In love with Jesus

About a month ago, a friend of mine asked me to read a section of a book, "Getting Fired for the Glory of God"  It'a a collection of articles by Mike Yaconelli.  When I read it, sections of it instantly brought me to tears.  So, my friend (being a jerk) went out and bought the book for me.

I finally got it from him yesterday, and I haven't been able to put it down.  I've re-read the intro 2x now... and am about halfway through all the articles.  I wanted to share something with ya'all, and then talk a bit about how it makes me feel.

This is the introduction, written by Mark Yaconelli (Mike's son).  He talks about his dad, and why they put together this book of articles after his death.

"Before you engage in any of this marerial, however, the first thing you should keep in mind is that Dad loved Jesus.  I know all of us within the Christian faith are supposed to love Jesus.  Many of us who work in the church try to love Jesus and help others love Jesus.  But often a more accurate statement is that we believe in Jesus, we have faith in Jesus, we struggle to follow Jesus.  Sometime after Dad turned 50, a transformation took place in his life.  He went from believing in, admiring, and following Jesus to just plain loving Jesus.

"For his family, those of us most intimate with him, Dad's love for Jesus was often disarming.  You might be standing in his kitchen drinking coffee (with potatoes and peppers cooking on the stove), and Dad would start talking about a project he was working on or an insight for a sermon he was preparing.  The tone would be light and informal; then all of a sudden, he'd mention the name of Jesus, and his voicewould catch.  At first you'd stop to see if he was ok, or if he needed something.  Then you'd notice his eyes were wet, and he'd look at you kind of helplessly and shake his head for a moment as he tried to hold back the tears.  It was then that you remembered:  He really loves Jesus."

Even now, as I type this, I can feel my eyes start to get wet.  I begin to wonder why is it that this particular story hits me the way that it does.  And, I realize that it has a lot to do with how I wish I could love Jesus.  I want to love him so much that it causes me to emotionally react when I hear his name, or I mention him in passing.  What if we all loved Jesus that much?  The kind of first love that gets so embedded in us that we cannot help but to hold up our hands, turn our heads and swallow a lump in our throat at the mere mention of Christ's name?

Being caught up in ministry can sometimes make us forget the simple reason as to why we do what we do.  It pushes us, and instead of leaning on Jesus' strength, we fall back to our own gifts & understanding.  A few chapters in, Mike Yaconelli talks in his article, "Where's Jesus?" about a meeting he was attending, where they were going over strategy to outreach to adolescents.  They were discussing goals, technology, programs & the such, and they were asked to respond.

"I started to speak, but the words caught in my throat.  My tears ambushed me, and I was unable to respond.  Taken by surprise, I wondered what my tears were about.  Instantly I saw the following mental picture: A man was leaning against the wall a few feet from us.  He seemed lonely and sad, like a wallflower at a dance.  One look at his eyes, and I could tell he desperately wanted us to notice him, to pay attention to him, to talk to him-but we just went on with our business and ignored him.  

"That man was Jesus, of course.  There he stood in the midst of our long conversation about strategies, programs, and target markets, and we didn't even notice the very reason why we have these meetings in the first place!"

Today, I think I am going to spend some time away from the business of work... and focus in on the business of being with my first love, my beloved, my Jesus.  

Bike Rides!

So, for the last 6 months or so, I've been hearing about midnight bike rides.  They are a trend that started where a bunch of riders get together around 10pm to ride throughout the city.  As I understand it, most of the information as to when & where is spread over the internet.  It was first told to me by one of my interns, CJ.  He was totally excited by it, and I was decently interested.  Some of it sounded unreal...  why would a bunch of people get together to just bike through the city?  Well, some of it is the social part of it.  You get to meet a bunch of new people... hang out with a group of people more diverse than most places, and you get to see parts of the city that you probably never saw.  

About a month after CJ told me, my brother also started getting into it.  He ran in a different town than CJ, but had the same passion and enthusiasm.  So after hearing about these crazy rides (and actually having one interupt one of my prayer tours), today I agreed to go to one.

My brother brought me to a ride on the West-side called the Crank Mob ride.  It's a once a month ride, and about 500 people showed up!!  We went through a bunch of cities; Culver City and Westwood just to name a few.  In total, Jeremy and I think we rode around 15-17 miles.  Of course, it took us about 4 hours to do it, but that's also because we stopped 2x so people (people like me) could rest, and other people could smoke ("I just rode 10 miles, and I am out of breath, let me inhale some smoke...").  

Watching 500 people ride through crowded streets of Westwood was actually one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  It's like a wave of people suddenly showing up and disappearing without warning.  As they pass by you, they are screaming at the tops of their lungs, honking horns, blasting 4 different songs at once, and ringing those stupid little bike bells.  It was funny to see some cars literally stranded in the sea of bikes; stopped waiting for the crowd to pass (which would take a good 5 -10 minutes)  There was literally nothing they could do but watch.  Many people yelled out as us, "Why are you biking?" "Where are you going?" "What is this?"  Store patrons and owners left their restaurants, families came out of their homes, drunk people stumbled out of their bars... to see the spectacle.  I could hear many people saying, "It's like it never ends!"

My brother commented to me before the ride started that I would see how it was like we were taking back the streets from the cars, and I suddenly understood as we rode down the street.  We outnumbered the cars 100 to 1.  It wasn't violent, angry, a protest, or anything... it was just a social event.  A good time for people to get together.  And as I looked around, I realized, there were no racial barriers here.  No social classes.  No judging others on what they were wearing, what bike they were riding, what music they were blaring... just commodery.  

People would stop to help strangers when others fell, offer tire replacements, or help fixing a bike that broke down.  And it was the norm.  It wasn't strange, awkward, or uncomfortable.

Around the end of mile 2, I was exhausted!!  But a couple people pulled up and encouraged me to keep going, and it would be easier.  They were right!  I started laughing with them as we rode together, and the ride became easier.  I started yelling along with everyone cheering on our ride, and I felt included with the group.

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This isn't a perfect model, but as we were driving away, I started wondering, what if Church was like this?  Not my church or your church, but Church, the bride of Christ, the witness to the world for what God has taught us?

What if:

 - ... when someone new came to the group, they were welcomed with smiles and warm "hello"s?

 - ... as people fall, others stop to make sure they are ok.

 - ... we, as a group, stop once and awhile to rest, dance, and laugh

 - ... stop divinging our church by race, class, sex, age, intellect, or denomination.

 - ... when someone gets tired, strangers can come alongside to encourage & cheer us on.

If that happened, wouldn't others stop and say, "What is this?" "Where are you going?"  "Why Christianity?"

Think about it...