"…all our stories are about Jesus."
I don't talk a lot, socially speaking. Neither did Lars. So we'd just sit there. Cars and trucks passed. Bikes rolled by. The breeze might move the leaves of the scraggly bushes or thin branches of the young trees trying to grow up in the little patch of square dirt hemmed in by the sidewalk …
We do communion because Jesus said so, and it's meaningful even though we don't know everything it represents. But what if we understood more? What bread did Jesus break? What did it mean? I heard something as a kid about how kids participate in the Jewish Passover and it changed things for me, deepened them …
Pizza Reality One It could have not been awkward, but it is. My wife and I have returned to New York, to the church I grew up in, as visiting guest speakers because once upon a time we were missionaries so we must have stories to tell, and also because, why not? Leadership likes us. …
In less than 1 hour, here are 4 Bible-based videos relating: God's Call for humanity to return to Him; some of Jesus' teaching on judgment; 15 prophecies (written hundreds/thousands of years before) about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and how they were fulfilled; and Jesus is God's Son and God's free gift to us.
"Anyone thirsty?"
My youngest daughter says today in the car, “I hope the world ends before I die.” Curious, I ask her, “What do you think that would look like?” She answers, “God comes down and says, ‘Alright. That’s it. Everybody get on the bus...’”
We start a video series on prayer.
These songs encouraged me to draw close to God during my teen years.
These three songs, also from my childhood, have had a lasting impact on me as well.
A few weeks back I started putting together some medleys of songs that I either heard as a child or played during youth group. These songs I must have learned during chapel in elementary school. I think the theology of the lyrics helped to shape my heart.
"Look, Dad! The birds have come!"... I went to see Lars last night around seven...
I don't always wake up with a song in my head, but today I did and it was, "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag." And so I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to find Lars and leave some granola bars for him.
Gloves on, I push my cart past the security guard, past the bleaching station and toward the sliding doors. The normal whoosh as the doors part before me is the last normal sound I hear. The store is silent. No music coming down from the ceiling high above. No chit-chat between employees. No kids hanging …
Sometime after lunch I realized that God was talking on Thursday... They were only letting so many people in the store at a time... The hymn melodies rang back in echo off the mountains...
I've decided to not grow a beard... I was laughing so hard, I almost cried.... Blood gushed from my youngest daughter's forehead like a fountain...
A song (melody) written while on a missions trip, although the words are applicable at any time in life. From Psalm 42:11, NIV. Visit my Music Page
For those on the street this December
French Fry Failure No, Lars and I aren’t smoking a bag of weed. It’s Five Guys fries. A couple weeks after Lars’ birthday, I decide that if I don’t get called into work I’m gonna go to Five Guys and order two large fries for lunch. The girl shovelling fries into the paper bag asks …
I first sat on the curb with Lars a few years ago. He wouldn't look at me, or talk to me, or accept anything from me. The most I got out of him was, "No thanks." I quickly learned to not hand him money or food, but to simply leave it on the sidewalk for …
You know when you go grocery shopping and you get that cart with the bad wheel in the front? The one that sticks, or lumps along, or pulls your cart to one side? Sucks, right? Imagine pushing that cart down the road as you leave town with everything you could find while scrounging through dumpsters. …
I drew this while covering a study hall. I needed to express what I felt when being with Lars, what he must feel, and I wanted to engage the students in conversation. This is actually my third attempt at this drawing, all in the same class. The first two were too disproportionate. I wanted the …
My son saw me loading this sketch and asked, "Is that Jesus?" A Jack and Lars Update I haven't seen Jack since some time in October. I was in Tim Horton's, frustrated that I needed to get a job and couldn't just make it happen, angry that any job would take away time from me …
There Was An Old Lady... A Sex-Change, Homeless Old Lady Just as I'm walking out of Rona, pieces in hand to fix my kitchen sink, she enters. She who had been a he. I recognize her from when I was sitting on the sidewalk with my buddy Aaron and Lars. Today she's wearing a long …
Continue reading "There was an old lady… a sex-change, homeless old lady…"
Faces of Jesus: Lars & Christmas Today Lars has survived our first serious frost. I asked him today how he spent the night. "Right here." Under the awning of the building where one can go inside and choose carpet and flooring. I handed him my typical Nature Valley granola bars and a five dollar bill, …
Jesus, I want to look at this guy and see You, but that's hard anymore. You, at least occasionally, I can understand.
Aaron and I are sitting on the sidewalk, talking to Lars, and apparently this old woman feels like we have sympathetic ears because she begins to unloaded her story. "The market is squeezing the seniors out onto the streets!"
My daughter is teary-eyed as she gets in the car. The only religion off the table for the kids to choose from was Satanism. Witchcraft, okayed. Voodoo, okayed. "I had to switch groups and I broke down crying in front of the whole class."
My daughter and I share a dream. (Technically, it's a family dream, but this daughter talks about it the most, prays with me the most about it.) We call it: The Breakfast House. What is the Breakfast House? The BH is a place where missionaries who have no home, or for whatever reason can't go …
Jack needs prayer. Now. I had planned on taking my time with this story and do my best to relate my experiences with Jack so that you’d feel like you knew him as well as I do. But now there’s no time for that. You’ll just have to fill in the blanks on what you’d …
Sometimes life stops you from doing simple things, like waking up at 4 a.m. so you can write. Not that waking up at 4 a.m. is simple anymore. I have to keep changing the sound my alarm plays so that I don't go through the hypnotic routine of sleepwalking across the room to shut off …
Faces of Jesus: Jack and ... Jack doesn’t see me coming so he’s off guard at first, wondering if I’ve noticed that he has signaled this other guy to put some stuff away. The way Jack talks, the way his mind seems so clear, his thoughts so logical, plus the I’m-above-them attitude he has about …
T-Shirt Conversation #2 I try to listen. Sometimes. Even for the simple things like, I made this shirt. When do I wear it? Today I walk into the grocery store wearing this U Turn, U Live shirt. I have a conversation with a lady, but it has nothing to do with the shirt. She comments …
Continue reading "When the Sun Goes Dark in the Supermarket"
Faces of Jesus: Mikey I wake up early Saturday morning and it feels like God is saying, Take your guitar, go to the hospital and play ‘Because He Lives.’ I pick up my hymnal and flip open to page 213. ‘Because He Lives’? God, I don’t even like this song. Growing up, we always sang …
Continue reading "and the Mariachi said, “Is Jesus staying in this hospital…?”"
Faces of Jesus: Lars I’ve learned. The next time I see Lars I don’t hand him anything. I say, “Hi,” and sit on the sidewalk next to him for a long and intentionally silent conversation, keeping five bucks hidden under my hand on the curb. It’s almost nice. I mean, twenty-five minutes of being still, …
Continue reading "Jesus Wears Johnny Cash Black: “I was naked and…”"
Faces of Jesus: Lars God’s not subtle. I’ve just dropped my son off at youth group, and with two hours to kill I’m about to try grocery shopping at night. I’m hoping the store’s near to empty. No crowds. No lines. Quick and easy. But as I’m driving down the four lane street, the sun …
Tuesday After I play my trumpet, Jack and I sit in the cool of the shade and listen to the cars hum overhead. I’ve never been great at shooting the breeze. The breeze always moves, and I always miss. So I end up answering Jack’s questions. “What are you doing here?” “Playing my trumpet, talking …
The Next Day “Ha!” Jack laughs in his chair. “You came back!” I smile as I step out from the morning sun and into the shade of the overpass. This time, I’ve parked my van in the McDonald’s parking lot that’s planted right next to this huge mass of concrete gray, the golden arches emblem …
Two Days After Lying To Jesse I'm on my way to Grandma's, and I get to the turn where I can choose to take the highway or meander through town. Wanting to be open to God's leading, I ask, "Which way?" Feels like God says, Through town. And then as I start to go through …
Spring 2016 I've just spent $100 on books. Books about missionaries. And I'm sitting in my car outside the Christian bookstore, trying to read this particular book about a guy from Pakistan who takes a stand for Christ and gets stabbed for it, trying to distance myself as I feel the Holy Spirit stirring around …
You know, you get ready to witness, and God won't waste any time. I just made these shirts! Today's a bit rushed. Last day of school. A billion things to do. Award ceremony to attend. Bills to pay. Blah, blah, blah. Jeans on, I pause to consider my shirt for the day. Something says, Go …
Continue reading "T-shirt Conversation #1: Ready, Set, No Go, Go, No Thanks, Please"
It happened and I wasn't ready. I never am. Sigh. I prepare for it, I even aim toward it knowingly. And then one day, BAM! It's happening and I can't stop it. My kid is starting to read. Last night it pricked my heart. Again. I've gone through this with all four of my kids …
NYC Pastor Al Today one hundred and fifty thousand people will die. The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. If you died today, do you think you would go to heaven? Let me ask you this question: Do you think you're a good person? The Bible says …
Continue reading "“150,000 people”: Street Preaching (notebook)"
Washington Monument, D.C. Paul What will you trust in? Will you trust in your money? Will you trust in your family? The only thing you can trust in is Jesus—He is eternal! He has not changed, He will not change. What will be your answer for your account? Will you pay with your own life? …
Continue reading "“What will be your answer?” : Street Preaching (notebook)"
Washington Square, NYC Aaron ...He came to make people who were dead—alive! It was out of the cross that Jesus spilled His blood and said, “I love them.” All He asks is that you turn to Him. Come to Him now, come to Him as you are. Come broken and bloodied and no matter what …
Continue reading "Voluntary Love: Street Preaching (notebook)"
God is not Superman! Superman, although fast, cannot be everywhere at once. God is everywhere, all the time. Superman, though strong, has weaknesses. God is all powerful and therefore has no weakness. Superman loves one human more than all the others. God is no respecter of persons. He loves us all equally. The Bible says …
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Pentecostal Dave Delgado discusses his missionary story and street preaching with Mennonite Church Leaders Betty and Marg Betty: First let me say thank you for sharing your story with us. Marg: Yes, thank you. I’m still amazed that you took your children to such a hostile country. Dave: Well… when God says, “Go,” you don’t …
Continue reading "We Need a Book that Doesn’t Teach Christians to Fear Muslims!"
Looking Forward to Jesus 