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My passport expires this year, so I've begun the process of renewing it. Today's step in the renewal process was passport photos, so I headed to a nearby Kinkos to have my picture taken... in duplicate.
As the guy behind the counter motioned me toward the stool positioned in front of a white screen, I quickly and obediently took my place. He adjusted the camera, and I adjusted my smile. Realizing that duly appointed agents of various and far-flung nations would be comparing this picture to my actual face in the flesh, I decided on a faint, but still recognizable, smile. Hey... I have no desire to perpetuate the "ugly American" stereotype that I understand causes many of our international neighbors to grimace when they see us coming.
So... I'm looking into the camera with my slightly upturned lips, when the Kinkos' guy looks up and says to me, "The preferred pose is non-smiling. Think mug shot." Apparently, the keepers of the gateways into other lands want to be taken very seriously--even your passport picture must be solemnly respectful.
Well, I've never had a mug shot taken, but I have seen my share of television and movie bad guys having their mugs shot, so I hastily lost the smile. I even pondered an unhappy thought or two in order to make certain no hint of a smile crossed my mug--uhh, face.
The finished product, all two of them, looked pretty scary. (Today's Abilene-land wind had also given me a hairdo that looked like it had been pulled from a dumpster.) All I needed was a little board under my chin with the appropriate numbers and my picture would be suitable for framing at any Post Office.
Do me a favor, the next time you see me... say, "Smile!"
Here's an interesting quote from Guy Kawasaki, who served as an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer: "Not innovating is more dangerous than innovating. The opposite of innovation is not death; it's mediocrity. In fact, death--or a near-death experience--might be a better outcome than mediocrity because people are forced to rebuild or move on. By contrast, people can cling to mediocrity indefinitely."
It seems to me that many churches have lost their innovative edge. I'm wondering if churches are afraid to innovate because they fear they might fail, or upset someone? Someone once said “Las Vegas has nothing to say, but a million ways to say it. The church has everything to say, but fails to say it.” In the technological age we live in... with so many competing messages... what does does the church need to do to be heard above the “noise" of our culture?
Any ideas?
My oldest daughter, Katie Lea, graduates from ACU this Saturday. I'm so proud of both of my daughters! They are beautiful, young women.
I have a memory of a time during Katie Lea's sophomore year at ACU. Susan and I were still living in Atlanta, and we really missed Katie Lea.
Katie Lea has been good about keeping in touch… calling us at least every other day. She usually called when she was on her way to chapel, or in the afternoon after her classes were over. She'd catch us up on what she'd been doing at school… and we'd tell her what's been happening in Atlanta.
Every now and then Katie Lea would ask that we send her something she needed. Sometimes it would be a book, or vitamins, or a dress, or a picture. One time, though, she asked for something a little different. "Dad," she said, "would you please mail me one of your shirts."
I asked her why she wanted one of my shirts… and Katie Lea replied that it wasn't to wear, it was to smell. She missed her daddy's smell. And she wanted one of my shirts that smelled like me—so she could have it to smell while she was a thousand miles away from me.
Now you may be reading this and thinking, "That's weird." But I thought it was a pretty cool request. My daughter missed me and wanted to be reminded of me… and a shirt that smelled like me would help her do that. And you better believe I got a shirt picked out and mailed to Katie Lea… and since I'd worn it (and yes, I do wash my shirts) I counted on it smelling like me.
And I remember thinking that when she'd really be missing me, Katie Lea would put that shirt on—and get wrapped up in it and the way it smelled. And I could picture someone at school asking her, "Why are you wearing that shirt?" And she'd say, "Because it gives off the scent of my daddy."
Katie Lea reminded me that I want to smell like my Father. I want other people to smell His scent through me… and I want that scent to remind them of their Father, too, and His great love for them. And I want my Father's scent on me to drift back to His nostrils.
News travels fast. Throughout the afternoon today I've received calls and emails from people who wanted to make sure I'd heard that Brian King had been killed in the crash of his small airplane early Saturday evening. Brian, along with two other men, had flown from Birmingham, Alabama to a small airport in Sumter County, Georgia. They had just taken off to return home when their airplane plunged to the ground... exploding on impact. All three men died, probably instantly.
Brian was a sophomore in high school when I became his youth minister at what was then the Decatur Church of Christ in Atlanta. Graduating high school, Brian headed to Lipscomb University with plans to become a youth minister. In the summer of 1986, while still a Lipscomb student, Brian became the Decatur church's first youth ministry intern.
When he graduated from Lipscomb with a degree in youth ministry, Brian became the first member of Decatur's youth group to enter full-time ministry. Brian went on to serve a couple of churches as their youth minister, but then left full-time ministry to enter private business. He remained an advocate of youth ministry in each of the churches he subsequently attended.
It has been years since I've seen Brian. He had called me a couple of years ago when the church where he worshiped was looking for a youth minister. Brian was serving on the youth minister search committee, and he wanted to talk to me about one of their candidates. We'd caught-up a bit over the course of the phone call, and the conversation ended with our agreeing we should call each other more often. That was the last time I spoke to Brian... and then today, the calls and emails began to reach me in his stead.
As I type these words, my mind is full of memories of Brian... most too personal to share as a blog entry. In many ways, Brian was like a little brother to me. Suffice it to say that Susan and I... along with our dear friend Don... have laughed until tears rolled down our cheeks as we recalled "Brian moments."
How do you summarize the life of a friend tragically cut short? I can't.
I just thank our good God for the ways in which my life is richer because of my having lived a portion of my years on this earth with Brian. And I ask that you pray for Brian's family and friends who, along with me, grieve his death.
A couple of very cool things have happened in the last week that remind me how God takes our mustard seed possibilities and grows them into His opportunities...
Cool story #1: Stephen Jacobs emailed me that his WATS team was joined last Sunday by the family his group had helped as part of WATS Day 2007. This family wanted to be part of serving others in the way they had been served.
And the story didn't end there. Stephen said that the lady his WATS team helped this year asked to be part of their group for WATS Day 2009... because she also wants to serve others.
Cool story #2: I'm having breakfast on Thursday with Phil and two SoHills shepherds, when one of the shepherds mentions a conversation he'd had the day before. This shepherd related how the person he was lunching with mentioned reading a blog entry about how some people at a restaurant had involved their server in their prayer. This shepherd said that he'd loved the idea... and encouraged us to involve in our prayer the server who was about to bring us our breakfast.
I didn't mention to this shepherd that I'd written the post (Fajitas & Prayer) he was referring to. But I did smile at the radiating possibilities of God.
Seth Godin posted this tongue-in-cheek ad on his blog yesterday. I laughed and laughed... until it was time for me to head to a meeting.
Several years ago, the church I worked with gave a desk to a minister who had started a street ministry to the poor of our city. The desk we gave him had to be at least 25 years-old, and was missing handles and a drawer. But he was proud to have it , and we were proud to give it to him. (Hey, it was going to the dump anyway.)
Why do we give away things that we don’t really need and feel we've done something noble? Why didn't I give the guy my nice desk… which I happened to like… and replace my desk with the crummy, old desk? (Because I didn't want a crummy, old desk.)
It's similar to those of us who give all of the weird, canned goods in our pantry (pickled kumquats, etc.) to the church's food drive. Would we give our best shirt, our favorite shoes, or our most expensive dress to the church's clothing drive?
On the other hand, I think it's pretty amazing how on April 20 the Community Christian Church in Chicago gave away their entire Sunday offering... $229, 000!
What does generosity look like in your life?
My passport expires this year, so I've begun the process of renewing it. Today's step in the renewal process was passport photos, so I headed to a nearby Kinkos to have my picture taken... in duplicate.
