Drunk McDonalds

I had a very interesting conversation in Gatlinburg this past weekend. We had some free time during the day and some of the teens decided to go to McDonalds. Since I already had lunch that day I just found an open seat. Sitting at a seat near by was a gentleman that caught my eye. Something seemed odd about him to me...so obviously I had to talk to him. Ever feel like God is pulling you into a conversation? I said hi to him and the hour that followed became the most interesting one of the weekend. I asked if I could join him at his table and continue our conversation. Immediatly after sitting down I realized why this man seemed odd to me; I caught a whiff of his breath and it about knocked me down. It was 2:30 in the afternoon and this guy must have had some Jack Daniels for breakfast. "This oughta be good" I think to myself.

His name was Sam. He made outlandish claims that he was the son of the Tennessee govenor(false), he used to serve breakfast to big stars like Bono, Harrison Ford, and Sheryl Crow(doubtful), and that when there's any crimes on the news, you can bet it comes out of Ohio(I might believe that). I've had conversations with 3 or 4 drunk guys in the past...every single one of those talks led to Jesus. This was no exception. This was a man who was searching. He told me that he believed in God and absolutly loved Jesus(he asked me which one I preferred to pray to more...tough question). He told me though that he had a lot of questions. So for the next 45 minutes he fired them off at me. Some were legitimate questions, others didn't quite make sense...which makes sense since I was talking to a drunk guy. His big question was why Jesus was so special for giving his life since He knew that He would come back in 3 days. I won't tell you what I told him...you think about that one.

Bottom line and to make a long story short-er, I came to love this man that I didn't really know. He has so much potential and I told him that. I was able to shoot straight with Sam. I explained that no one can serve 2 masters and it seemed like he was trying to love Jesus while loving alcohol more. He agreed and told me that he planned on going to the bar after he left...he was eating at McDonald's to sober up. (?) By the end of our conversation though he was circling around the idea of getting help. I said a prayer with Sam and told him I had to leave. He didn't want me to go; he started naming off things we could go and do, things he could show me in town. I had to leave and I did so with a couple tears in my eyes.

Hope. Jesus brought hope to people. He went to where they were, talked to them as if they were close friends, and left them wanting more. Do we do that is my question? I'll admit that very few times in my life I've opened my eyes to that notion. Do we L1 by doing L2 to others and showing them that we care? It may have made a difference in Sam's life...I guess I'll never know until I get to heaven. That was the thought that made me ache on my way back to the hotel...I want Sam to go to heaven not hell. Please pray for Sam. Also pray that God opens our eyes to the hurting people around us who desperatly need Him. Be God's.

L1 L2: Winterfest

This past weekend I hopped on a charter bus, as has been my custom for the past 11 years, and headed to Gatlinburg, TN for Winterfest. Each year is different and each year is the same. I always have "stomach issues" on the way down and always on the way back...I thank the heavens for Gas-X...and so do the people on the bus. I always make atleast 2 stops at the wonderful and magical land of the Donut Friar. I ordered a hot chocolate with expresso in it and the lady thought I was crazy. Guess they don't have Cafe' Mocha's in Tennessee. All in all a great trip and relaxing experience.

The lesson this year was really good. I'd like to share the basics of it. Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus explains that the 2 most important laws are to "love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" and to "love your neighbor as yourself". Everything we do hangs on these 2 elements. L1: Love God. L2: Love others.

Sometimes we make things so much more complicated than that. "You must have a daily quiet time", "You must dress up for church", "You must attend 3 services a week"...etc. Often we have what I call Pharisiteous. We become the Pharisees in Matthew 23 that Jesus calls the "sons of hell". I think what Jesus is saying here is that if we focus on L1 and L2...all of the other things will fall into place. Also we must recognize that we can have L1 but miss L2. There are people out there who love God and enjoy worshiping him yet have racism in their hearts and are harsh to the strangers they meet. There are also people who love deeply and are great people yet they don't have a relationship with God. The two combined are the key elements Jesus says. It's not about the rules...it's ultimately about our relationship with Christ and our heart toward others. L1, L2...basic elements that give us the foundation to a meaningful life.

What's with the title of this blog?

I was going to meet a teen yesterday for lunch and as I was driving I had a little prayer time. I prayed that God would allow me to get a little deeper with the kid in conversation. He and I typically talk about surface level things...school, work, college...etc. While I was praying I asked God to help me get past the malarkey of fluffiness with this teen. I stopped and said "God hold on a second, I gotta write that one down"!

In our day to day lives we have plenty of fluffy conversations. They are all well and good and they have their place. Too often though we ignore and pass by chances to go deeper into conversation with our friends, family, and sometimes strangers. I'm not talking about emotionally akward sharing times at church camp where you tell everyone all the sins you've committed in your life and later on sing kum-ba-ya. I'm talking about a conversation that encourages someone; a conversation that explores who we are and who we should be. I desire to have more conversations like this in my life, I need them to be honest.

That's what this blog will be about. Going deeper. I hope you will join me in this conversation.