I was sitting in my office and thought I would share this quick thought.  A few months ago I had the opportunity to hang out with a close friend.  At one time he was a pastor for a church and had a large library for preparing his sermons every week.  He is now working a “regular” job and doesn’t see himself being a pastor ever again.

I remember coveting after my friend’s library.  I remember going into his office and thinking to myself, “I want a library like this some day.”  I remember just staring at his books and taking note of his collection.  I even remember the distinct smell his office had from all the books and wanting my office to have that same smell.

When he heard that I was going through Re:Train, he wanted to help me with my expenses, but due to life circumstances he wasn’t able to. While I was visiting with him, he took me into his garage where he had his library stored.  He humbly pointed out the boxes and told me to take whatever I wanted/needed.  I left his house with more than 500 theology, commentary, history, cultural analysis, and linguistic books.  The total cost has to be over $3000 easily.

While he couldn’t help me pay for my flights to Seattle or the cost of my laptop, what this friend did in my mind was priceless.  From his gift, I’ve been able to do all the research for my papers.  I’ve been able to loan/give books out to friends.  My library has more than doubled.  All these things are great, but the greatest gift this friend gave me was a lesson in generosity.  I had to ask myself if I would be willing to do the same thing…and I don’t know if I could have.

This makes me ask you the question:  What do you have that you don’t need (or do need) that you need to give to someone else to bless them?  Do you have a treasure that you need to pass on to progress the kingdom for Jesus?

The following is part 2 of a 5 part series. Go here for Part 1

I decided it was time to get something to eat, and after eating I Seattle for the week, I decided Wendy’s was probably the best idea for lunch with my remaining budget.  After getting my ¼ pound hamburger (sorry April and Alf) with a medium drink (witch was really like a large) and medium fries, I proceeded to sit down on a bench and watch the planes take off and the baggage handlers loose peoples luggage (sorry Donald).  About the time I finished my French fries, Diego showed up to tell me that he had gotten his laptop.

I was excited for the man, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to go get his Bible.  Looking at the time, I told him that he probably had just enough time to go get it.  He agreed and off he was again.  This was the last time that I saw him in my story.

So once again I thought the adventure was over.  I figured that he would get his Bible, catch his plane, and that would be it…the end.  So I got up and proceeded to head to my gate.  We had to drop off the rental car early so we wouldn’t have to pay for another day.  So, I had a lot of time to waste waiting for my plane.  So I made my way to one of the Starbucks to set up camp and relax for a couple of hours.  But God had other plans.

As I finally handed the TSA agent my driver’s license and boarding pass for the second time in the last hour, I began to think to myself…God really does work in mysterious ways.

This thought…no…this realization didn’t come through the easiest of fashions.  At about 12 today, I was walking back to Diego’s and my table at the restaurant from going to the bathroom (and this had to be one of the cleanest airport restrooms that I’ve been to so far).  Diego was frantically looking through every pocket in his backpack.  Zipper after zipper was flying open as I sat down at the table.

Diego looked up at me and told me that he had to go. 

“Ok…why?”
“I left my laptop at security.  And I left my Bible in the rental car.”

I thought it was a reasonable thing to go do and he had plenty of time to go get his stuff and still make his plane.  So he threw some money on the table, finished his drink, and headed out the door.  I thought that would be the last time I would see him for the day.  But God had other plans.

Ok so Alf and I did a video update today…but for some reason it has no audio.  So here are some quick thoughts:

• Matt Chandler is awesome…he is a new favorite teacher.
• John Piper seems like he is on the edge of crazy and that is awesome!
• Seattle has some good beer.
• I like Jamison (I don’t know how to spell) whiskey
• If you want to watch the lessons live from home (for free) you can go to theresurgence.com/live  (hurry the conference ends tomorrow)
• I miss Shannon
• Mark Driscoll’s love for his kids makes me look forward to being a daddy
• Mark Driscoll’s love for his wife make me proud to have a wife like Shannon
• Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, John Piper, CJ Mahaney’s love for Christ gives me a passion to grow closer to Jesus and to spread the gospel
• I know that I’m called…I think God will clarify to me later
• The guys that I’m out here with are great men of God and I love them

That’s all for now…I’m on Alf’s laptop and the battery is about to go.  Until next time.