stuff i think

random thoughts
titled as such in order to alleviate any pressure I might feel to connect these paragraphs with a common theme beyond ‘this is what I’m thinking’

The latest Switchfoot cd is awesome – not in the surfer-vernacular, but in the classic sense of the word. It fills me with awe. Although I’ll post this later, it’s nearly 1 AM and I up primarily because of this cd. I don’t remember the last time a cd has had the same first-play impact as “Beautiful Letdown” – not even U2’s How to Deconstruct.

I’m on fire when He’s near me
I’m on fire when He speaks
I’m on fire
Burning at these mysteries

I watched Field of Dreams this week. For the first time. It took me three nights. A busy guy with a short attention span makes for a bad movie buff. It’s a good movie to watch if you’re the sort who regularly does things the rest of the world labels as nuts or extravagant, particularly when you suspect they’re just wishing they had the guts to try it themselves. Build it and he will come. Indeed He will.

This weekend we’re sending a team on the road for a conference with Lou. Kels and Jackson will go with them, landing overnight in the TriCities area of Tennessee before heading on to Nashville. We’ve sorted the activist/interns into four teams, so that leaves me with three to drive the Justice House of Prayer. It’ll be a busy weekend but worth it. We’re taking Sunday as a Sabbath – during which I just might organize the Camp Bennett DodgeBall SuperNationals. JHOP – Pray Hard, Play Hard, I say.

I spent a fair amount of time with Chuck Mervin today. Part Martin Luther, Part MacGyver, Chuck directs traffic, finances, and flow in general for The Cause. He has a million talents and as near as I can tell, has little or no comprehension of the word ‘can’t’. He frustrates the dickens out of my inner pessimist and is regularly just what the doctor ordered. We talked about bringing some other prayer groups this summer to hold the fort at the Justice House of Prayer – people who are interested in praying for their nation right here on Capitol Hill. If you’ve got a church group who might be interested, drop me a note. We’d love to share our facility and can help with accommodations for minimal expenses. We’ll design a custom week (or even just a few days) for you that will allow you to see the city and pray into the forward books of history.

Late addition...

I woke up about 3 AM after having an incredibly vivid dream...

In the dream, I was pastoring a church that had a killer facility in a mall. We had great equipment, a great place to meet, and almost no people in the church (undoubtedly some of you are remembering that this very thing actually happened. :) ) Anyway, in the dream, I wandered down the exterior of the mall to find another door – it was a space owned by someone who I knew to be an unbeliever. I went inside to find the guy had allowed homeless people to move in – these weren’t the run of the mill down on their luck, these people were the chronic homeless. They were mentally deranged, physically ill and very dirty. They lay in dirty beds covered with sores. I was astounded In the dream I blurted out “Look at this – he filled his facility with these people.” I woke up to the voice of the Lord ringing in my head - “You could have done the same thing...”. Yikester.