Oh My Aching Brain!

August 12, 2008

Have you ever reached that point where your brain is exhausted? Watching the olymplic athletes I can only imagine how exhuasted many of them must be after giving their all in the competition. I have long passed the age to dream of competing at anything close to that level on a physical basis. But, I think my brain can sometimes feel that it has played the American basketball team all by itself.

I flew into Baltimore today and picked up Roscoe Brewer at the airport. You remember Roscoe. He spoke at our church the last Sunday of July and is the founder and president of Epic International. We rented a car and drove to Reading, PA, talking all the way about God’s mission. I loved every second, but now my brain hurts!

We talked all the way to India and started thousands of house churches. Then, we talked over to Iran and Iraq and envisioned reaching thousands of Kurds. We also talked our way to Syria, Armenia and Turkey where Kurds also live. We spent some time in Africa, predominately along the northern tier, although we did give some notice to Sub-Sahara Africa, too. We talked through Europe from Poland to Spain, France, the Netherlands and the UK. All along the path we introduced each other to friends and key contacts and also discovered we have friends in common of which we were not aware.

We also visited Latin America, of course. We worked our way from northern Mexico, through Central America and down to the furthermost tips of Chile and Argentina. Some of the questions were classic. For example – Who are the top non-western leaders in the church making a genuine impact today? How do we communicate solid principles of hermeneutics and homiletics to people who are barely literate? How can we give people Jesus and the Bible and then get out of the way?

I find it so refreshing and stimulating to engage with people who know the world, know God, have a heart for God’s Kingdom and don’t care who gets the credit. Wow. By the time we got Reading and finished supper, we were both mentally stimulated and exhausted at the same time.

We are here to have a brain storming session with Steve Coffey, president of Christar, tomorrow. I sure hope we have some brain left to storm!

http://www.kcbt.org Jeff Adams

Christine, you were very kind to comment about our small help with the van conversion, and I am happy that you are able to share in that and benefit from being to use it to transport Michael. I think that is wonderful! Also, thanks for the book recommendation. I will check that out. In fact, I suspect that Harvey and I have a common friend in Columbus. I will check that out also.

Tina, thanks for your usual insightful comments, too!
Christine Foutts

Jeff,

To make sure you know who this is from, I am the ex-wife of Kirk Foutts, ex-daughter-in-law of Dolores Foutts and mother of Michael Foutts.

I wasn’t sure how to send this to you, so I decided to send it in a comment form. Posting it will be your choice.

First, I want to thank you for the money KCBT sent to Kirk for the van conversion. It was very thoughtful and generous of you to think of assisting him in that endeavor. Kirk and Connie are generous with the van and allow me to take Michael to his home church twice a month. Michael looks forward to it and it’s good to be able to get him out and about with Kirk having to lift him all the time. At 6 foot and 150 lbs., he quite heavy and akward to lift.

Second, I saw on the website that you are teaching through Haggai – The Glory of the Ordinary. I want to recommend a book to you – The Power of an Ordinary Life, by my friend, Harvey Hook.

Harvey and I went to the same church in the early to mid 70′s in New York. Harvey was in College, but dating a friend of mine while we were in high school. Harvey visited KCBT many times during the late 70′s as he visited with my family on trips from Denver (we moved here in 1976).

Harvey is an amazing man, who has led an unordinary life. He grew up in Maine, went to school in New York, worked in the juvenile justice system in Denver, moved to Columbus and is now director of The Gathering in Columbus. He has raised two daughters with his wife Rita.

His book gives a small autobiography as a way of introducing what the power of an ordinary life can do. The book is not expensive and I’m sure you would enjoy reading it.

After I read his book, I sent him an email letting him know how much I enjoyed it. We hadn’t been in touch for many years. After I updated him on family members, I told him about Michael and the changes it has had on my life, my job, my personality and my relationship with Christ.

His comment was – you truly know the meaning of the power of an ordinary life. It is one of my most highly regarded compliments and, I think, one of the most humbling statements that can be said about a Christian.

I hope you have an opportunity to read his book.
Tina Lewis Rowe

Hello Jeff! Me again! Your story of traveling all over the world in your conversations with your friend was funny–and I could imagine how tired you were at the end of a trip like that!

I have no standing to comment on your thoughts about sharing your faith with people all over the world, but I will note this….

You ask: How do we communicate solid principles of hermeneutics and homiletics to people who are barely literate? How can we give people Jesus and the Bible and then get out of the way?

I would suggest that your last question answers your first one. I use this analogy for other teaching: Few parents have training in childhood education theory; nor do they know about instructional objectives or lesson plans. But, through love, patience, a nurturing relationship, and using everyday examples, they are able to teach their very young children things that the most brilliant professor with a PowerPoint program would not be able to do.

I know you are far more aware of that than I am, but I wanted to point it out to your aching brain. T.

Jeff Adams

Oh My Aching Brain!