I wanted nothing to do with them.  Not because they were filled with witchcraft, spells, and snake talkers – CS Lewis cured me a long time ago of giving a rip about those things – plus I could never get my broom to fly anyway.

The reason I wanted nothing to do with the Harry Potter novels was simple – everyone else was reading them. It’s not a good reason not to read a group of books, but I had already been pressured to reading another series of books about 7 years earlier called “Left Behind.“  They started out fine I guess, grabbing my attention and moving me to enjoy reading about this post rapture age I’d been taught my whole life.  Then the authors got a bit money hungry, and what should have been a 7 book series at most became a 13-15 book series, sucking the life out of what once had been decent reading material (even if one disagreed with the premise).

So I was not going to get caught again.

And then I happened to be meeting a friend at Barnes and Nobles the day the last book came out.  That was a mistake.  As we talked, hundreds of people from the age of 7 or 8 to the age of 88 walked around the store dressed as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and any number of professors at Hogwarts, playing games and having a blast celebrating “the Deathly Hallows.”

Freak Show.

I just didn’t understand what was happening.  How could all these people enjoy this children’s book?  And then it happened.  A few days later, I was sitting in my office doing some work when in walks Darren.  Darren worked here at Fellowship for a while, doing odds and ends, and doubling as my secretary at times too.  It was not infrequent that he’d come into my office, especially when his mind whirred with thoughts on life.

As he walked in, I immediately asked him what the deal with this Harry Potter thing was.  Why were so many people dressed up like the characters in this novel and waiting anywhere from 3-7 hours for this book to come out?  It seemed crazy to me.  He agreed, and then said he only waited 2.  What happened next is the stuff of myth.

I asked him if it was worth it.  Is the story good?

And for the next hour and a half, Darren proceeded to explain the story to me, scene after scene, philosophy, action, good vs. evil, the climax, the adventure, and the epilogue – One after the other.  Four times he cried.  Other times he leaped out of his seat to physically demonstrate a battle scene.  And by the time he finished, there was only one reaction to his story…

The next Monday I took a trip to Barnes and Nobles and bought the first 6 books.

You see, this is what happens when a story connects with you.  When a story changes who you are inside, simply because you read it, you learned from it, and you are a different person after having experienced it.  And then you tell those close to you about the experience you had.  Hopefully affecting them with the story as well.

It kind of reminds me of another story of redemption that affected my life a while back.

The Trailer

I have a love for the art of story.  I love the eloquence of a finely told life experience, especially if it is accomplished across the bridge of two movies or two books.

It probably started when my dad and I sat down to watch “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Return of the Seven” one night.  I loved that a team of experts would come together, then accomplish their task, and then I loved the fact that I got to see it done all over again.  I mean, some of these series of movies and books have been life-changing for me.

Occasionally a book gets a solid first run, and they make a sequel not worthy of the original content.  In fact, many times the only reason it’s done is marketing.  Unfortunately this happens a lot in the Christian sub-cultures of our world.  Are you serious?  Give me a break, “The Power of a praying pet turtle?“  Or the Oh so popular “Chicken Soup for the One eyed radio DJ’s soul.”  So I thought I’d share with you my favorite series of film, literature, sports, or television:  (and no, American Pie is not on the list)

10.  Boston/LA 2008 – That sure was a long 21 year wait.

9.  Left Behind. It did become something of a marketing ploy, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless – inaccuracies and all.

8.  Young Guns. I love these movies, and Jack Bauer’s in them, so they can’t go wrong.

7.  Star Wars. Many would suggest this would be number 1.  I would not.

6.  The A-Team.  “I pity the fool…”

5.  Rocky. Nuff said.

4.  John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series.  A collection of detective/legal thrillers set in San Fran.  Good stuff!

3.  Lord of the Rings books and movies – These last two were difficult, but an amazing story to walk through.

2.  Letters to the Next president by Andy Stanley – seriously, you have to hear or watch these.

1.  Harry Potter – I have no words to say how I felt after I finished those books in November of 2007.  And this was after I made fun of others who read the stinking things.  Whether its the movies or the books, these things are absolutely brilliant.  And of course I was drawn into witchcraft immediately after reading them.  (this is sarcasm)

Okay, your turn. What did I miss?

This last Sunday a young girl in our church, I would say about 19 or so, came up to me, with her parents and started chatting with me. They are new to our church, and I would almost say new to church, period. We were making small talk, when I asked her what she was holding.  I could see that it was a stack of pages and that on the front of the page, towards the middle, it said “BY: (Her full name)”

She told me it was a book of poetry and writing that she had done.  I asked her if I could look at it, and she hesitantly said yes, then told me I could keep it for the week,and could return it next week.  I accepted this offer, and this morning, made a point to read her writing.

I should probably mention that this girl openly struggles with some difficult learning disabilities.  It was one of the first things that I found out about her when I met her family in November, so I really didn’t know what to expect in the pages I was about to read this morning.

I took off the paper clip and began turning the pages, and for the next half hour was immersed, not so much in the technical excellence of the writing, though she clearly has some talent and time poured into her work.  But I was immersed in her writing because of the passion and the themes it projected.  Here was a girl who I know struggles with some serious issues, and never wrote one word about how unfair her life was, or why God would create her with so many problems, though It would have been perfectly understandable for me to read about this in pages written from her own words.

But her work was not going to be stifled by talk of pessimism and complaint.  She wrote of beauty and creation and our need to change ourselves, if the world was ever going to change.  She wrote of peace and love and of God, who expects certain things from us, like for us not to hate each other.  And the entire time, I sat at my desk in awe that what I expected to fill these pages was not there, and what I did not expect conveniently arrived in the vehicles of these poems and stories so that I could be inspired to keep doing what it is that I do.

I have a similar work of writing from Chuck, an old student of mine from Atlanta, Georgia.  Chuck was amazingly talented and did a project of writing and poetry in one of my classes.  He had the project bound, and gave me a copy, which I still have today, 11 years later.  He wrote of many of the same themes and challenges of the girl I read this morning.

I have the privilege of talking to Chuck every once in a while to this day, and even had breakfast with him a few months ago while attending a conference in Atlanta.  I wondered, though I never asked him, if he felt time had jaded him or made him better from the ideals he wrote about in his youth.

I also wonder this about me.  I had a book too.  A book and journal where I wrote my ideals and passions and ways that the world needs to change.  And when I think about Chuck and when I read this guy and this guys writing and when I read poems and stories like the ones I did this morning, I wonder, “Have my passions been limited to a pop song with great lyrics?”

Or am I doing something about it, starting with myself?

This post is for Watercooler Wednesday with Randy Elrod.

Welcome to MoMo’s! HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “amazing story”, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.

To join me, write a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week.  Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.  By the way, I do this because I love stories.  To tell them, to hear them, and to read them.

So tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…

Here’s mine.

I thought for todays MoMo’s that I would let my words to the storytelling.  I told a pretty funny story in the first 5 minutes of my first Mother’s Day message entitled, “The Golden Compass”.  Enjoy the story, and share your own story today on Monday Moments.

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Welcome to MoMo’s! 

HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “amazing story”, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.

To join me, write a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week.  Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.  By the way, I do this because I love stories.  To tell them, to hear them, and to read them.

So tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…

Here’s mine.

My Easter was special for even one more reason than it already is this year.  It was a typical Easter, though for the first time I was doing the preaching on Easter Sunday.  I became the lead pastor of FC about 5 months ago, though I had been here at this church for about 8.5 years.

And the service was great!  After the service, I did the typical thing and talked to a lot of people, Fellowshippers and Guests, and had a blast just chatting away.  Then like usual, I walked home, where Carie had made an amazing dinner we were able to share with some family and friends.

Before dinner this year though, I was able to confer a degree.  Ever done that on Easter Sunday?

You see, though my father-in-law, Tom, lives in New York, some of his mail, for whatever reason, still comes here.  And this week, his degree came from Liberty University. 

I knew that he had worked hard over the last few years on his MBA,and that he was doing it online.  And last July he finished his course work.  So in the mail, all the way from Jerry U. came this cardboard cylinder that one would only put something of value that coudn’t be bent or destroyed in.

So before our services on Sunday morning, I “conferred” (yes, very much intended) with Tom’s wife, and we decided to have a ceremony before our Easter dinner that day.

So before dinner yesterday, we all sat down and I asked Tom if he would stand up, and that I had big news.  Everyone kind of got nervous as I stood and smiled, probably for different reasons.

Tom probably thought “grandchild”.

Carie probably thought “emergency”.

Our guests probably wondered what the heck I was doing.

But in the end I was able to hand over to Tom his MBA degree from Liberty University, an accomplishment I know he worked hard on, and I was honored to be able to give the diploma to him on Easter Sunday 2008.

Welcome to MoMo’s! 

HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “amazing story”, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.

To join me, write a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week.  Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.  By the way, I do this because I love stories.  To tell them, to hear them, and to read them.

So tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…

Here’s mine.

On Sunday night my wife, Carie and I threw a welcome home party for my friend Steve MacArthur, who recently returned from Iraq to Massachusetts.  We had a great time at the party and all of Steve’s friends brought an italian dish for a brilliant dinner full of pizza and meatballs and other cheesy foods.

One of Steve and I’s old friends joined us for the occasion.  Her name is Darlene.  Darlene is like a 2nd mom to Steve and I and another mutual friend of ours named Ruben.  She is an amazing person, and we quickly reminicsed about some good old times.

One of the times she reminded me about I had somehow forgotten, but evidently she had not, and we had quite a laugh at the expense of this ”old time”.  Basically she was going away for a week or so and got the bright idea to ask Ruben and I to house sit for her.  To give you some brief background information, she had a beautiful house in a wooded area of Massachusetts, complete with a lake, a full bar, a large screen TV, and a hot tub.

Ruben and I were 23 years old.

We started off the week getting a feel for our surroundings, enjoying the comfort of relaxing in a house we could call our own for a short time.  But later on in the week, being the relational people we were, we decided to quench our desire for a more people-oriented environment, and started to invite people over.  

The first thing we did on Wednesday was to invite a group of our guy friends over to get acquainted with the house.  Now one thing I should mention was that it was March in New England and as such there was still snow on the ground.  Also, Ruben was a bible college student from a school in Boston and all the people we invited that week were students from the school.

We chilled for the major part of the day and then decided to do something semi stupid.  We decided to play truth or dare, which by the end of the game, had us all somehow making snow angels outside with a limited amount of clothes on our bodies.  This was very cold. 

From there we ran into the house and jumped into the hot tub.  Unfortunately, our friend Chuckles was with us and tried to get in.  Chuckles is an amazing guy, but he was a bit on the heavy side, so everytime he tried to get in, the water would overflow and run onto the floor. This damaged some of the carpet.  

Later on, we invited several of the females from the school to join us at the house. Amazingly enough, there was a snow storm that hit the area that night, so the crowd of students that normally had a curfew, now could not make it back to their dorms without fear of getting into a car accident on their way home.

So for those of you who are not getting what was happening up to this point, we were basically having a Christian sleepover, something my alma mater at a school in Pensacola would not have approved of. (and possibly for good reason)

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and a few of my friends (who will remain nameless) found themselves in the hot tub with a few of the females from the school.  Which would not have been a big deal since it was still a pg-rated situation, except that one of the females had a boyfriend who did not get invited to the party and told his girlfriend that he would tell on them if she did not.

So everybody got demerits except me, because I had been graduated from my particular Christian college for about 2.5 years.

Also, at the party on Sunday night, Darlene reminded me that her electric bill had gone through the roof that month (like around $1500 through the roof).  Not sure how that happened, but I bet it had something to do with the amount of times the hot tub was used.