park.” It has been street named that because it is such a scary place. Pretty much everyone staying in the park does drugs on a regular basis. In some of my past walks I have actually come up on people hitting the crack pipe as we arrived. My friend and I went to these people with his son and stopped and said hello. Many of them know me from SHO and they know how much I love them so they welcomed us as we arrived. We spent about fifteen minutes loving on the people then we moved on to peach and pine.

It’s real name is Taskforce for the Homeless, but because it is located on Peachtree street and Pine street it has become street named peach and pine. Peach and pine is the overflow shelter in the city. It is one of the four places in downtown Atlanta that even I get a little nervous walking the streets near by. As you arrive there is prostitution happening on the street corners. There are “white t-shirts” (drug dealers) everywhere and this is all outside. I took my friend and his son through the shelter. I showed him how people sleep on two foot by six foot beds with three inch mattresses. I showed him the mass shower facility and the dirty concrete floors these men use everyday. We visited with some of the guys in the garage (the commons area) and then headed to Five Points.

There were a few stops on the way, but the main thing I wanted my friend and his son to see was in the heart of Five Points. Five and a half million people live in downtown Atlanta. Seven million if you include the greater Atlanta area. Of these people literally hundreds of thousands of them use MARTA, our mass transit in Atlanta. The Five Points station is the station where the north-south train and the east-west train intersect. It is by far the busiest station in all of Atlanta. Out of any given day, hundreds of thousands of people pass through it.

Just across the street from Five Points station is an abandon building that is home to hundreds of homeless men and women. My friends Sherlock, Scorpio, Nicky, James, Jimmy, Mark, Ken and Onyx all live on the fifth and sixth floors. Several months ago Sherlock took me and my wife up to his floor and showed us around. I can not begin to describe for you the reality of what we saw. Perhaps I will do that in another blog someday. I do not take people in the building unless one of my friends who live there invites me in.

So as my friend, his son, and I were looking around the building we ran into Jeff and another man whose name I don’t remember. We visited with them for a few minutes and then headed back to SHO. While we were in the car my friend said to me, “I thought I wanted my son to see this. Turns out, I needed to see it.” I could tell that he, like so many, had seen for the first time the reality of this world and it was overwhelming him.

When you are face to face with so much pain, so much suffering, so much poverty you can not help but be moved. The need for love becomes more apparent when seeing the absence of it. I believe that my friend and his son will never be the same as a result of our short walk together.

Friends, every day I rub shoulders with drug addicts, drug dealers, alcoholics, prostitutes, cross dressers, aids patients, homeless, and more. The one thing that stands out to me louder and louder each day is the need for the light of love to pierce these dark lives. Love is the answer they are looking for. Not blind, reckless compassion, but real love that offers real solutions to their plight (again, a blog for another day).

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I invite anyone who would like to go on a city walk with me sometime to let me know drew@safehouseoutreach.org. It would be my pleasure to expose you to the world so many of my friends call home.

SafeHouse Outreach

2008-10-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have had the unique pleasure of serving for the past eighteen months at Safehouse Outreach in downtown Atlanta. This place and it’s people have taught me so much about what it really means to live love. My journey began by meeting Philip Bray at the SHO gala in March of 2007. Philip invited me to visit SHO sometime and he said he would love to tour me around and show me all that they were doing to impact the community. When I arrived I was a little freaked out at the sight of hundreds of homeless men and women lining up to attend a worship service and get a hot meal. I was a suburban kid who had never seen anything like this.

The night continued and I observed as volunteers began to serve meals to those who were hungry. Blankets were handed to those who were cold. Hygiene kits were provided for those who needed to brush their teeth and take a shower. It was awesome! It was a place that loved God and loved people. It was exactly what I was looking for in the world and I had to be apart of it.

Immediately I began volunteering in any capacity that I could. A month or so later Philip asked me to begin working one of the evening services once a week. About six months after that he then asked me to come on full time staff.

Fast forward a year later. The homeless men and women of downtown Atlanta have stolen my heart. Every day I wake up with a renewed passion to love and serve them. I have built so many relationships with so many people by working here. The volunteers I get to serve with day to day are a constant source of encouragement and love in my life. Thank you all for teaching me more and more each day what it means to live love.

+ + + + + + + + +

Here is a little of who we are at SHO and what we do. Everyone is welcome to serve with us here sometime.

“The mission of SafeHouse Outreach is to provide practical, emotional and physical assistance to those living in the margins, and help integrate them back into society to lead healthy and functional lives.” We do this by empowering through life skills, providing better health through medical assistance, meeting practical needs and meeting emotional & spiritual needs.

We have a whole variety of programs that we offer to address to assist those in the margins. Impact Services happen every night at SHO. In addition to music and a positive message we provide meals for over 200 homeless men and women. Problem Solvers is open to the community five days a week to trouble shoot the issues people need solutions for. Through Problem Solvers we provide mail for over 2,000 clients, have phone and internet service for people to use, offer resume building, send people home to their families, place people in rehab and so much more.

Not only do we address the homeless, but we are also committed to breaking some of the cycles that lead people to homelessness. As a result we formed TEAM, a mentoring program that specifically focuses on children of inmates. We pair a caring adult mentor with a child, age 5-17 for a one year relationship. Studies have shown that children of inmates are 85% more likely than their peers to end up in jail themselves unless there is some kind of intervention.

We started Family Resource Services to address the parenting crisis that has developed in low income urban areas. %70 of African American babies are being born to single moms and of those who do marry %60 of those marriages are ending in divorce. As a result we offer parenting skills classes to teenage moms and dads in five downtown schools.

Not only are we passionate about serving people in the margins, but we are also passionate about teaching others to do the same. We have individual volunteer opportunities for people to get engaged in each of the programs I described. Urban Nation is the program I direct. It is a short term mission experience in downtown Atlanta. We have teams do a whole variety of projects with the people we serve. Finally, SHO was awarded the Capital Compassion Fund from the federal government this past year. As a result we have been able to develop 23 other grass roots non-profit organizations in the state of GA. We will continue this program over the next two years.

There is a lot going on at SHO and lots of ways to be involved. Go to our website for more information about ways to get involved.

The Other Day

2008-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was running the Sunday morning service at Safehouse Outreach where I work in downtown Atlanta. I unlock the building every Sunday to allow the ministry to come in and feed the people. We serve the homeless and poor of downtown meals every day. This Sunday it was pouring down rain. I am not the type to put everyone out in the rain so I told everyone they could hang inside the main room until the rain let up and they could get to their place.

As we were all hanging out and shooting the breeze a car pulled up to the front of the building. Out stepped a homeless man that was soaked from head to toe. Someone had seen him walking and offered to drive him down to SHO. Usually we would have already locked up and been gone by now, but because of the rain we were still there hanging out. The man’s hands looked like he had been in a shower or bathtub for hours. He was soaked to the core.

When he finally got to the door he asked if we had anything to help him get dry. I took the gentleman to the back where we have a clothes closet. I gave the man a towel and told him to step into a side room and dry off. I went through the clothes closet and found for him new underwear, socks, pants, shirt, and even shoes. This gentleman had the opportunity to completely dry out and get all new clothes. What was interesting about this man was how he responded to everything I gave him. All he would say is “Praise Jesus. Oh thank God!” He was overwhelmed at the love that was being poured out on him and his only response was to praise our father.

When it finally quit raining and the man walked away all I could think was, “and they will see our good deeds and praise our father in heaven.” I am so thankful that I got to be a part of this miracle. I actually got to be the miracle.

Words From My Hero

2008-10-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

If you want to be important … wonderful.
If you want to be recognized … wonderful.
If you want to be great … wonderful.

But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant

That’s a new definition of greatness
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness
It means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve

You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve.
You don’t have to know about Einstein’s theory of relativity.
You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics to serve.

You only need a heart full of grace
A soul generate by love
And you can be that servant

- Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr. is by far one of my greatest heroes. He stood for so much that was right and good. He was a servant and a lover of people. I have had the pleasure of going to The King Center in Atlanta several times. Every time I go I leave more inspired to love people and serve any way I can. Visit when you can.

Where I Am

2008-10-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

THE CONTEXT
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“If anyone wants to be great, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

“And they will see our good deeds and praise our father who is in heaven.”

HIJACKED
What happened? Say it isn’t so. I don’t understand. When did the words good deeds, servant, works, and yes, love become words to define our dedication to the church? Now when we hear serve we think that means to teach Sunday school, sing in the choir, lead awanas, or work in the nursery. When we hear good deeds, we think the opposite. We actually mean stop doing bad deeds. So now good deeds means don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t cuss etc… When we hear works we think of over seas evangelistic efforts, reading the bible, witnessing, and praying every day. And worst of all, when we hear love we think of singing songs, listening to preaching, and prayer. What happened?

I believe an unfortunate line of thought invaded Christian culture and we bought it. We bought the lie that preachers all across the nation fed us. We believed that the church itself was more important than the world around us. We believed that our culture was more important that the greater culture. As a result the church has become a sub-culture that is ineffective and irrelevant in today’s society.

We hijacked the sayings of God for our own selfish kingdoms. God wants us to be in reckless abandon to his Kingdom. He doesn’t care if your church grows. He wants his Church to grow. He wants His Kingdom to grow.

SHIFT
How can we get past this way of thinking? We have to have a paradigm shift. The words that have been thought of a certain way for a long time have to change meaning in our minds.

TO WHAT?
If you want to change a meaning of something then you must offer a new meaning. May I submit to you that each of those phrases are not meaning merely internal work on you the Christian or even external service in the church, but additionally those phrases mean we are to put our love into action to the community around us.

You see, God does want us to serve, but not only those who already understand faith, but also those who have no concept. You see God does want us to have good deeds or works, but that doesn’t mean we stop doing this or that as much as it means we start doing for others. A lifestyle of love - Contagious compassion.

WHERE I AM
I say all that to say this... Now, I am in a place where I wake up every day and ask God to live love through me. I die to myself and ask that his love would shine through me to the world. I am learning the joys of serving others. I am trying to show love to people around me rather than just say it. I am allowing His love in me to move me to action for others. I am learning to live love.

Where I Was...

2008-03-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Below are several blog entries that I wrote at various points over the last few years. Most are from early to late 2006. There is no way for me to even begin to describe for you what my journey has looked like over the past few years. So... I am simply going to start by sharing with you where I was coming from. When these blogs were written I had no idea where I would be today only 2-3 years later. I had no idea that my world would be turned upside down over the next two years. Little did I know I was soon to learn the most powerful lessons that would soon reshape the core of who I am.

Enjoy catching up on where I was...

"Questions Volume 1"

Questions?

I am 27 years old and my life thus far has been full of so many questions. There is so much I don't understand. The more I learn the more I realize I don't know. To be honest… The questions have been overwhelming me lately. I feel as though my mind is taking me places I never thought possible. The what and how of things are driving me mad. Questions questions all I see is questions. They are everywhere and in everything popping up around ever corner of my life's journey.

The other day my dad asked me if I make the journey more difficult on myself. "Of course," I answered. I always make it hard on myself to learn. Some people just have to learn the hard way. To quote DC talk, "I guess I am the kind of guy who has to find out for himself." I wish I had the capacity to learn from others mistakes. I unfortunately have to learn through my own experience.

Because of my questioning nature I have chosen to take some time away from the "ministry" arena. I feel like I am in a time of sorting stuff out. For me to teach at this stage could potentially lead people down a path that I am not sure of myself. I feel as though there are some things that I have to resolve in my heart before I can go in the direction God is leading me. During this six month sabbatical I am asking questions of my life, faith, God, and more. I am challenging the core of everything I have ever believed in or been told to believe.

What are the questions I am wrestling with? Good question. I think if I new the answer to that I would be a lot closer to having the answers I am looking for. The fact is I am not even sure of all the questions I am wrestling with right now. I think perhaps my greatest question that bothers me more than anything is, "why don't more people ask questions?"

Whatever happened to people thinking for themselves? Everywhere I look people are spouting out information to help support their point of view. The information they are spouting is usually information they got from someone else who heard it from someone else. Then they try to use the information as though it is a fact in a case. The reality is the information may or may not have been true, but to them it is.

This is where danger sets in. People buying into an idea without ever questioning it to see if it is truth or not is potentially one of the worst travesties of mankind. If you simply take an idea at face value and never probe it to be true you potentially have bought into a lie. The bottom line is you don't know if it is true or not because you never questioned your beliefs. You simply believed it to be true because someone told you it was.

Shoes

I love shoes. I like to find all kinds of different shoes and buy them. When I was young I used to go shoe shopping with my dad. He would take me to a store to buy some basketball shoes or something to run around in. When the sales person would come my dad would ask if they had the shoes we wanted in a size 13-14. Usually they didn't. People don't make cool shoes for people with such big feet. My dad was convince himself and he had convinced me that I wore that size shoe. For the longest time I Believed I wore size 13-14 shoes. As a result I spent much of my younger years wearing shoes that were not quite as cool.

Many years later my wife and I went shoe shopping. I ran my usual routine and asked the store clerk if they had the shoes I wanted in size 13-14. The man responded, "No, but I do have them in size 12." So I asked the man to let me try those on. I never thought they would fit because I believed that I was a size 14. The clerk brought them out and I tried them on. I couldn't hardly believe it, but the shoes fit.

Size 12? How could this be? I wear a 14. The truth is my foot was considerably smaller than a 14. So much of my life was wasted wearing not cool shoes and shoes that were too big for my feet simply because I believe a lie to be true and the lie shaped my reality. What people believe to be true shapes their reality.

Hijackers

9/11/ 2001 was perhaps one of the worst days in American history. Evil men came into our country, hijacked our planes, then flew them into our buildings, and killed our innocent friends and family. How does something so horrific happen? What were the men thinking who hijacked the planes?

What possesses one to get out of your seat, put on a red bandanna, storm a cockpit, and kill innocent people? You know you want to answer the question by saying they were on drugs. Or, they were psycho. Or, they were brainwashed. Etc…

Regardless of your rational the bottom line is these guys believed they were doing God's will. They also believed if they did this that they would go to heaven and have virgins there waiting for them to have sex with. They also believed that this was an honorable death. The point is they believed a series of lies to be true and as a result these men loaded planes and attacked our nation.

Now do you understand the power of an idea? One idea united these men in an attack of hate. One idea bound these men in their resolve to die for their beliefs. One twisted thought found it's way into the hearts of these men and they clang to it as a sense of meaning or purpose. They never questioned the ideology to see if it was true. As a result this crisis ensued because they did not think for themselves.

To often people are not thinking, but are rather regurgitating thoughts they have heard from other people. They have "in a sense" been "brain washed" to think a certain way. They have no original thoughts. They only repeat everything they've heard or learned.

Ideas are meant to be questioned. Even Jesus Christ himself questioned God. Do you remember? "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" At the pentacle of Christ's purpose and plan He has the audacity to ask God if He really knows what He is doing or not. I love that about Christ. He was never afraid to question.

So… All this brings me back to my original question. Why don't more people ask questions?

What is so wrong? Why is it wrong? Why can't people? Who says we can't? Why must I stop? Why don't more people do it? Why does it threaten you? What is your fear? Why don't you?

Why is it when one begins to think for themselves that people can not stand it? Why is it when one articulates their own thoughts that they are labeled something other than who they are? Why is it that when one questions that it is intimidating to others? Why is it that the people who think are not allowed too? Why is it ok to think as long as we think the same as you? Why is it when one starts to think others who don't think tell the thinker to stop? Why can't people allow others to think their way? And who says the way you think is exactly right? Isn't it intellectual arrogance to say your thought process is the only one that is right?

Who cares if someone else is questioning? Who cares how they think? I am just excited when people do think. There is so little of it going on anymore. Most people turn on their TV or their radio and allow pop culture to lull them into a zombie state. The irony is these people are the first to criticize the thinkers. No thoughts just "entertainment." Many get their "thoughts" from church, education, sports, politicians, entertainment, CNN or Fox news.

Collecting knowledge from other sources is not inherently and evil thing. However, collecting knowledge from a source and automatically accepting it as truth is a very dangerous thing. Nobody is outside the influence of ideas from media, entertainment, religion, etc… However, it is up to the individual to probe the ideas to see if they are the truth.

Early 20's

For the first twenty years of my life or so I simply accepted everything I was taught as truth. I grew up in a Christian home. I went to Christian school for much of my life. I worked for Christian churches. I socialized at primarily Christian events. I did not know there was anything else out there. What I believed to be true shaped my reality. As you can imagine growing up in a highly saturated Christian environment that I too became a Christian and began to live my life like everyone else who claimed to be a Christian.

Because I don't have time… I will not go into all the ways my "being" a Christian rotted the core of my mind. I mindlessly went along with the indoctrinating dogma that the Baptist church pushed on me. I did not think for myself, but merely went along with what those around me were saying and believed. I completely immersed myself in becoming all that I thought I was supposed to be. My beliefs dictated my reality.

To me this was reality. This was truth. The man teaching each week was flawless and everything he said was truth. It was my duty as a Christian to get saved and make sure everyone else was. It was my duty as a Christian to stay away from certain substances and behaviors. It was my duty as a Christian to follow traditions set forth by men over hundreds of years. It was my duty to be the best Christian I could be.

So I served my duty. I obeyed my "master."

"Dieing To Be Different"

Ouch. It hurts. The pain is unbearable. The ones I have loved don't understand.Worse still, they tell me, "I don't."Pain so deep no words can describe. Pain so deep, but no where to hide. Naked, My thoughts are exposed.No one can walk with me.I am alone in my quest. I didn't ask for this. God why do I feel forsaken?I am dieing to be different.Ouch. It hurts. Your pain was unbearable.The ones you loved didn't understand.Worse still, they told you, "you don't."Pain so deep no words could describePain so real, but no where to hide.Naked, you were exposed.No one could walk with you.You went alone to your death. God why did you forsake Him?You died to be different.Revolutionary…I will follow.You died to be different. Help me to do the same.Fill the void.Share my pain. Help me to share in yours.

"Georgegnosis"

I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine the other day. I told him that I was trading in my theology for theognosis. He had actually read my earlier blog called “Jesus, Mary, and Joe Smith.” He asked me to clarify the last paragraph of the blog. So this is what I came up with. I hope it makes sense. If it doesn’t let me know. I always welcome a discussion.

+ + + + +

In my opinion Star Wars is the greatest movie ever. I am the quintessential “hardcore” Star Wars fan. My wife and I have two cats. Their names are Obi Won Kenobi and Mace Windu. For you no- Star Wars weirdoes those are two Jedi in the movies. If you don’t know what Jedi are then you need some serious counseling.

For my birthday some time ago my wife bought me a real light saber. No, not a cheap flashlight wannabe light saber you buy at Wal-Mart. It had a die cast metal hilt and an actual halogen beam. The hilt was motion sensitive so when you moved it around it would make the wooooo woooo sound. It was freaking awesome.

Darth Vader sits on the edge of my desk right now. Across the room is a great gift my best friend bought me, Darth Tater. It is a Mr. Potato Head that looks like Darth Vader. I have about twenty five Star Wars Posters. My little girl was Darth Vader for Halloween last year. I have seen all of the movies about on hundred times each. I even have and wear Star Wars underwear.

Like I said, I am a hardcore Star Wars fan.

I personally think that George Lucas is a brilliant man. I loved every single Star Wars he made (Yes…even the new ones). To be honest I think George Lucas could make a movie of Luke Skywalker mowing the grass and I would probably think it was incredible.

When you become such a fan of someone you begin to try and learn as much about that person as you can. Because I looked up to and respected George Lucas I began to study his life and learn as much about him as I could. I watched documentaries about his life. I bought books and began to read about him. I even got a photo of him and put him in my office for creative inspiration. I began to learn anything and everything I could about this man.

You know what sucks? Even though I have read all his books, seen all his movies, studied his life, and bought all his merchandise, I have never had a chance to actually meet George Lucas. I only know the little pieces of him that he has put in his biographies.

Never have George and I sat down over coffee and discussed his likes and dislike. I have no idea what his favorite color is. I don’t know what season of the year he enjoys the most. I don’t know if watches sunrises and thinks or goes to bed early. I don’t know if he bags his groceries in paper or plastic. I don’t know if he loves people or they get on his nerves. I don’t know what he wears to the beach. I don’t even know if he likes going to beach. I don’t know if likes to read or watch movies. I have no idea who George Lucas really is. I have a general Georgeology, but no Georgegnosis.

If given the chance to meet George Lucas and take him to coffee and actually “get to know him,” all of the stuff I read about him in my books and all the stuff I learned about him in documentaries would fade in comparison to having a chance to meet the real man.

Now having said that let me see if I can clarify my point. Let’s just say for some crazy reason George Lucas decided he wanted to have a relationship with me. He wanted to be my friend and every Sunday we were going to go to coffee and hang out.

The first time we go to coffee we begin with our silly small talk. Then our conversation moves to deeper discussion about life. He begins to tell me this story of the time he went sailing with his friends. He enlightens me that he likes sailing. He then proceeds to share with me a funny story that happened on his sailing trip. While he is telling the story little pieces of his personality begin to shine through. His humor becomes evident. His attention to the details of the story ring out. His great ability to tell the story becomes noticeable. All of the unseen things that make him an awesome man begin to come clear to me.

I leave our discussion with an new understanding of who George really is. During that short conversation about stuff I began to really get to know George. Not just facts and figures, but personality and person ability. Two things were happening as we talked.

First, I was learning about George- Georgeology or about God- Theology

Second, I was getting to know George- Georgegnosis or getting to know God- Theognosis.

In order to get to know the heart of George or the essence of George I was confronted with the facts of who he is.

+ + + + +

Enough about George. Let’s talk God. When I put my focus on getting to know God I naturally begin learning about God. Getting to know Him takes me down paths of learning about Him.

When in this order one naturally leads to the other. Theognosis naturally leads one through theology. However, when they are inverted theology does not always lead one through or to theognosis.

You can study all day long every day about God and not actually know Him. The problem is when you invert these two and put Theology first.
Theognosis speaks to the heart.

Theology speaks to the mind.

This is why I am going back to innocence and trading in my theology for theognosis. If I simply get to know God and fall in love with Him more and more the theology will come. I will no longer live bound to the dogma of crossing my “T’s” and dotting my “I’s” of God. I am letting go of religion and diving into love. Theology is no longer my priority. God is.

"Message, Methods, Mentality?"

To be honest I do not want to write this blog, but if feel like it lays the ground work for my next several blogs to come. So please forgive me in advance if it is dry and boring and it doesn’t make much sense.

+ + + + +

I am frustrated. This seems to be the season of life I am in, frustration. I feel as though the frustration is locking it self in my body and taking over. It manifests itself in so many different ways. I want to turn to away. I want to yell at the top of my lungs. I want to give up. I want to close my eyes and it all be better.

Things are so much better in my dreams. Perhaps I will go to sleep for a long time and live in my euphoria. No. What good would that do? What change would that make?

Why the frustration? This is the greatest irony of them all. I am frustrated with the mentality of the corporate machine that has become the modern church.

My head hurts and I think I am going to have to buy a helmet from banging my head against the wall so much.

Tears fill my eyes as I try to write these thoughts.

+ + + + +

Who am I? Good question. I am only a 26 year old kid who is totally confused with the way things are so I am forced to ask the question everyone hates. Why? Why are things the way they are? When I sit and contemplate the true state of the “church” I am moved to an all out laughter. I am laughing because of how stupid it all is. The church is trying to play catch-up to the culture and meanwhile the culture just keeps moving on leaving us in the dust.

Even the “progressive” churches are falling pray to these same ideas they the once rebelled against. I think the underlying problem is we have tried to make a swing in the church to new places, but in our swinging we flew by the heart of the issue.

I grew up Baptist. I went to a Baptist school in college. I know what it means to think inside the box. What was funny is while I was at Baptist school Andy Stanley and Ed Young and all the others began to emerge. Most of my Baptist friends just thought these guys were insane and they were being sac religious with their thoughts and ideas. They began to push an agenda of moving beyond the status quo of church and adding some ideals and methods of the culture to help reach the culture. A lot of my friends that were ok with what these guys were doing began to say, “we need to change the methods, as long as we don’t change the message.” To be honest I used to say that as well. I used to think that way as well.

Here is my issue with this statement. Many people have subscribed to this way of thinking and as a result we have found ourselves exactly where we were before the whole movement began. People everywhere began to change their methods. We began to see choirs disappear and praise teams arise. We began to see preachers preach shorter sermons with more jokes. Coats and ties were replaced for collard shirts and jeans. (My favorite) Hymnals were thrown away or sold to antique shops and big screens took over. Announcements left and the “video announcements” took over. Drama teams everywhere began to work overtime. These things and so many more began to emerge. Again these methods began to change. Still in the whirlwind of “methodology” the heat of the issue still remained.

+ + + + +

I love Starbucks coffee. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to Starbucks probably three times every week to meet someone there. I hate meeting anywhere else. I just don’t think anyone can hold a candle to their flavor and quality. Plus, their atmosphere rules. Maybe that is cliché to say I like Starbucks because it has totally become the trendy place to hang out, but I like it.

The other day my good friend took me to a different coffee house. I must admit I was reluctant to go because I am such a religious Starbucks fan. Never the less we went. When I walked in I was totally impressed. On my left were some of the coolest couches and chairs I had ever seen. The place was lit with a great ambiance. They had the greatest rugs on the floor and cushions on the couches. The walls were painted with this awesome texture and one wall was done with this incredible wood paneling. Not cheese wood paneling like in your house growing up, but nice deep dark wood with all kinds of cool designs on it. Their menu was these really cool chalkboards with all the drinks on it. The people we really cool and help my friend and I understand the foreign language that is coffee. Once we had a complete education as to what drink we wanted we ordered. I must say, until this point I was totally impressed. I thought this place was jamming. I was so excited that we had finally found another coffee house that we could go to.

After a few minutes the kind lady handed me my cup of coffee. I think I ordered a white chocolate mocha. I like those. Here it was. The moment of truth had arrived. I took the steaming cup of liquid joy and placed it to my lips. I slowly tilted cup toward my face. As the coffee entered my mouth my excitement quickly turned to confusion and then to disgust then to anger. I almost spit this coffee out. It was terrible! It was one of the nastiest substances I had ever put in my mouth.

+ + + + +

I grew up cliché. I came from one of those typical southern Baptist churches where everyone is called brother and we shake hands with fake smiles. I was raised in a tie and taught to read my Bible and pray every day. I quickly learned all of the silly catch phrases Christians use. I learned the “Christian” language. I began to behave Christian and tell Christian jokes. I lingered in the cliché until I was about twenty one years old.

I think I can almost remember my first question. “Why do we pray with our eyes closed?” I wandered to myself. That was it. That was my first why that has lead me down the road I am currently on. I am thankful everyday that I had that moment when I asked that question because it has led me to question the process all the way until now.

All of my questioning has lead me to today where I have finally been able to articulate the answer or the core problem. Why after why after why can all be answered with one simple answer. All of your questions as to how the church got to where it is and why it is in the state it is can be answered with one answer.

If the coffee sucks no amount of dressing it up is going to make it taste better. I don’t care how much wood trim you have in your restaurant. I don’t care how cool your chairs are. I don’t care how neat your mugs are or how friendly your people are. If your coffee sucks I’m not coming back. This is what the church is missing. In all of our attempts at “methodology” we never changed the root issue which was our “mentality.”

If the mentality of the church is screwed up then no amount of dressing it down with tie-less preachers or jamming out with praise teams is going to fix it. When the root of the problem is mentality you can not change enough of your surface issues to fix the real problem.

I know that to say something like that is a big statement and it will take time for me to defend. Please hear me honestly and openly. I want to help shape the future, but I really think it will be done through the marketplace of ideas. The church has quit engaging in the marketplace of ideas and we have lost the cultural war. It is time for us to begin to allow God to “renew our minds” and for us to allow Him to teach us how to think again. I have many observations which I will share with you in time to come. Until then here is a list of what I think are going to have to be some major mentality swings if we are going to make the transition to the future.

1. People are people. Not statistics
2. God is God. Not the church, Not your church, and Not your denomination
3. Evangelism is not the main thing Love is.
4. Christ can dictate culture. We do not have to play catch-up
5. Discipleship is not a signature it is a process.
6. Scripts are for plays not gatherings of the church.
7. The church is a spiritual organism not a building.
8. The church is God’s not any pastor’s
9. Money should be invested in people not buildings
10. This isn’t a strongman competition. We need to be weak not strong Christians
11. Testaments are in the Bible not breath mints. Secular and Christian do not exist.
12. Others are more important than me.
13. We are the body not a corporation
14. Nobody likes politics. Not even in politics.
15. Black lines are for tattoos not people. We live in grace.
16. Gray is a beautiful color. Nobody is white
17. Get real
18. Save it for the Judge- Judging is God’s department not mine
19. Trade Theology for Thoegnosis
20. Be you it’s ok. Individuality is fine
21. Think
22. It’s ok ask. Questions don’t make you sacrilegious they make you normal.
23. It’s Multiple Choice not True or False.

"People Are People"

I like doing business with people whom I have had a chance to meet and even get to know. That feeling of seeing an old friend every time I walk into a certain establishment is awesome. In fact I will determine much of the business I am going to give a certain company based on the relationship I built with the owner, manager, or certain employee.

There have been times that the only reason I went to a certain establishment is because I knew a person who worked there and I wanted to bring them my business. I would imagine you are a lot like me. In fact most people are like that.

+ + + + +

I have tattoos. There I said it. Judge me if you want to.

So I was looking for someone to do a huge tattoo for me on my leg. This tattoo is not an ordinary tattoo of Pepe Le Pue or Woody Woodpecker. This tattoo was going to be a work of art that would communicate a season of my life. Being that tattoos are permanent, I wanted to find someone I trusted and would embrace my concept. My whole thing was I wanted to find someone I could be friends with first and then we could talk about doing a tattoo for me.

I went and visited a lot of tattoo artists. I went to one of these “corporate” tattoo companies. When I walked in the place it felt impersonal. I was greeted by a lady who then introduced me to one of the artists. The guy treated me like I was taking up his time. So I left.

Later I went into another tattoo parlor and met Kenny. When I walked in, the parlor had the smell of ink in the air. There were two guys sitting and chilling on a couple of couches in the front of the store. One guy looked familiar, but he had an awesome Mohawk on his head. I didn’t think I knew anybody with a Mohawk.

I introduced myself and began to ask questions. Mohawk man looked at me and said, “Didn’t you go to Reinhardt College?”

I said, “I did.”

We then realized that both of us went to the same school and had art classes together. This was awesome. Instantly my mind was at rest. I was in the company of someone I knew and I trusted. We began to talk about my concept. Kenny then got up off the couch and began to draw some ideas around the concept I was describing. His drawings were great, but more importantly Kenny was my friend. We had a personal connection.

I had found the tattoo artist who was going to do this huge work of art for me.

+ + + + +

I have been traveling and speaking all across the country for about two years. The ministry name I do this under is Refuge Ministries. For the past two years we have been doing business with a company who does our payroll. Lisa was our representative. I love Lisa. She became such an awesome friend over the past two years.

Lisa has always referred to me as Mr. Benton and my wife as Mrs. Benton. When I would call Lisa would say, “Hello.”

I would say, “Lisa this is Drew Benton with Refuge Ministries.”

She would respond, “Hello Mr. Benton how can I help you today?”

The other day my wife made a call to this company because we had some questions about our account with them. When she asked to speak to Lisa she was informed that Lisa did not work there anymore. So naturally she asked to speak to the person who was in charge of our account now. They put her on the phone with Nina.

Nina said, “Hello.”

My wife responded. “Nina this is Alicia Benton with Refuge Ministries.”

Nina then responded with these words, “Mrs. Benton can I have your customer I.D. number.”

+ + + + +

Maybe it was big business. Maybe it was the onset of the computer. Maybe it was the introduction of social security. I don’t know what it was, but somewhere somehow we began to convert people to numbers.

Being reduced to a number really sucks. Nobody likes it. When Nina asked my wife for here I.D. number she gasped. The wind was knocked out of her. Finding out she had been reduced to a number cut deep.

+ + + + +

I suppose we have grown accustom to this idea of being converted to a number in modern business. It seems like no matter where you call today you are asked to give a number of sorts to identify yourself. Just because we have grown accustom to the idea does not mean we like it. Just because the personal connection has been lost does not mean we are excited about it being replaced.

I don’t know about you, but one of the most frustrating things alive is visiting the website for a major company. Once you get to the site you may or may not find the answers to the questions you are looking for. So then you search the entire site to find a phone number to call the company. You have to practically become a private detective just to find a number for the site. Once you do find the number you call and some machine answers and asks you to say yes or no about fifty times before it finally transfers you to human.

The reality is all you ever wanted was the human contact. You only wanted to know the answer to some very simple questions. More importantly you wanted to know if someone cared about you as their customer to answer your questions.

Again, just because it exists does not mean that we like it.

I suppose what has become dangerous is the fact that this mentality has seeped it’s way into the church. No, I am not talking about how we have e-mails and voice mails. That is going to happen. I am talking about how we make corporate round table decisions that affect countless people all for the sake of “numbers.”

If we do this then this many more “numbers” will come. If we send out this marketing piece then this many more “numbers” will come to our church. If we have this community outreach then this many more “numbers” will come. And so on and so on. How many decisions are made daily that are made with the idea that more numbers will come if we do this?

Community events are great things to do, but not to boost you numbers. Whatever happened to doing them just to show the community love? Why not do things to build relationships with people. People are people not numbers. We simply can not treat people like the rest of the world. We have a love that makes us different.

I am not a number, you are not a number, and they are not a number. Nobody is a number. People are people. And every single one of them need love.

Questions Volume 1

2006-10-10T11:59:00.003-07:00

Questions?

I am 27 years old and my life thus far has been full of so many questions. There is so much I don’t understand. The more I learn the more I realize I don’t know. To be honest… The questions have been overwhelming me lately. I feel as though my mind is taking me places I never thought possible. The what and how of things are driving me mad. Questions questions all I see is questions. They are everywhere and in everything popping up around ever corner of my life’s journey.

The other day my dad asked me if I make the journey more difficult on myself. “Of course,” I answered. I always make it hard on myself to learn. Some people just have to learn the hard way. To quote DC talk, “I guess I am the kind of guy who has to find out for himself.” I wish I had the capacity to learn from others mistakes. I unfortunately have to learn through my own experience.

Because of my questioning nature I have chosen to take some time away from the “ministry” arena. I feel like I am in a time of sorting stuff out. For me to teach at this stage could potentially lead people down a path that I am not sure of myself. I feel as though there are some things that I have to resolve in my heart before I can go in the direction God is leading me. During this six month sabbatical I am asking questions of my life, faith, God, and more. I am challenging the core of everything I have ever believed in or been told to believe.

What are the questions I am wrestling with? Good question. I think if I new the answer to that I would be a lot closer to having the answers I am looking for. The fact is I am not even sure of all the questions I am wrestling with right now. I think perhaps my greatest question that bothers me more than anything is, “why don’t more people ask questions?”

Whatever happened to people thinking for themselves? Everywhere I look people are spouting out information to help support their point of view. The information they are spouting is usually information they got from someone else who heard it from someone else. Then they try to use the information as though it is a fact in a case. The reality is the information may or may not have been true, but to them it is.

This is where danger sets in. People buying into an idea without ever questioning it to see if it is truth or not is potentially one of the worst travesties of mankind. If you simply take an idea at face value and never probe it to be true you potentially have bought into a lie. The bottom line is you don’t know if it is true or not because you never questioned your beliefs. You simply believed it to be true because someone told you it was.

Shoes

I love shoes. I like to find all kinds of different shoes and buy them. When I was young I used to go shoe shopping with my dad. He would take me to a store to buy some basketball shoes or something to run around in. When the sales person would come my dad would ask if they had the shoes we wanted in a size 13-14. Usually they didn’t. People don’t make cool shoes for people with such big feet. My dad was convince himself and he had convinced me that I wore that size shoe. For the longest time I Believed I wore size 13-14 shoes. As a result I spent much of my younger years wearing shoes that were not quite as cool.

Many years later my wife and I went shoe shopping. I ran my usual routine and asked the store clerk if they had the shoes I wanted in size 13-14. The man responded, “No, but I do have them in size 12.” So I asked the man to let me try those on. I never thought they would fit because I believed that I was a size 14. The clerk brought them out and I tried them on. I couldn’t hardly believe it, but the shoes fit.

Size 12? How could this be? I wear a 14. The truth is my foot was considerably smaller than a 14. So much of my life was wasted wearing not cool shoes and shoes that were too big for my feet simply because I believe a lie to be true and the lie shaped my reality. What people believe to be true shapes their reality.

Hijackers

9/11/ 2001 was perhaps one of the worst days in American history. Evil men came into our country, hijacked our planes, then flew them into our buildings, and killed our innocent friends and family. How does something so horrific happen? What were the men thinking who hijacked the planes?

What possesses one to get out of your seat, put on a red bandanna, storm a cockpit, and kill innocent people? You know you want to answer the question by saying they were on drugs. Or, they were psycho. Or, they were brainwashed. Etc…

Regardless of your rational the bottom line is these guys believed they were doing God’s will. They also believed if they did this that they would go to heaven and have virgins there waiting for them to have sex with. They also believed that this was an honorable death. The point is they believed a series of lies to be true and as a result these men loaded planes and attacked our nation.

Now do you understand the power of an idea? One idea united these men in an attack of hate. One idea bound these men in their resolve to die for their beliefs. One twisted thought found it’s way into the hearts of these men and they clang to it as a sense of meaning or purpose. They never questioned the ideology to see if it was true. As a result this crisis ensued because they did not think for themselves.

To often people are not thinking, but are rather regurgitating thoughts they have heard from other people. They have “in a sense” been “brain washed” to think a certain way. They have no original thoughts. They only repeat everything they’ve heard or learned.

Ideas are meant to be questioned. Even Jesus Christ himself questioned God. Do you remember? “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” At the pentacle of Christ’s purpose and plan He has the audacity to ask God if He really knows what He is doing or not. I love that about Christ. He was never afraid to question.

So… All this brings me back to my original question. Why don’t more people ask questions?

What is so wrong? Why is it wrong? Why can’t people? Who says we can’t? Why must I stop? Why don’t more people do it? Why does it threaten you? What is your fear? Why don’t you?

Why is it when one begins to think for themselves that people can not stand it? Why is it when one articulates their own thoughts that they are labeled something other than who they are? Why is it that when one questions that it is intimidating to others? Why is it that the people who think are not allowed too? Why is it ok to think as long as we think the same as you? Why is it when one starts to think others who don’t think tell the thinker to stop? Why can’t people allow others to think their way? And who says the way you think is exactly right? Isn’t it intellectual arrogance to say your thought process is the only one that is right?

Who cares if someone else is questioning? Who cares how they think? I am just excited when people do think. There is so little of it going on anymore. Most people turn on their TV or their radio and allow pop culture to lull them into a zombie state. The irony is these people are the first to criticize the thinkers. No thoughts just “entertainment.” Many get their “thoughts” from church, education, sports, politicians, entertainment, CNN or Fox news.

Collecting knowledge from other sources is not inherently and evil thing. However, collecting knowledge from a source and automatically accepting it as truth is a very dangerous thing. Nobody is outside the influence of ideas from media, entertainment, religion, etc… However, it is up to the individual to probe the ideas to see if they are the truth.

Early 20’s

For the first twenty years of my life or so I simply accepted everything I was taught as truth. I grew up in a Christian home. I went to Christian school for much of my life. I worked for Christian churches. I socialized at primarily Christian events. I did not know there was anything else out there. What I believed to be true shaped my reality. As you can imagine growing up in a highly saturated Christian environment that I too became a Christian and began to live my life like everyone else who claimed to be a Christian.

Because I don’t have time… I will not go into all the ways my “being” a Christian rotted the core of my mind. I mindlessly went along with the indoctrinating dogma that the Baptist church pushed on me. I did not think for myself, but merely went along with what those around me were saying and believed. I completely immersed myself in becoming all that I thought I was supposed to be. My beliefs dictated my reality.

To me this was reality. This was truth. The man teaching each week was flawless and everything he said was truth. It was my duty as a Christian to get saved and make sure everyone else was. It was my duty as a Christian to stay away from certain substances and behaviors. It was my duty as a Christian to follow traditions set forth by men over hundreds of years. It was my duty to be the best Christian I could be.

So I served my duty. I obeyed my “master.”

Dieing To Be Different

2006-03-18T18:02:00.003-08:00

Ouch. It hurts.
The pain is unbearable.
The ones I have loved don’t understand.
Worse still, they tell me, “I don’t.”
Pain so deep no words can describe.
Pain so deep, but no where to hide.
Naked, My thoughts are exposed.

No one can walk with me.
I am alone in my quest.
I didn’t ask for this.
God why do I feel forsaken?
I am dieing to be different.

Ouch. It hurts.
Your pain was unbearable.
The ones you loved didn’t understand.
Worse still, they told you, “you don’t.”
Pain so deep no words could describe
Pain so real, but no where to hide.
Naked, you were exposed.

No one could walk with you.
You went alone to your death.
God why did you forsake Him?
You died to be different.

Revolutionary…I will follow.
You died to be different.
Help me to do the same.
Fill the void.
Share my pain.
Help me to share in yours.

Georgeology?

2006-02-13T19:58:00.003-08:00

I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine the other day. I told him that I was trading in my theology for theognosis. He had actually read my earlier blog called “Jesus, Mary, and Joe Smith.” He asked me to clarify the last paragraph of the blog. So this is what I came up with. I hope it makes sense. If it doesn’t let me know. I always welcome a discussion.

+ + + + +

In my opinion Star Wars is the greatest movie ever. I am the quintessential “hardcore” Star Wars fan. My wife and I have two cats. Their names are Obi Won Kenobi and Mace Windu. For you no- Star Wars weirdoes those are two Jedi in the movies. If you don’t know what Jedi are then you need some serious counseling.

For my birthday some time ago my wife bought me a real light saber. No, not a cheap flashlight wannabe light saber you buy at Wal-Mart. It had a die cast metal hilt and an actual halogen beam. The hilt was motion sensitive so when you moved it around it would make the wooooo woooo sound. It was freaking awesome.

Darth Vader sits on the edge of my desk right now. Across the room is a great gift my best friend bought me, Darth Tater. It is a Mr. Potato Head that looks like Darth Vader. I have about twenty five Star Wars Posters. My little girl was Darth Vader for Halloween last year. I have seen all of the movies about on hundred times each. I even have and wear Star Wars underwear.

Like I said, I am a hardcore Star Wars fan.

I personally think that George Lucas is a brilliant man. I loved every single Star Wars he made (Yes…even the new ones). To be honest I think George Lucas could make a movie of Luke Skywalker mowing the grass and I would probably think it was incredible.

When you become such a fan of someone you begin to try and learn as much about that person as you can. Because I looked up to and respected George Lucas I began to study his life and learn as much about him as I could. I watched documentaries about his life. I bought books and began to read about him. I even got a photo of him and put him in my office for creative inspiration. I began to learn anything and everything I could about this man.

You know what sucks? Even though I have read all his books, seen all his movies, studied his life, and bought all his merchandise, I have never had a chance to actually meet George Lucas. I only know the little pieces of him that he has put in his biographies.

Never have George and I sat down over coffee and discussed his likes and dislike. I have no idea what his favorite color is. I don’t know what season of the year he enjoys the most. I don’t know if watches sunrises and thinks or goes to bed early. I don’t know if he bags his groceries in paper or plastic. I don’t know if he loves people or they get on his nerves. I don’t know what he wears to the beach. I don’t even know if he likes going to beach. I don’t know if likes to read or watch movies. I have no idea who George Lucas really is. I have a general Georgeology, but no Georgegnosis.

If given the chance to meet George Lucas and take him to coffee and actually “get to know him,” all of the stuff I read about him in my books and all the stuff I learned about him in documentaries would fade in comparison to having a chance to meet the real man.

Now having said that let me see if I can clarify my point. Let’s just say for some crazy reason George Lucas decided he wanted to have a relationship with me. He wanted to be my friend and every Sunday we were going to go to coffee and hang out.

The first time we go to coffee we begin with our silly small talk. Then our conversation moves to deeper discussion about life. He begins to tell me this story of the time he went sailing with his friends. He enlightens me that he likes sailing. He then proceeds to share with me a funny story that happened on his sailing trip. While he is telling the story little pieces of his personality begin to shine through. His humor becomes evident. His attention to the details of the story ring out. His great ability to tell the story becomes noticeable. All of the unseen things that make him an awesome man begin to come clear to me.

I leave our discussion with an new understanding of who George really is. During that short conversation about stuff I began to really get to know George. Not just facts and figures, but personality and person ability. Two things were happening as we talked.

First, I was learning about George- Georgeology or about God- Theology

Second, I was getting to know George- Georgegnosis or getting to know God- Theognosis.

In order to get to know the heart of George or the essence of George I was confronted with the facts of who he is.

+ + + + +

Enough about George. Let’s talk God. When I put my focus on getting to know God I naturally begin learning about God. Getting to know Him takes me down paths of learning about Him.

When in this order one naturally leads to the other. Theognosis naturally leads one through theology. However, when they are inverted theology does not always lead one through or to theognosis.

You can study all day long every day about God and not actually know Him. The problem is when you invert these two and put Theology first.
Theognosis speaks to the heart.

Theology speaks to the mind.

This is why I am going back to innocence and trading in my theology for theognosis. If I simply get to know God and fall in love with Him more and more the theology will come. I will no longer live bound to the dogma of crossing my “T’s” and dotting my “I’s” of God. I am letting go of religion and diving into love. Theology is no longer my priority. God is.

Back To The Future

2006-02-10T10:09:00.003-08:00

Are you ready?
Here we go.
Whether you like it or not.
It’s happening.
The trend is here.
It has emerged.
We were warned.
Forerunners have spoken.
We didn’t listen.
The future has come.
We missed it.

Message, Methods, Mentality

2006-02-07T16:44:00.003-08:00

To be honest I do not want to write this blog, but if feel like it lays the ground work for my next several blogs to come. So please forgive me in advance if it is dry and boring and it doesn’t make much sense.

+ + + + +

I am frustrated. This seems to be the season of life I am in, frustration. I feel as though the frustration is locking it self in my body and taking over. It manifests itself in so many different ways. I want to turn to away. I want to yell at the top of my lungs. I want to give up. I want to close my eyes and it all be better.

Things are so much better in my dreams. Perhaps I will go to sleep for a long time and live in my euphoria. No. What good would that do? What change would that make?

Why the frustration? This is the greatest irony of them all. I am frustrated with the mentality of the corporate machine that has become the modern church.

My head hurts and I think I am going to have to buy a helmet from banging my head against the wall so much.

Tears fill my eyes as I try to write these thoughts.

+ + + + +

Who am I? Good question. I am only a 26 year old kid who is totally confused with the way things are so I am forced to ask the question everyone hates. Why? Why are things the way they are? When I sit and contemplate the true state of the “church” I am moved to an all out laughter. I am laughing because of how stupid it all is. The church is trying to play catch-up to the culture and meanwhile the culture just keeps moving on leaving us in the dust.

Even the “progressive” churches are falling pray to these same ideas they the once rebelled against. I think the underlying problem is we have tried to make a swing in the church to new places, but in our swinging we flew by the heart of the issue.

I grew up Baptist. I went to a Baptist school in college. I know what it means to think inside the box. What was funny is while I was at Baptist school Andy Stanley and Ed Young and all the others began to emerge. Most of my Baptist friends just thought these guys were insane and they were being sac religious with their thoughts and ideas. They began to push an agenda of moving beyond the status quo of church and adding some ideals and methods of the culture to help reach the culture. A lot of my friends that were ok with what these guys were doing began to say, “we need to change the methods, as long as we don’t change the message.” To be honest I used to say that as well. I used to think that way as well.

Here is my issue with this statement. Many people have subscribed to this way of thinking and as a result we have found ourselves exactly where we were before the whole movement began. People everywhere began to change their methods. We began to see choirs disappear and praise teams arise. We began to see preachers preach shorter sermons with more jokes. Coats and ties were replaced for collard shirts and jeans. (My favorite) Hymnals were thrown away or sold to antique shops and big screens took over. Announcements left and the “video announcements” took over. Drama teams everywhere began to work overtime. These things and so many more began to emerge. Again these methods began to change. Still in the whirlwind of “methodology” the heat of the issue still remained.

+ + + + +

I love Starbucks coffee. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to Starbucks probably three times every week to meet someone there. I hate meeting anywhere else. I just don’t think anyone can hold a candle to their flavor and quality. Plus, their atmosphere rules. Maybe that is cliché to say I like Starbucks because it has totally become the trendy place to hang out, but I like it.

The other day my good friend took me to a different coffee house. I must admit I was reluctant to go because I am such a religious Starbucks fan. Never the less we went. When I walked in I was totally impressed. On my left were some of the coolest couches and chairs I had ever seen. The place was lit with a great ambiance. They had the greatest rugs on the floor and cushions on the couches. The walls were painted with this awesome texture and one wall was done with this incredible wood paneling. Not cheese wood paneling like in your house growing up, but nice deep dark wood with all kinds of cool designs on it. Their menu was these really cool chalkboards with all the drinks on it. The people we really cool and help my friend and I understand the foreign language that is coffee. Once we had a complete education as to what drink we wanted we ordered. I must say, until this point I was totally impressed. I thought this place was jamming. I was so excited that we had finally found another coffee house that we could go to.

After a few minutes the kind lady handed me my cup of coffee. I think I ordered a white chocolate mocha. I like those. Here it was. The moment of truth had arrived. I took the steaming cup of liquid joy and placed it to my lips. I slowly tilted cup toward my face. As the coffee entered my mouth my excitement quickly turned to confusion and then to disgust then to anger. I almost spit this coffee out. It was terrible! It was one of the nastiest substances I had ever put in my mouth.

+ + + + +

I grew up cliché. I came from one of those typical southern Baptist churches where everyone is called brother and we shake hands with fake smiles. I was raised in a tie and taught to read my Bible and pray every day. I quickly learned all of the silly catch phrases Christians use. I learned the “Christian” language. I began to behave Christian and tell Christian jokes. I lingered in the cliché until I was about twenty one years old.

I think I can almost remember my first question. “Why do we pray with our eyes closed?” I wandered to myself. That was it. That was my first why that has lead me down the road I am currently on. I am thankful everyday that I had that moment when I asked that question because it has led me to question the process all the way until now.

All of my questioning has lead me to today where I have finally been able to articulate the answer or the core problem. Why after why after why can all be answered with one simple answer. All of your questions as to how the church got to where it is and why it is in the state it is can be answered with one answer.

If the coffee sucks no amount of dressing it up is going to make it taste better. I don’t care how much wood trim you have in your restaurant. I don’t care how cool your chairs are. I don’t care how neat your mugs are or how friendly your people are. If your coffee sucks I’m not coming back. This is what the church is missing. In all of our attempts at “methodology” we never changed the root issue which was our “mentality.”

If the mentality of the church is screwed up then no amount of dressing it down with tie-less preachers or jamming out with praise teams is going to fix it. When the root of the problem is mentality you can not change enough of your surface issues to fix the real problem.

I know that to say something like that is a big statement and it will take time for me to defend. Please hear me honestly and openly. I want to help shape the future, but I really think it will be done through the marketplace of ideas. The church has quit engaging in the marketplace of ideas and we have lost the cultural war. It is time for us to begin to allow God to “renew our minds” and for us to allow Him to teach us how to think again. I have many observations which I will share with you in time to come. Until then here is a list of what I think are going to have to be some major mentality swings if we are going to make the transition to the future.

1. People are people. Not statistics
2. God is God. Not the church, Not your church, and Not your denomination
3. Evangelism is not the main thing Love is.
4. Christ can dictate culture. We do not have to play catch-up
5. Discipleship is not a signature it is a process.
6. Scripts are for plays not gatherings of the church.
7. The church is a spiritual organism not a building.
8. The church is God’s not any pastor’s
9. Money should be invested in people not buildings
10. This isn’t a strongman competition. We need to be weak not strong Christians
11. Secular and Christian do not exist.
12. Others are more important than me.

13. We are the body not a corporation.

14. Nobody likes politics. Not even in government.

I’m sure there will be more……..

Fear of What.

2006-02-01T09:03:00.003-08:00

Scattered thoughts, confusion sets in.
Does it have to make sense or can it just be?
More questions than answers I have to offer.
Don’t ask me I’m the same as you.
I’m tired of trying to act as though I have it all figured out.

I’ve fallen. I am fallen.
Like rain from the sky.
Like leaves from a tree I have lost life and fallen
Is morning coming? Is there a dawn of new day?
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.
Deeper and deeper I keep falling

Frustration comes too, now aggravation.
Where to go where to turn? I don’t have the capacity.
Anger is overtaking my eyes fill with tears.
The breath is knocked out of my lungs.
I am suffocating under the pressure. I want to get out.

I’ve fallen. I am fallen
Like tears from my eyes.
Like petals from a flower I have lost life and fallen.
Is this night over? Where is this new day?
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.

To where do I fall?
Will I hit?
Will I make a dent?
Will it hurt?
All these questions and more fill my mind.

Destination unknown, fear fills my heart.
Fear of what. Exactly?
I can’t let it win, but I don’t feel like trying.
Can Grace breath life again? If so why and how?
I’m tired of trying to figure it out I accept it.

I’ve fallen. I am fallen
Like blood from His wound
Like a man for his lover I have gained life and I’m fallen.
It’s a new day. Rescue has come.
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.
Deeper and deeper I keep loving.
Deeper and deeper I keep falling.

Jesus, Mary, and Joe Smith

2006-01-30T16:46:00.003-08:00

The awe striking reality that is God, has been reduced in so many of our minds to a small formula that we think we have figured out. God is God and we are not. So much wander and power surrounds Him. Who am I to try and diminish His reality by trying to cram Him into mine?

In the church today, so much emphasis is placed on trying to figure God out. In fact we have created schools that say, “come, we have God figured out.” Now I know they do not really say that, nor would they ever say that because it would contradict what they teach about knowing everything about God. Even though they do not say that nor would ever admit to having that ideology, they practice it. They act as though they have it all figured out and that everyone else is wrong.

If you don’t believe that let me introduce you to a few of them. They are more interested in having a debate about some ridicules topic then how your day was. Even those who don’t act as though they have God figured out at least act like they know exactly what God meant by every scripture. They behave as though they are an authority on God because they endured a few more years of school than the rest of us. It is as though God is in their pocket. How arrogant? The funny thing is these are the people that we in our earthly terms define as wise.

The problem with this mentality is we have completely tarnished the awesomeness of God. We have reduced Him to an “it” and compacted “it” into a formula that we can all understand. As a result we no longer have a fear of God because we have Him totally figured out.
+ + + + +

Growing up I had a deep hatred towards computers. I used to make comments about how computers were taking over. I was an artist who wanted to do everything by hand and thought everyone else should do the same. I could remember sitting down in front of a computer and not knowing how to turn it on. I hated computers. The truth was I don’t think I really hated computers. I was merely perplexed by them. I did not know how to operate them and that left me feeling a sense of awe by their complexity. Computers could do anything you wanted them to do.

Years went by and I maintained this reverence for computers. All the while I would try a little thing here and little thing there. Finally, I took a computer course in school and learned all kinds of things. Now I was no longer awed by the computer, but became one of those people who would smack the computer when it would act up. Before, I would have never smacked a computer at risk of messing it up.

Since then I have learned all kinds of stuff about computers. I can just about figure out any software there is if given a little time. I am not even afraid of the hardware. The other day I had to replace a processor on a computer. Which for you non-computer people, that is a big deal. Computers do not scare me anymore because I embrace them with a spirit of understanding and knowledge about them. Fortunately computers are small enough things that if I did nothing but study them I could figure out almost everything there is to know about them. The more I learn about computers the less awed I become of them.

+ + + + +

The more I learn about God the more awed I become of Him. I’m yelling this, HIS GRANDURE IS FAR GREATER THAN WE WILL EVER EVEN BEGIN TO KNOW. How dare we try to diminish His greatness by reducing Him to human terms? Our language can not describe Him. Our minds can not comprehend Him. Our eyes can not behold Him. Our boxes can not contain Him. So quit trying to figure Him out and embrace what you don’t know.

+ + + + +

It is cold outside. I love to write when it is cold. I have my wife put on a pot of coffee and I retire to my office to read, write, paint, or create something. I love to create. When it gets cold in Atlanta you know we are getting close to Christmas. We only have two seasons in Atlanta, hot and cold. Cold only comes the last part of November and December.

My little girl Emma is three years old this year. It is awesome because she is finally old enough to understand a lot of what is going on with Christmas. She is completely in love with those silly claymation movies of Rudolph and Frosty. My wife Alicia Tivoed all of them. We have the unfortunate blessing of watching them every single day. We have tried to teach her the real meaning of Christmas along with the commercial holiday. Although she understands most things she does not understand everything.

The best part of Christmas is the cookies. I only say that because I personally can not pass up a good chocolate crinkle or snickerdodle. Alicia took Emma over to my parent’s house the other day to go and make some of these Christmas creations. While they were baking my mother asked Emma a question about the night Jesus was born. She wanted to know who all was at the stable. Emma then responded with a Funniest Home Videos moment, only we didn’t have it on tape. She looked at Nanna and responded, “There was Jesus, and Mary, and Joe Smith.”

+ + + + +

The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” I think to often in our attempts to convert God to math we shrink our understanding of God to that of a computer. We cram Him into our little boxes of understanding and thus loose our awe. We create cramming schools who will help you fit Him into your box. We have cramming teachers who try to reduce God to fit in your box. We have cramming pastors who try to over a series of time cram God into your box for you by operating from His own personal little box. We have all of these people cramming God into our stupid man made boxes.
(I’m yelling again) YOU CAN NOT CRAM GOD INTO YOUR BOX THAT IS YOUR MIND. The reality is the more I learn of who God is the more I learn how much I do not know about Him. I don’t care who you are. You can study God day after day year after year. You can pray every hour of every day. You can read the Bible through every week. You can read all the great books written about the Bible. You can do all these things and more for the rest of your life and still not have a grain of sand of knowledge of the endless beaches that is God.

If you and I could figure Him out then we should simply quit this Christian jazz and go worship a computer. I mean really what would be the difference.

+ + + + +

I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know all the terms and I don’t know all the language. I don’t have everything memorized. I don’t know where it all is found in the Bible. And I am not intimidated by you if you do. I am on a journey.

I have chosen to go back to a place of innocence. I am trading my attempts to know about God for attempts to know God. I am trading in my theology for a theognosis. I don’t care if I have all the facts right or not. I don’t care if my “take” on a certain scripture is correct or not. I don’t care if I have all of the formulas correct. I, like my little girl, choose to worship my awe inspiring God even if I think it is Joe Smith. I would rather know Him than about Him.

Fortune Cookie

2005-12-19T15:20:00.003-08:00

I have one of the craziest minds. God, for whatever reason, chose to bless me with a mind that moves about five miles a minute. Sometimes it sucks because I can’t shut it off. Like at night when I want to go to sleep. Or like in the middle of the night when I wake up with a crazy thought. Or like the morning when I wake up with a list of ideas I dreamed about while I was asleep. My mind just thinks, and thinks, and thinks. I often wander if my mind is ever going to slow down and give me a break.

As of lately I have been trying to write down a lot of what my mind thinks. I am afraid I may end up like one of those people who has an obsessive compulsion to write all the time. I saw that on a TV show once and it was kind of spooky. I have a real good friend Bryan who writes more than anybody I know. I kind of envy him because he has harnessed his crazy mind and has turned it into something that has a creative output. Bryan is funny because he will write you an e-mail that is a couple of pages long. But then again he is a writer.

The problem with my mind being so active is I have about one million ideas. Every day I have some new harebrained idea to make money or to pioneer a new direction in ministry. I tell my wife about them all the time. To be honest I think she is tired of hearing all of my “new ideas”, but she entertains them all anyway. The problem with having a new idea every five minutes is that my new idea is all I want to talk about. So I usually beat that dead horse until she can’t take it anymore and we change the subject. Changing the subject usually works for a little while, but then I go back to that idea in my mind and then say something about it by accident or I have already created a new idea that I want to talk about and the cycle starts again.

I wander if people and like Leonardo Divinchi, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein had over active minds. That is not to compare my mind to theirs, but to simply ask the question. I mean their brains had to have some serious activity to think up the stuff they did.

The problem for me is my mind is so active and I have so many new ideas that it is so hard to distinguish which one of the ideas I am supposed to do. Or maybe that is problem… I feel like I can only do one of them. You know in the church we are made to think we can only have one ministry or one business or one anything. I remember the other day I was in a conversation with a respectable minister and he told me that I needed to figure out the one thing I wanted to do and do that. He equated it the Apostle Paul who said, “This one thing I do.” The Apostle was hardly saying he only did one thing. In fact when we look at Paul we see he did a lot of stuff. He was a tent maker, world traveler, author, speaker, debater, teacher, and so much more. I wander if Paul had an active mind as well? I wander if he awoke in the middle of the night with his next great idea?

I have struggled with this over the past few years of my life. I have struggled with trying to find the one thing I could do and do well. The problem is there are so many things I want to do, and I am afraid to commit to only one. This inward tension has plagued me for some time. I struggled with this all the way until a little while ago.

The other day my wife Alicia and I went and ate with my family at a Chinese restaurant. The best part of eating at a Chinese restaurant is when they bring you your bill they bring you these little cookies called fortune cookies. When you crack open the cookie there is a little piece of paper inside that says what your fortune is going to be and on the back there are lottery numbers. When I was young I used to think it was funny to open the cookie and as everyone would read their fortune around the table I would start reading the numbers and act as though I did not realize the fortune was on the other side. It probably was funny the first time, but I would do it every time we got fortune cookies.

Now before you think I some kind of a fortune teller believer or something keep in mind we only read these for the silly fun that they are. In fact, most of the fortune cookies now have Chinese proverbs on them rather than an actual fortune. On this day each of us took times reading our fortunes around the table. I think my said something cliché like, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” I was kind of disappointed. Then my wife chimed in and said she had one that suited me very well. I took the little piece of paper and read, “The only way to have a great idea is to have lots of ideas.”

What? What did that just say? Did that little fortune cookie just speak truth into my life? Am I really going to listen to a cookie’s opinion? I couldn’t believe it but that little cookie just help me begin a process of putting to rest a struggle I had had for years.

It was not until the next morning however, that things really became clear. I try to have daily habit of reading the Bible and praying each morning. This morning I read from the book of Proverbs. When I got to verse twenty-one I froze. The proverb stated, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” As I chewed on that thought for a few minutes everything became exceedingly clear. It is ok to have a mind that is full of all kinds of thoughts and ideas and plans. I could feel free to dream all I wanted to and to think up all the crazy thoughts I could. It did not matter if had a new idea every five minutes or not.

The reality was a man’s heart could be full of many plans and only the ones that were from God would stand the test of time. This was such a feeing concept to me. I am no forced to feel in bondage to the “one thing” mentality, but can be open to developing any or all of my ideas. God will bless the ones He truly wants to see prosper and He will remove any that He doesn’t.

I thank God for that fortune cookie that day. I still can’t believe God used a fortune cookie to get my attention about who I am and who God wants me to be. I am comfortable in my own skin even though I have a mind that won’t stop thinking. Who knows? Maybe I will have the next great idea.

Existence

2005-12-17T13:57:00.003-08:00

Existence began for me May, 26 1979. I wish I could remember the experience of being born, but for some reason the human mind will not remember things younger than about three. I think it would be so cool to be able to recall what it felt like to be slowly pushed through the birthing canal buy my mothers contracting muscles. Imagine being covered in a wet substance and your bones literally shifting as you are being pushed out of another human being.

Then all of the sudden a foreign brightness hits your eyes and for the first time through your visual sensory you are introduced to light. The more you try to look around the more you realize you have no idea where you are or what is happening to you. Everything is new. You have no frame of reference to equate anything you see to. You are looking and seeing for the first time.

The further you travel on this journey your other eye is exposed to this “light” as well. Then moments later your ears are exposed. Suddenly your little self goes into a sensory overload. Seeing was one thing, but now you are hearing also. You begin to process the sounds you hear. All together they sound like blurs, but in the midst a very distance sound emerges. The foreign sounds begin to come clear. You can not make out any of them, except one. You hear my mother’s voice.

Her voice is full of different emotions. She is happy to see your eyes, but is in pain as she is the one birthing you. She calls to you with sounds of love and longing. Then a second voice emerges from the chaos. You hear your father’s voice trying to consul your mom and avoid passing out. His sound is full of love, concern, fear, and passion. You are finally starting to feel at ease when the next muscle contraction pushes you farther out.

You are not out further than you ever thought possible. All you have know to this point is the security and safety of your mother’s womb. Now the very place you have called safe is pushing you out into a world you do not want to go. Then it happens… suddenly you nose and mouth are exposed. Due to the shock of the cold air you gasp, a reaction that you have never had before being surrounded in the warmth of your mother’s womb. Your lungs fill with air and you have realize you have just taken your first breath. Not knowing why your body begins to repetitively breath on it’s own. You are so confused by the fact that you are taking in and exhaling out parts of this new world that you are now in. Breath is such a foreign concept to you that your little mind is blown by what is happening.

Next your shoulders emerge. Then with one more really big contraction and a push from your mom the rest of you emerges. Immediately you are whisked away from your home inside your mother’s womb and placed on your mother’s chest. You feel the warmth of her embrace and start to process touch. Your little body is on sensory overload. You are exhausted from the process. There you lay naked and cold.

The nurses rush to your aid and begin to clean you and wrap you up in warm blankets. You are then handed to your father. You lock eyes with him and let out a little yawn. “It’s safe here,” you think and you drift off to a deep sleep. You have just been born and your human existence has begun.

+ + + + + + + + + +

Like I said I do not remember the experience but I wish I did. I think it would be great to share our stories with one another of how we were born. I watched a movie once where the little boy was a child genius and he said he could remember being born. I think that would be awesome. I am not sure why we can’t remember being born, but that doesn’t change the fact that we were born. Every person a live has a similar story to mine of how they to traveled the birth canal and ended up in this world.