Flying First Class

Air Force 1 - First Class Seats!

Living near a major Air Force base we see some pretty cool jets. Air Force 1 is a fairly common sight in our skies. Tuesday afternoon, walking out the door of our house with a friend, looked up to see Air Force 1 against cloudy skies... always a little awe inspiring... read in this morning's paper that our local police chased down some kids spotted from a helicopter, getting out of a car with something that looked like a rifle, while Air Force 1 was flying over my neighborhood. Ended up being a student, dropped off from the local High Schools band practice, with his flute in case. Just a couple of blocks away from our house... such drama!

And the say Britney Spears has all the fun.

I've never flown in a private jet- I guess technically speaking, Air Force 1 is about as public a plane as you can get, -I've never even flown first class... but whenever the president flies over our house it's not hard to see that he's got some pretty cool wings. Has to share it with every other president. Only has it for another year or so- bet he's going to miss it -but just the same, doubt if he starts to fly coach.

When you get ready to vote- remember, someone's picking up a pretty cool ride with the election. It may be how I decide to cast my vote... "Who deserves Air Force 1 at their beck and call?" What would really throw the election into a tail spin, no pun intended, is if one of the candidates pledged to fly SouthWest Airlines, stand in security lines with 2 ounce tubes of shampoo, then eat peanuts in unassigned seats with the rest of us commoners... she/he might get my vote! I'm guessing THAT's not going to happen anytime soon.

Flying First Class... it's a luxury... hope whoever wins, hope our current president remembers that everytime they fly. Kid's with flutes are counting on them!

The Word of Peace

Man waves a machete in Nakuru, Kenya. 1-27-08 SKY News

I'm not preaching today. That's unusual. Rare. I preach 4 times a week, or more, at least 50 times a year. I've not preached for two weeks... it's been a good break and I've enjoyed listening to God's Word as our son John and our friend, Pastor Dean Witkop, have shared my regular preaching schedule. God has blessed us.

But I should have been preaching... in Kenya... but the church was burned to the ground. Today, Sunday, January 27, we would have been wrapping up our Nairobi crusade after preaching in Kibera. The church is gone. The crusade would have been the same as last years- outside in a parking lot in the market place with large loud speakers, followed by the Jesus Film. The market places have been burned to the ground. Curfews are in place. The only crowds that are gathering - gather with machetes, bow and arrow, rocks in hand... hearts filled with anger. Even funerals for those killed in the rioting have quickly become flashpoints of violence and death.

The Word of Peace seems to be silenced... but God is not dead or deaf to our prayers.

Religious leaders from across Kenya are building a coalition of faith, crying out for peace. Spiritual leaders from around the world with a heart for Kenya are flying into the storm with a heart to serve. And the church, too often silent in times of crisis... so quiet as Rwanda faced her day of reckoning... is in prayer... praying for peace... praying for God to show how we can serve in this miserable moment for Kenya.

People fight poverty around the world. Violence happens in silence to children, women, the elderly, the disabled, the disenfranchised in every nation... in America. Jesus walked almong "the least of these..." and promised that when we did the same, we were serving Him. Christ has placed Kenya in our hearts but you don't have to go to Kenya to meet the need. Each of us live in community's filled with those in need of The Word of Peace in their time of heartbreak, loss, confusion, pain, poverty, hunger, anger, sin... and when it seems the skies are silent and we get no immediate response, God is working - in us - we're the one that prayed. He longs to give us a heart to serve and a willingness to share ourselves with those far from His Peace- wherever they live -whatever the reason.

May you richly experience The Peace of God today.

blessings,

Eric

stupid people tricks

A man fishes next to the water outflows of the McGuire Nuclear Station near Lake Norman, N.C., on Monday. Lake Norman supplies water to the plant, but has shrunk by nearly 94 feet.
1-23-07 Associated Press

I love to fish... I grew up fishing the San Gabriel river, at the OC/LA line in the outflows of Edison's oil burning power plants. I've fished, kayaked and surfed in the area surrounding the outflows of San Onofre Nuclear Power Plants... those stories are more than just a trip down memory lane... just one more reason why it shouldn't jar me to see some guy fishing in the rancid outflow of a drought stricken lake... in the shadow of a nuclear power plant... but it just doesn't look smart.

Capable of incredible creativity, drive, talent, love and expression- we -that's people in general- sure do some stupid things. In fact, in the hiarchy of human foolishnes that's caused grief for generations, this guy's not even worth mentioning. But I'm guessing the photographer had to shake his head in disbelief as he clicked off the shot. I'm certain this is one fisherman who's granny would gladly set him straight on the foolishness of his ways. It just makes sense: the drought's draining the lake, the reactor's sucking water at record rates, the water's supposed to come out clean... but we're also supposed to get our rebate checks quickly, we're supposed to be able to trust our elected officials, we're supposed to expect the toys we buy not to be covered with lead based paint... the list of things we're supposed to be able to do, that we can't count on, is longer than our arm... than both arms... so why's this guy fishing there?

I'm guessing he's just thrown in the towel... or he thinks the bad things that could happen, won't happen to him. We do that when we need a release, when we don't know where else to turn for help... we'll go anywhere. No one really believes a bar is "happy" during Happy Hour. No one really thinks the car they buy will "turn them on." No one really considers Disneyland "The Happiest Place on Earth." Especially the one buying the tickets. But we still run to Disneyland, the car lot, happy hour, the pond radiating behind the power plant... because everybody's got to go somewhere when they don't know where else to go.

"What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

Mordecai, kind of a grumpy old guy, said that to Esther, when things were going great for her- while her people faced destruction -kind of a word to the wise... or A Word from The Lord. I like to think it was the latter. Esther had lost her family, then been ripped away from all that she had left, to be held captive by a king searching out a new queen. Her beauty had saved her, now her background could kill her, if she said something, or she could keep her mouth shut: things were going better than expected... why make waves?

Then Mordecai... there's always a "Mordecai..." we just usually ignore them. Esther didn't. She quit fishing next to the nuclear power plant and saved her people. Well, it wasn't quite like that, but you get the drift. She stepped up and did the right thing at the right time for the right reasons: because she could. Who knows, it may have been the only reason God put her in that position of power.

Each of us have days next to our very own power plant... hanging out, doing something we shouldn't be doing... or not doing all we could be doing... it's in those moments, when we least expect it, that God sends a Mordecai kind of message, then it's up to us, what will we do? Save our people or surrender to more of the same old sorry stupid people tricks?

We choose.

Don't know where you're fishing today or what shadow you're living in but I do know that God has a plan for today and that just maybe you're facing... all of us are facing... a "such a time as this" moment. What will you do?

Write and tell me about it- I'd love to make my next blog about your response. And hey, stop fishing next to nuclear power plants. It's stupid!

Eric

Running to Live

Wesly Ngetich, 34, who won Grandma’s Marathon in 2007 and 2005, was shot through the chest with an arrow during fighting in his hometown, not far from Masai Mara.

Something wonderful about running in Kenya... the history of the worlds great runners combined with the beauty, altitude and mystery of what might be hiding in the predawn graylight keeps the mind alert, senses reaching out and heart beating fast reminding you of life and each precious step in it. Kenya is normally a runner's paradise. Marathon stars are recognized and lifted up nation wide.

They've made huge targets in the current violence and chaos. A number have been injued... now another has been killed. An arrow shot through his chest- seems impossible -out on the trans mara, rural, beautiful and now covered in blood.

Look at the photo- VICTORY! - so quickly slipping away... Life. God opens doors, gives us an opportunity and we give it our best... or not. Wesly, named I'm sure for John Wesley, the great reformer. No clue if Wesly was running to or from the violence... today... we have the opportunity remember Kenya, remember Wesly, to run. We have today. Keep the family of Wesly Ngetich in your prayers. What a waste.

Here's a short video of a day we spent in the trans mara in February, 2007

cry freedom

Continue to pray for our friends in Kenya. Pray for peace.

Many in the west don't realize that much of Kenya's press has been silenced by the government during this crisis. Youtube has become a primary news source. You can stay connected daily at this Kenya Link.

blessings,

Eric

I Might Have to Go...

My heart's hurting for Kenya... it seems so wrong not to stand beside them in their time of pain, violence and chaos... I might have to go- sooner, instead of later. Our group was to leave Tuesday morning, Jan 15... but with the violence and chaos since the elections, it only seemed prudent to cancel the trip. Don't think I could handle watching our group caught up in the middle of another nations anger over political and social issues I don't begin to understand.

"prudent..."

But my heart remains so full... praying for a solution... don't even know what I'd do if I went. Guess part of me just wants to hold my friends, embrace our young work, tell people how sorry we are... let them know that we're not just friends from afar and we'll visit when everything's good... but to show them we're willing and ready to enter their pain, their heartbreak, their chaos... I don't begin to know how to express it.

Matatu's- that's one in the picture. They're little minivans, one of Kenya's major forms of mass transit, that get jammed with people- often until they're hanging out the doors. We jammed that little matatu to make are way outside Kakuma, a refugee camp near the boarder with Sudan in NW Kenya. People begged for rescue, greeted us in love, pressed names written on paper into our hands, told us stories of loss that were beyond grief or understanding. Then we jammed back into our little matatu- windows closed against the dust of the Sahara Desert- even in the 122 degree (farenheit) heat... you've not lived until you're jammed into a matatu at plus 120!

It begs the question: "Why would ANYONE want to go back!?!"

A popular saying when we were in Kenya was "It's easier to get a visa into Heaven than into the United States." The popular saying now- after the elections -is "It's easier for a Luo to become president of the US, (that would be Barack Obama), then to become president of Kenya!" Poverty soon becomes futility. We wanted desperately for a Maasai pastor we work with to visit us here in the US. He received his passport in Kenya only to be denied a visa by the US. Devestated- he emailed me -"What am I to do now?"

I know what he did: got back into a matatu- paid his schillings and headed towards his home outside Narok. Walked the long single track path alone to his little manata and passed the news along to his family- walked the 120 kilometers he walks every week through the wilderness of the Masai Mara visiting the 4 churches he pastors and gave them the sad news... they'd been praying. Maybe I just need to hug Pastor Samuel and tell him we're disappointed too... but sitting in my office, that could hold several matatus, that Samuel's entire home would fit neatly within... the "prudent" thing to do, that which I'll probably do... is to stay... until I know how I can help.

God's Grace is Amazing. It's not abandoned the people of Kenya, the people of the US, or anyone anywhere... it flows in and through us... filling us richly with His Healing Power, even when we're not sure what to do. Until then, I long to be "faithful in the meantime." It's my prayer for you as well. I'm guessing you have places to go.

blessings,

Eric

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a different reality

Surfing... "Surf to live... Live to surf." It was my motto for too many years. That said, we never dreamed of waves like the one in this video- think that's Laird Hamilton, but not certain, probably at Jaws- a big wave in Hawaii that you want to stay away from: unless your last name is Hamilton, Angulo, Long, or one of the other quickly growing water legends- going where no one has gone before -or for that matter probably should go. Absolutely insane.

A world in crisis- rigged elections, churches burned to the ground while people are taking sanctuary, almost 200,000 young Americans serving and bleeding in Iraq, children around the world living hungry and in fear of the day... and surf... HUGE surf...

I'm not sure- but I'm guessing as he was towed into this wave, as he began to take the drop, as that HUGE mountain of water began to pitch- the rest of the world slipped away, total focus took over and the surfer's survival, if only for a few seconds, maybe a minute or two, became a different reality. Survival, success, seeing tomorrow, suddenly required the ability to not only be completely in the moment- built on years of training in the water, a lifetime of team work with those who pull you in and now must be quick at the rescue if you go down- one thing, one wave, required that he push all else out of the way. Sounds just a little bit liberating... incredibly frightening... lonely.

"Surf to Live. Live to Surf." I was never very good in the water, maybe "good," certainly never above average, even when I was in the surf for hours, every day, every year, around the world... still just ok. But I remember the drops that in the moment everything else slipped away... and the ones where fear refused to leave, responsibility occuppied my mind no matter how many waves I took and rode or fell on... soon, long before I approached the status of "waterman," yet decades after I first paddled out, dreaming of riding perfect surf... perfectly; I figured out that other things needed to occupy my life besides surfing. It was a good realization, for me.

Even still, something about the awe of this wave, this rider, this moment captured on video felt like an invitation to a different reality. I have no doubt that once a person learns to accomplish this kind of focus in one discipline it generalizes into the rest of their life... or at least into their pursuits... my prayer today is that a generation will be lifted up in Kenya, in the United States, in Riverside, in me... with a desire to pursue The Peace of God, His Grace, His Love, His Presence with the same singleness of mind given to this massive wave. It's one way we can start great in 2008. A different reality, His Kingdom, awaits us. It can be our defining horizon in the year to come.

Eric

Happy New Year!

Our Son John- with a borrowed pick up truck -moving out

Empty Nest Syndrome... I've heard alot about it... guess we're getting ready to experience it first hand. Both of our kids have lived away from home and both... for one reason or the other, have returned. We've never had them both out at the same time, until now. They found an incredible deal on a beautiful apartment and just like that- quick as that old pick up could pull into our driveway, they're gone and Debi and I are empty nesters.

Our kids,not really kids at all, Julia, now 26 and John, 24, are both pretty amazing people and we've always enjoyed their times at home. We work together, travel together, play together... they've grown up to be people that I enjoy hanging out with... but life goes on and "to everything..." Debi and I celebrated the new year home alone... no need to leave on a light downstairs... turned out the porch light as I headed up and felt a twinge of nostalgia capture my heart... or maybe arithmia... at my age...

2008 - the edge of new adventures in the Denton household. It'll be interesting to see how the two of them learn to coexist in an apartment. It'll be interesting to see how Debi and I remember how to live together again, without one of the kids under our roof, after 26 years. We're open to all advice.

A well meaning friend high fived me when he heard the news. It didn't feel like a high five kind of moment to me... not sad... just not celebratory either. I understand so much more of what my elders once taught me about the "necessary losses" of growing up- the transitions -this is one of them. I'll miss so much about them being here...

and I still work with them every day!

God's been so very, very good to us- may He richly bless you in the new year to come.

Happy New Year!

take care Julia and John.

Dad