Q Crashing

So here is the story in Richard's own words.  Thanks so much for joining in on this.  We will keep updating the process so you can celebrate with us in what is happening. 

So here is where we are at.  In less than 24 hours around 70 people joined in together and raised over $1700 to help bring sight to the blind.  The blind in this case is my friend at the Eugene Mission, Richard.  This afternoon I broke the news to him about how many of you had joined in to help him see again.  He broke down crying in disbelief.  Then we prayed and gave God glory for providing when it was thought impossible. A couple of months ago Richard had began seeing doctors to see what had happened with his eyes.  He found out that he had cataracts growing over his eyes, but it was fixable.  The problem is that any charity funded agencies were only going to help with medical, not optical issues.  The surgical assistant told Richard he would need $1700 to get the procedure.  We talked to the lions club, but depleted funds left them with no way to help.  We gave up.  Then the scripture convicted me and led to the 17 challenge t...

Luke 4:18-19 has many times been referred to as Jesus' manifesto.  In it he says that he has came to Proclaim good news to the poor (check) Proclaim liberty to the captives (people come to the  Mission on parole...so...check) Set at liberty those who are oppressed (recovery, check) Recovering of sight to the blind (che...wait a minute, hmm, not so sure I can check that one) Now by no means am I claiming to be doing these all like Jesus does everyday.  In fact, I struggle often to keep the main thing the main thing.  But the recovering the sight to the blind has always felt like that was one kept exclusively for Jesus.  Until today.  Enter my friend Richard. Richard is someone I've grown really close to.  He is struggling with issues in life, but has tons of potential.  He has shown himself a natural leader here at the Eugene Mission and is spending time at recovery meetings and in Bible studies everyday.  He moved...

So I think this Easter was the most unique and amazing Easter experience I have been a part of.  Let me preface by saying this is not an attack on the conventional methods of Easter outreach, in fact I think they are very effective as evident by the 1,000's of people who came to know Christ throughout this country during Easter gatherings.  I just experienced a paradigm shift that had a massive effect on me.  So here is how my Easter played out. The family woke up and our youngest daughter was super snotty.  The green snot.  The kind that you don't take into to confined spaces with other kids because it spreads like wildfire.  So Audge took December to church at UFC and I stayed home with Journey.  It felt odd to be staying home.  I think it was the first Sunday morning in my life that I didn't attend church.  So what me and Journey did was crank up some worship music and we danced.  I think it may have been the most appropriate...

So last night me and a couple of my friends went to the Frank Turner concert here in Eugene.  I first saw Frank when he opened for Flogging Molly in Atlanta.  So I thought I would do a review of the show and how God breaks my heart of things.  If you haven't listened to Frank Turner, he has an amazing voice and is modern day folk with rock undertones.  Many of his lyrics, especially from his first album, were full of passion and challenges of living life for a purpose.  I'm a sucker for good lyrics that are inspirational.  When his latest album came out it became evident that he struggled in the whole idea of God and faith.  He wrote a song called Glory Hallelujah that tries to make the point that "there never was no God."  It was a little disheartening when he began to sing this song and people raised their hands and rejoiced in the song.  Before he sang it he stated that some people they may hate it and disagree with e...

So I wrote on hope once, but it is becoming so obvious it is what people are in desperate need of.  Working at the Eugene Mission I see men and women everyday who are struggling to hang on to hope.  But even as I type that I believe that many of us are struggling with hope.  Romans 15:13 says that God is the source of hope yet many of the things we hope for are not God centered.  And so when they don't happen we begin to give up hope.  God has created us for more than worldly aspirations.  Do not let your hope swim in such shallow waters as money and fame.  God has made us to be free men and women changing the world for his Glory.  We can affect homelessness and hunger.  We can preach the Gospel around the world.  We can adopt orphans and care for widows.  Why?  Not because we are special, but because we have hope in the God who loves us and empowers us to make a difference.  We are free men and women on a long journey....

So this is going to be a bit informational.  The last half of 2011 we started working with a church called The Shift in Albany, OR.  This is the church that Neal McKinney, one of the founding pastors from Lifepoint, moved to plant a church with Brad Duncan.  These names may not mean a whole lot to you, but I'm getting to the point. We began talking about Neal moving down to Eugene and pastoring the plant that the Crash would be partnering with here in Eugene.  As some of you know, Neal's youngest son Knox has major heart issues and at this point is having to look at the possibility of a heart transplant.  Needless to say, Eugene is not part of the equation and rightfully so.  The McKinney's are now fighting for their son and doing all they can to be good parents and protectors of their kids.  I'm so proud of how they have handled all this. Where does that leave the Crash.  To be honest, I'm not sure.  We are all still minstering here in E...

This week I had a sobering realization.  One of the guys who has been staying at the mission decided to take his life.  He threw himself in front of a train.  This incident reminded me of one of my brothers childhood friends who did the same.  I sat at my desk after I heard the news and asked myself what I could have done different.  He was one of 300 men using our facilities.  Ultimately I feel like God was just challenging me to show more hope to the guys.  When someone gets to that point it is because they have lost all hope. I think we all should be showing hope to the world around us by living out the hope we have in Christ.  God talks about hope throughout the Bible.  Here are a few examples: "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." Psalm 39:7 "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."   Psalm 43:5 ...

This is an odd Christmas.  It is the first Christmas in my life where I will not be spending Christmas Eve over at my grandparents house.  Furthermore, it is the first Christmas without my granddad who went to be with Jesus earlier this year.  I got to see some family last week which was great.  My brother and sister in law came to Eugene then we all went up to Seattle to spend some time with my dad and his wife and her daughters.  Again, it was great.  But there is something hard about it every time they come out here to Oregon or I find myself back in Alabama.  It's like you kind of forget how amazing those times with family are and then when they take place it makes it even harder to go back to the reality of them being thousands of miles away.  I loved getting to hug my dad and talking with my brother about things that didn't even matter.  I admire both of these men so much.  It's hard not to have them around.  A day doesn't see...

For some reason I always had this idea that when I turned 30 years of age I would some how magically mature and start the quintessential ministry of my life.  This belief came from the fact that Jesus starts his ministry at 30.  I understand this is failed logic, but it always made me think at thirty I would be doing some of my most amazing ministry,  The natural draw for me was to imagine myself pastoring a large church or leading a huge ministry.  As of yet, that hasn't come to pass.  Consequently, the last two days have been some of the most amazing and fulfilling days of ministry I have had the opportunity to be a part of. Yesterday I took a group of guys from the mission out for coffee.  We just hung out and talked about life and shared where we were struggling with each other.  It was an amazing time of communion with guys who don't have homes at the time, but are in every other way so much like me.  Today an ...