No Idol for Me

I have to tell the truth: I really wanted to watch American Idol tonight. At home we watch it together all curled up on the couch, but this spring has been so disrupted that I have missed much of it, including and especially the time with Howie and Nicole issuing our own opinions and speculating as to who will get the cut.

I don't have immediate access to TV down here, but was invited to join some of the clinic volunteers tonight who did to watch Idol. I don't even know who is left or who sang what. I had a busy day writing (finally made it through the Old Testament, (yippee, Praise God, hallelujah and every other form of rejoicing imaginable as my stack is getting smaller and smaller...) and never did manage to peek at the performances on the Internet.

Well, it didn't matter, as the power went out in the area where the TV was so plans were rearranged.

Which was actually better for my soul as I went to a Wednesday night praise gathering which really hit the mark. Like I said, my soul needed that.

It was an informal gathering, a bunch of us sitting around tables, some singing (no power to run the overhead, so if you knew the words, you knew the words, no big deal at all...) and then some great sharing, all translated into Spanish. I met some more great people who call the Island home, and was spiritually recharged.

There is a leadership group of YWAMers here and their leader is a cool German guy who shared a great message on Luke 5:17-25, the story of Jesus healing the paralytic.

So I have heard this story before, but in case you're not familiar with it it is the story of some guys (it doesn't say how many) who carry their paralyzed friend to the house where Jesus is teaching so that the paralyzed guy can be healed. It says that there were crowds of people, including the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders of the day. Anyway, because of the crowds of people, they can't get their paralyzed friend in to the house to see Jesus, so they somehow get him up on the roof and lower him down through the roof tiles, right into the middle of the room where Jesus is. Amazing.

So what the the YWAM leader shared were some thoughts about what these guys had that enabled them to go to the lengths they did to make sure they got their friend to Jesus.

First they had faith. They believed that if they got their friend to Jesus, he would heal him.

Second, they had compassion. They cared enough about their friend to make sure they got him to Jesus.

Third, they were pushy, in a good way (I love this). They weren't afraid to think outside of the box, and when they realized traditional methods of reaching Jesus (like through the front door) weren't going to work, they went to crazy plan B.

Through the roof.

Out of the box? You bet! Effective? Yes!

And they were precise; they had to know exactly where Jesus was to get their friend to him.

Then he talked about applying these principles in our faith life. The importance of faith, compassion, thinking out of the box, and precision, the right message at the right place and at the right time.

It blessed me.

Now, off to check out American Idol on the Internet.

Peace.