Screaming Kids, Donkeys, and Fire Ants

I want to start by saying how thankful I am that my family is able to join me this week in Anderson for the Global Gathering - what a blessing! However, those among us under the age of 3 may or may not be able to sit through a 2-hour worship service. Yesterday proved that to be true as my beautiful wife carried a screaming 2 year old out of the room. Not only was he screaming at the top of his lungs, but he waited until the most quiet part of the service to do so. I know we are all family and 99.9% of the people understand, but there is that brief moment as a parent when it feels like 3500+ people are forming opinions about your child and your parenting skills. Thankfully, somebody else's precious child started screaming 5 minutes later and we were quickly forgotten :)

Speaking of children, Kid's Place started yesterday. What a great opportunity for our children to be ministered to, as well as experience many different cultures and practices. Wyatt got to play drums to one of the songs that day and it was an experience he won't soon forget. I know he is looking forward to going back today, and I know that he is in good hands with good people who want to see him do great things for the Lord!

Donny Franz from Paraguay brought the afternoon message to us, and I thought he did a fantastic job! You can see for yourself here. He prefaced the sermon by being transparent and letting us know that he had made these mistakes himself and wanted us to learn from them. And then it happened. A moment that caused everyone in the room to laugh like they were 5th graders. He began referencing the story of Samson and how he (Samson) had killed 1,000 men with the jawbone of an...........ass. Nothing wrong with this at all. It's accurate. It's not a curse word. It's just not what we, in the U.S., call donkeys anymore. But the giggling started here. Keep in mind, Franz is referring to himself as one who made mistakes. And then the statement came that provided the loudest laughter I have heard thus far: "If God could do something so great with the jawbone of an ass, what could he do with a whole ass?"

After dinner with the family (If you are ever in Anderson you need to make sure you go to Pizza King. Great pizza with "toppings all the way to the edge." So, so good!), Wyatt and I went to the evening service. I was so proud of him when he said, "Dad, can we go sit in the very front so we don't miss anything?"

David Ravell from Australia brought the message to us, and he definitely "invaded our personal space." I encourage all of you to watch this message (it begins around 58:00) and hear from God on the dangers of autonomy and independence. I don't want to give too much away, but I loved the analogy of the fire ants. David said that one fire ant in a glass of water will drown, but many fire ants in a glass of water will lock together and work together to survive. I promise, it's very powerful. You can watch the message here.

Last night was an opportunity to participate in Global Communion. Not only did the 3,500+ people in attendance take communion together, but thousands all over the world were able to participate via the internet! I am so thankful for the technology that allows us to do this. Knowing that my brothers and sisters all over the world are experiencing this precious moment with me is overwhelming.

And what could be the greatest part of the evening took place at the conclusion of Communion. The gentleman sitting next to me was Jerry from Tempe. He asked if I could keep him in prayer because he was going through a difficult situation. We took the time right there to be like "fire ants" and cling on to each other and went to the Lord in prayer. I cannot begin to describe how powerful the presence of the Holy Spirt was at that moment, and I truly don't remember what I said when I prayed. But I do know that God was there, that Jerry and I helped each other survive one more day, and the he now knows he is not going through this alone. Oh yeah, and one more step was made toward killing autonomy...praise the Lord!