All posts by Richard Harrell

Unknown's avatar

About Richard Harrell

Connecting life, art, and the power of story in ways that change my world. I am a disciple-maker and lover of Jesus living in a small town in Georgia. I am also on a spiritual journey, looking for points in life that point me to new and full life in Christ Jesus.

Learning from The 70’s

Just Stories, Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , ,

Every time I enter my “year of birth” in a web form, I’m reminded that my life spans seven decades! That doesn’t mean I’m 70+ years old, but as a child of parents from The Greatest Generation and born in the ’50’s, I’ve “rung in” my share of decades.

One of those decades was The ’70’s – a pivotal discovery time for a lot of reasons.  Maybe the most important is that I learned what not to do. For instance, don’t try to run in 3 1/2 inch disco stacks. Some body part will get hurt. Or no matter how proud you are of it, nobody really cares who paints your senior class year on a road or bridge. And don’t drive 95 miles an hour to get back to school from a mid-morning coca-cola and honey bun run, if you own a Pinto. Yes, you know who you are!

Here’s the big one I learned. What not to chase! In the ’70’s, we had a lot of options to spend our lives doing, public and private. Some were a waste; others earned money, a fleeting influence, or a name on a street; while other options left deposits of eternity in others’ lives.  I was a young, struggling follower of Jesus in the early ’70’s when God captivated me with His undeniable truth and unexplainable compassion for me. And it followed that, if he love me (an average invisible teenager with issues) he loved others… around me and around the globe. It knocked me into a new orbit, with Jesus at the center.

Last week, I attended a party at Seacoast Vineyard Church in Myrtle Beach that focused on celebrating The ’70’s. It was a real blast from the past, and gave me a taste of what my church friends looked (and acted) like a few decades back. There was even a disco ball with the lights chasing around the room. And it left me thinking about today, and how I’m different because of that decade.

Matthew records what Jesus said about what to chase and what not to chase:

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT)

The ’70’s legacy? Chase the King and His Kingdom, trust God for the stuff of life, and above all don’t drive your Pinto over 35 mph.

Pursuing the Kingdom -Rick

Me and Zumba

Just Stories,

We (my wife, Susan, and I) joined a Zumba class last week. For those of you who have yet to be swept off your feet by the “rhythms of the conga beat,” Zumba is a dance-aerobics workout that forces non-dancers to move feet, hips and arms all together in a semblance of organized pattern. At least, that’s my take on it’s main purpose.

Yesterday’s instructor was a “fill-in” in many ways. She has been doing Zumba a long, long time, yet still could in many ways “shake her groove thang.” She promised us all a fun time.

She also promised, as soon as she saw me (the man in the class) that we would do a special song for the men (read: man, singular, though a couple of others rescued me before that special song.)

By now, we had danced to a latin “rock around the clock,” smoozed through a mysterious song about eyes, jumped around to the copa cabana, and jiggled our way through a Spanish song that talked about shaking our “huppa-bubba-bubba” or something like that.

Then she called me (and the two other victims) up to the front. It should be clarified here that we are really not in a Zumba class. Ours is called Zumba Gold… I think because the members are in their golden years, or perhaps because more of our body parts are  made of metal (though that should be called Zumba Titanium.)

Our instructor had us face the crowd of, what looked like eager grannies (surreal) who seemed to know what was coming our way (we were clueless.) The beat started – a latin-india influenced song… and we moved side to side waving our arms in syncopation first beside and then in front of us. Then it happened. The full force of women danced toward us waving their arms seductively at us, closer and closer (like a Busby Berkley moment.) The last move was a punctuation of three side hip thrusts (with much force.)

It was a brief song that seemed to last forever. Some had fun, I am sure. For me, it was memorable. I even took a bow at the end. After all, I even got my feet, my hips, and my arms to move in the right syncopation, at least once. I deserved the moment.

I just can’t get the sound of titanium squeaks out of my mind from that last move. (I will let you draw your own spiritual applications if you can from this one!)

Rhythmically yours,

On the Journey

Rick

Looking for God

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , , , , , ,

It was 1986, and it was another Sunday morning. My role at the church I serve in San Antonio was as pastor of discipleship and evangelism. We had begun a Hispanic church on half of our campus, and had recently begun a small group program in homes around the neighborhoods. And God was showing up in the homes in refreshing ways. One of our “nights of worship” with all the small groups together lasted long into the evening (long, especially for Baptists on a Friday night.)

The Sunday morning in question had been a better-than-normal crowd. The message was good for the moment, but I can’t remember it. The worship was very normal (and very forgettable) for a Baptist church with a choir loft and organ. The invitation was short; the results escape me. What was memorable happened as I was gathering my Bible and notebook together at the end of the service. In fact, I will never forget the words nor the look on the faces of the young Latino couple who found me at the front of the church.

“I have heard we can find God here.” The couple looked really out-of-place among the stained glass and maple woodwork. And at the same time, they looked like perfect candidates for the altar we were standing beside. The sunlight magnified the dust particles in the hazy air of the empty sanctuary these two had invaded, with hopes of finding God.

I said, “Yes, I can help you find God right here.” We prayed.

Skip forward to tonight. My pastor at the Beach led a membership class tonight for about a dozen people. I was there because I help with small groups and disciple-making. He talked about values, the history of our church, and told stories of how God has been working and how He has led us to this point.

Then he shared what kind of church he envisions us becoming. The top of his list didn’t include large numbers, huge buildings, a publishing house or film department (that seems the rage lately.)

He looked out the front door to the streets, the beach, the road to the local schools, the bars, the strip clubs, restaurants, malls, and the hideouts for the street people who live here. “I want the people who don’t know God to know that, if they can just get to our church, if they can just get here, they will find people who will love them, and they’ll find the love of God.”

He was the prophet tonight. There are people who come looking for God. The word is out. Hope…help…healing… wholeness…the love of God is here. God wants the place where church meets to be a place that people who may not look like they belong in church can look for God. Like the latino couple, they can risk the question, “Can I find God here?”

“…so he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)

Keeping It Together

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , , , , ,
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Paul to the Colossian Christians)