Week Three

My youngest daughter, Jess, decided to join me on a road trip to Ohio this morning. I had won the bid for a cast iron woodburning fireplace insert on ebay. It would have cost more to ship it, than what I paid for it, due to its approximate 450 lbs. weight. So, we hopped in the truck and set out on a six hour drive.

We left West Chicago at 7am. It was beginning to snow heavily, but the forecast appeared clear to the East.

Visibility was bad, and it didn't help that I never changed the wiper blades that I should have changed when it was warm out. We stopped at a Target store along the way and purchased new blades. Soon enough, we were on our way.

It was a good time to talk with Jess about all of the things that are happening in our lives. We talked about her life at college, and all that pressures that go along with it. We talked about this Random Acts Project. She thinks its pretty cool.

As we spoke, it started to become more clear that the essence of this project is to reflect Christ's light constantly, in all situations, big and small. It should never stop shining. I realized that I was using it only when the need arose. Helping someone change a flat tire was easy. They had an obvious need, and I was there to help. Now, don't get me wrong, those situations are real and my act of kindness went a long way, but what about the majority of the people that don't have an obvious need, but simply need to connect with someone briefly?

We stopped for a quick bite at a McDonald's near the Indiana/Ohio border. It was noon, and we were almost to our destination. The place was packed, and chaotic. One of the four cashiers was a gal named Amanda. Amanda was obviously feeling the pressure of the prep staff not being able to keep up with the flow. Customers were complaining.

It was a complete gridlock. No one was moving. Amanda was desperately trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, knowing that she would be asked a question that she couldn't answer. But, she looked at me.

I smiled and asked about her Christmas. She cautiously said it was good. I asked a couple of other general questions like, "Were you with family?" "Did you get what you wanted?" Luckily for me, she did have a good Christmas, and it put a smile on her face. Then, I asked if she could go in the back and show them how to make a burger, so we could get the line moving. She laughed and took a couple of steps towards the back, as if she was going to do just that. She turned back and smiled, and said, "Nah, they can handle it."

Isn't that what this project is all about? Just simply connecting with another person as Christ did? He went out of His way to connect with the woman at the well. She had gotten herself into a bad situation with marrying and divorcing several guys, and living with a guy that wasn't her husband at all. She was ashamed. But, Christ came to her and offered forgiveness. The Judge of all creation chose not to judge her. Isn't that amazing? The one person in all history that is qualified to judge us, chose not to judge her. Instead, He offered forgiveness.

People hurt us in a variety of ways. Some intentional, and some not. The woman at the well knew she had made mistakes, and she was ashamed. So much so, that she went to draw water at the hottest part of the day, to avoid any contact with other people. But, Christ met her where she was - at the lowest part of her life. Instead of making her feel worse, He offered her relief. He gave her hope. He gave her direction. And, He simply said, "Go and sin no more."

Days Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, and Eleven

I apologize for not blogging over the past few days. With today being Christmas day, I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and remind everyone that, as they open their gifts, it was our Lord that gave us the ultimate gift 2000 years ago, by giving Himself.

We celebrate His birth, and we can't help but ponder the unusual circumstances by which He was born. To the sceptic, they seem so, far-fetched. Even, unbelievable. From our human perspective, it seems almost ridiculous.

It was no different in first century Jerusalem. Even the most devout Jews had a hard time believing that the Messiah would arrive in such a humble way. But, their own Prophets had predicted it, hundreds of years before, and God's plan was carried out to the tee.

Why would God choose to reveal Himself in a such an obscure manner? The simple answer is; so that we would know it was all His plan.

If we would have wrote the story, it would have been completely different. We would have had God come down from heaven with thunder and lightning, accompanied by an army of angels. He would have saved the good people, and destroyed the rest. But, God had a different plan.

We look at the world and we see people of different cultures, and beliefs. Sometimes, these cultures and beliefs clash with ours (or visa versa), and we become enemies. The first century Jews saw their enemy as the Roman Empire, but God knew that their only true enemy was sin.

Sin had to be defeated in order for us sinful humans to be able to stand in the presence of a Holy, Just, and Righteous God. The truth is that we could never be good enough on our own, for all have sinned, and all have fallen short of God's glorious standard.

Before the world was created, God knew that He Himself would have to save His people. Before we were created, He knew that we would reject Him, and that we would be eternally separated from Him. Yet He created us anyway, why? Love.

We know that as parents, the odds are pretty good that 15 -16 years after the birth of our child, they will be screaming in our faces, "I hate you! I wish you never had me!" But, we have kids anyway, why? Love. In the same way, God knew that we would turn on Him, but He loved us so much that He did it anyway. Even knowing that He would have to pay the price for our sins.

He could have just appeared as an adult, but He wouldn't have been truly human. He could have been born of an earthly mother and father, but He wouldn't be divine. So, He had to be born of a virgin, and His father was God. That is the only way to be 100% human, and 100% divine. That was the only way that He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

But there was more to it than that. He knew that we would continue to be born, and to live our lives on this earth, and to die as people do. So, He showed us to live.

The Gospel message is not just about being eternally saved, its also about learning how to live as Christ did.

That's what this blog is about. Trying to live as Christ lived so that people might see Christ in our actions.

God Bless you, and have a Merry Christmas!

Day Six

I went to church this morning, and my daughter Jess came with me. It was a great time of worship. I was blessed to have Jess come along. We were able to talk about the message on the way home. Like I said in the last blog, I need to start living in such a way that those closest to me will see Christ in me. I never realized until now that they really didn't.

This is quite an eye opening experience. It's guaranteed to be a life changing experience.

Day Five

My wife had gone to Southern Illinois yesterday. The truth is, our youngest daughter had gotten into trouble while at college, and Kathie had to go get her. We would appreciate your prayers in helping us through this.

I started this project, only a few days ago, and I have already learned so much. I've learned that living in a way that reflects Christ light is not an easy thing in this world. This is a full time job. This is something that needs our constant focus. And, I've also learned that it is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit.

To be honest, I approached this project with a "Boy Scout Moto" focus. That is, "Do a good turn daily." I felt that if I helped someone that I normally would have passed by, I was reflecting Christ's light. And, although these random acts of kindness are good, they are still nothing more than random acts. To live in Christ is to become a new creation. He promised that when we come to faith, we will be renewed. Our old life is gone, and a new life has begun.

My eyes have been opened to this new life. And, its about time that I start living it.

Knowing that emotions would be high when she arrived at home, I bought Kathie a present. Attached was a card that told her how much I love her. She needs to be the first to see Christ's light reflected in me. If I can do that, everything else will follow.

Day Four

Day four was a day of missed opportunities. It was a hectic day at work, and I did a lot of driving from one job to the next. Several broken down cars, and I blew past every one. I always seemed to be in the wrong lane or going too fast to stop. I really was joking when I said that this was going to be the first roadside assistance ministry, but now I'm beginning to think it might be true.

As I was driving, I was listening to a teaching by Dr. R.C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul, in my opinion, is the coolest Theologian I have ever heard. (I just realized that I might be the first writer to ever use the words "cool" and "Theologian" in the same descriptive term.) Dr. Sproul's knowledge of the scriptures, as well as his knowledge of church history, along with his practical understanding of how God works in our lives, makes him one of my favorites.

Dr. Sproul was teaching on Luke 10:25, the "Good Samaritan" parable that Jesus told His followers. You know the story... A guy is beaten, robbed, and left for dead. He is lying in a ditch to the side of the road. The first person to come along was the Jewish Priest. He walked to the other side of the road and passed without stopping. Likewise, a Levite did the same. At last the Samaritan stopped and cared for the injured man. He went above and beyond what would be expected, especially since the Samaritans were the enemies of the Jews.

In listening to Dr. Sproul, I realized that these three characters are no different than people today. The first two just, flat, didn't want to help. They didn't want to get involved. They used their religious laws, and their positions, as their excuse for not helping. And, Jesus audience was undoubtedly nodding in agreement. They held these two men in such high regard that they would have thought it absurd if Jesus would have said that they did stop to help.

I told a guy I know about the young lady that I helped with her flat tire. His first question was, "Did you get her phone number?" I said, "Of course not." So he asked, "Then why did you stop to help her?" I said, "Because she needed help." He said, "You're nuts!"

I can only imagine that the Samaritan in Jesus' parable got the same response from the innkeeper. I'm sure the innkeeper said, "You're nuts!" when the Samaritan told him that not only would he pay the man's stay up front, but make up any extra charges when he passed through again.

Maybe we are nuts. This parable was told in response to a Jewish lawyer asking Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Christ finished the parable by asking the question, "Which one of these three was the man's neighbor?" "The one who showed compassion", the lawyer said. Jesus said, "Then go and do the same."

Day Three

Day three was uneventful. No one crossed my path. I hope this is not the norm. Although, I was talking to my daughter, Jamie, and she was telling me of her experience in offering kindness.

Jamie is a naturally caring and giving soul. Helping others comes second nature to her.

While at work at the college bookstore, Jamie was given the opportunity to show her kindness in an extraordinary way. A foreign student approached Jamie, and in his broken English, asked to have his homework faxed to his instructor. He paid for the fax while Jamie went to the back room to send it. After a couple of attempts, she realized that the number the student had given her was not a fax number at all.

She returned to the counter to find that the student had left. Without hesitating, Jamie looked up the instructor in the directory, and called her. The instructor was amazed that Jamie would go through that much effort, and told her that had she not done this, the student would have lost an entire letter grade. She gave Jamie the correct fax number and the homework was sent.

The amazing part of this story came when she mentioned it to one of her coworkers. They too, were shocked that she went through that much trouble. One of her coworkers said that he would have thrown it in the trash, if it was up to him. They saw first hand what kindness looks like.

Jamie let Christ's light shine through, and made an impression on several people. The ironic part is that the person she helped is the only one that didn't see it. He will probably never know what Jamie did for him, but the instructor and her coworkers do.

Christ's light shines for all the world to see.

Day Two

I'm starting to think that I might be the world's first Roadside Assistance Ministry. You guessed it, another flat tire.

I had gone through the entire workday without really coming in contact with anyone. I was beginning to wonder if I would when, on my way home from my last job, I came across a guy in a Dodge minivan. His left front tire was flat, and he was stuck in the middle of an intersection.

I swung around and pulled in behind him. I turned on my flashers.

Now, this guy was a big, construction worker, type of guy. As I approached, I saw him throwing his leather tool bags from the back cargo area, to the back seat. He was cranking down the spare tire when I asked him if I could help. He turned to look at me and said, "I got it."

Lesson #2 - Some people don't want my help, or at least, don't want to admit that they need my help. For this guy, it was his male pride - no guy likes to admit that they need help. I realize that he was fully capable of changing a tire, but my help could get him on his way a little faster.
Afterall, he was blocking a major intersection.

I grabbed his jack and tire iron, and began loosening his lugs. He rolled his spare up and said under his breath, "This is perfect, the spare is flat." I told him that I have a compressor in my truck. I would fill his spare while he continued removing the flat.

In a matter of minutes, we had his spare on and he was on his way. He grunted out a, "Thanks, man." before he left.

I started laughing to myself as I was driving home. I thanked God that He gave me this situation, and I saw Him work through it. Yah, the guy was fully capable of changing his own tire, but if I wouldn't have stopped, he would have been in a bad situation with a flat spare. I wonder if the guy has put any thought into it. The best that I can hope for is that he went home to his wife, told her the story, and said, "Thank God this guy came along." It was a miracle. And God deserves the thanks for it.

Day one

Day one was met with a few obsticles. What will I do if I can't find anyone to help? I can't always count on young ladies with flat tires, being there on the side of the expressway. The problem I had, that is truly the escense of this project, is not the lack of situations, but my ability to recognize them in time. The only act of kindness that I showed anyone was to let the Salvation Army bell ringer cut in front of me in the check-out line at Walmart.

As I look back over this first day, I see so many situations that I could have helped. The Salvation Army Volunteer was buying a bag of M&M's for his lunch. He was concerned about the amount of money left on his Walmart gift card. I could have offered to buy him lunch. Maybe he would have turned me down, but I still should have offered.

I can tell already, that this project is not so much about helping people in need. It will be more about me recognizing their need, and allowing Christ's light to shine through.