The Story of Focus Leadership Institute

A story consists of a beginning and an ending. The hardest part of a great story is finishing it. Turning that final page to realize that it is all over. This story was not decent or good, but this story was great. Turning that final page, that final chapter, I realized just how perfect it was. 

I have come to grasp the idea that the more treasured aspects of life cannot fully be explained or understood. Powers, such as God, nature, and love are impossible to fully grasp. Words never quite do them justice. They are beyond our human communication or understanding. For me, this story cannot fully be explained, for in it lays a mystery unlike any other. This mystery, like any great riddle, leaves one asking the question, "How?"

How is it that people who had different personalities, different humor, different backgrounds, and different beliefs, all ended up caring about each other so deeply?

How is it that walls that had taken a lifetime to build, suddenly came crumbling down? 

How is it that trust came so easily to people who had known each other for months? 

Logic says it is not possible. Logic says it takes years to build trust. It takes years to discover truth. It takes years to love. 

Logic can be wrong. 

This is where the story gets fun. I did not end Focus Leadership Institute with the exact same feelings for each individual. No, my feelings varied. One cannot simply feel the same way for each individual. Yet, the crazy part is, this went far beyond a feeling. It was a connection. This connection is something that every person in the world desires. They search for it through sex, facebook, twitter, fraternities, sororities, friends, and family. Yet, they rarely ever find it. And somehow, in some strange way, I think we discovered it. We stumbled upon it. I use that word stumbled because it fits. It was not organized, or conventional. It was messy. It was hard. It was draining. Yet, when I think about Focus, I find myself happy, truly happy. 

That is what makes this story so successful. It has an ending like no other.  Students, and professors all went separate ways. We went back to our colleges, work, and family. We got lost back into what we had originally had. We began the routine all over again.

Yet we were changed. We were different. We were connected. I cannot begin to explain it. And that’s just it, I don’t want to. That is what makes it so special. That is the sign. That is the explanation point. That is what makes it truly phenomenal. God deserves a standing applause, an ovation, for he created a riddle that cannot be solved. Bravo. Bravo. 

Learning from a three year old

     

First off, I have to say how fortunate of an individual I am to have the privilege of spending a week on the beach in the southern state of Alabama. There is nothing more surreal than the beauty of white beaches surrounded by the infinite abyss of the ocean. What is even more amazing to me, is that in a place so exquisite and fascinating, I was taught something not by the beauty of the ocean, or the beach, but by my three year old nephew on the porch of our condo.

As I was sitting on the porch of our twelfth floor condo sipping on a cup of coffee, I began to watch as my three year old nephew peered out from inside the condo afraid to come out on the porch. He had this look in his eye that said, "I WANT to see the beach, I WANT to see the ocean." But the closest he would get was plastered against the the glass doors, trying everything he could to see, all that we could see. Fear on a child is much more evident than on an adult. Its in their eyes, their facial expressions, their words. He felt that the porch brought some sort of impending danger. We, as the adults tried all we could to show him that the porch was what we said it was, safe. Nothing in him would believe us. He refused to take our word.

Then out of nowhere, his father picked him up and began to bring him on the porch. There was no resistance, no yelling or screaming. He just let him. His little blue eyes began to widen as he neared closer to seeing the beauty that was before him. But thats not what astonished me, no that I expected. What astonished me is what happened next. His father began to let him go so that he could stand on the porch. My nephew than began to scream and yell with all his might. "Dont let me go!" "No!" "No!" "No!" Then his feet hit the floor. His tears and screams began to cease. He almost looked shocked at the events that had occurred. He was not only safe, but he was happy. He than began to run all around the porch, enjoying every second of it.

As I was observing the child-like events that had occurred, it hit me. So often are we that child. We know there is something exquisite and beautiful out there but we just cant see it. We are so blinded by our fear that we tell ourselves that it's not safe. But that's the beauty of it all, we dont have to walk on the porch by ourselves. Our Father will pick us up and bring us there. He will show us the beauty. He will show us that it's safe. Even then, we may scream and yell and cry as he tries to place us down. But like many times before, he will prove to us that everything he brings us too is good. That fear is pointless with God. With him, we are always safe.

The Controversy of a Pessimistic Churchgoer: Part 1

Yes, this is my first blog, and I know the conventional person would explain why he/she loves to write but I really think its all very boring. Here is my best shot: I love to write. Satisfied?

I hope that the title hooked you into this blog. I am a pessimistic churchgoer. But before I explain the reasons behind this, I must make this very clear, I believe community in Christ is ABSOLUTELY essential. Therefore, I affirm that the church is crucial. BUT I have some questions that I, myself, am wrestling thru. Maybe you, blog readers, can help me figure this out.

My first question needs some explanation. See, I live in Dallas, Texas. Otherwise known as mega-church capital of the world. I can literally drive a mile and see over five churches. This is the way it is in Dallas. Theoretically, is there anything wrong with this? I honestly do not know, but I would be inclined to say YES. Yes, there is something wrong with this. We have our Protestants, our Baptists, our Pentecostals, our Catholics, our Methodists, our Lutherans, and the list goes on and on.

Here is the million dollar question: Are so many choices beneficial for the everyday Christian desiring community?

Is it possible that the multiple choices actually divide the Christian community?

The everyday person asks a churchgoer: "What type of church do you go to?" The answer: "I go to a baptist church" or "I am a baptist"  For some reason that answer sickens me. Is that really the label we choose to describe ourselves as?

Sometimes I feel like we are all in our separate communities, doing our separate duties, avoiding the inevitable, that we our hiding from each other. In my opinion, it shows that we are in a time of complacency as Christians. We are okay with where we are at. I wonder, what would happen if we were desperate? If persecution rose to a whole new level? Could we get past our labels and unite as desperate Christians depending on Christ and each other?

In saying all this, it does not give man a reason to avoid the communities presented before him, even if they are flawed. We as christians, are called to share our lives with each other. Acts 4:32-33 gives peace to my soul in saying, "All the believers were in one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions were their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully in them all." Notice the word believers. I hope we can soon be known as just believers.