Category: community involvement

Random Acts of Kindness

We had about 50 students and 15 leaders show up for our “Random Acts of Kindness” project on Saturday.

We took a special offering for the event for two weeks, then divvied up the money on the day of the event. We got them all into groups of 10, gave each group $100 three hours to go and do some covert serving in the neighborhood. Everyone seemed to LOVE it! Some of the random acts cost money, others didn’t cost a penny! Here’s a few of them:

They bought…

a necklace and ring for a woman.

movie tickets for a couple.

a Build-A-Bear for a child.

cleaning supplies to wash windows

Dairy Queen

a whole bunch of people Starbucks

a whole bunch of things at Walmart and Goodwill for random shoppers

toys for kids

dropped off flowers at the emergency room and toys for kids in the waiting room

delivered cookies to a mechanic shop, which led one of them to say, “Aww that just made a fat guy happy!”

delivered more cookies to a fire station

gave $6 to the Chik-fil-A cow standing on the side of the road waving at cars

handed out balloons to small children at the mall

There were a whole lot more… The students are anxious to get out and do it again. My hope is that they won’t wait for me to plan it.

Haiti Relief Yard Sale

I still really have no idea what to say about the tragic earthquake in Haiti. But I want to help.

I’m just thinking as I type here… I don’t have a whole bunch of money, and time is of the essence. I’ve seen some friends planning a car wash for every Saturday, and they’ll donate the money they make to the rescue and relief efforts.

What about a huge yard sale? What if I got ahold of everyone I know here in the Phoenix area, asked them to donate anything could spare, got some Uhaul trucks (maybe donated) and went around for a couple weeks picking it all up… then promoted it all over the place (Twitter, Facebook, Email, Fliers, Signs, News Stations, etc…).

I think I will.

Is this a crazy idea? Is there a better way?

I think I might put together the biggest yard sale Gilbert, Arizona has ever seen. And give every single penny to The Red Cross.

What do you think? If you live close by would you donate some stuff?

fraud, bottles and vandals

This week:

Lindsay and I found out that someone had stolen our debit card number and purchased porn subscriptions online using our money. It sucks to be the victim of a crime, ESPECIALLY when the perp is a perv. It breaks my heart to know that someone out there is desperate enough for porn that they would steal a pastor’s credit card. I believe in Jesus, even when the world seems beyond repair.

The next day: Lindsay was driving through a construction zone in Chandler when some chump in a lifted SUV threw a glass bottle at her while driving. He (or one of his chump passengers) threw the bottle, and then they followed my wife into a parking lot to verbally assault her and her passengers. She had her mom, sister, and a baby in the car. This chump cut Lindsay off in the parking lot and shouted some words at her that no woman should ever hear, especially MY WIFE. She called me crying just a minute after it all went down, and I’m glad I didn’t get there in time to see this teenager and his truck full of buddies. In case you’re wondering, it was a lifted Tahoe with flames on the side, and his license plate was AEP 9075.  I believe in Jesus, even when the world seems beyond repair.

Tonight my friend Josh Barton picked up his car that he had left overnight at our church… someone had carved some pretty vulgar stuff into his hood, dumped water in his car, and broke a mirror off. It looks like it was random, since he left it overnight, but it’s still a bit too much. I believe in Jesus, even when the world seems beyond repair.

I believe that God will redeem all of this junk.

Revenge only keeps evil in circulation.

But I’m a work in progress, and I’ll admit that I wanted to physically hurt that kid who threw a bottle at my wife.

Pray for Kate

kate mcrae

Kate McRae is a 5-year-old from Phoenix who has a malignant brain tumor. She is headed into surgery tomorrow morning (Friday) at 9am. I found out about this because her dad Aaron is one of the pastors at Cornerstone Church in Chandler (where I worked for 7 years).

Please watch the video, and consider raising some awareness for this beautiful little girl.

You can also see her Caring Bridge website by clicking HERE

beating up kindergartners

A pastor name Jonathan Cliff posted a picture on Twitter of a bunch of first graders playing tug-a-war, and it got me thinking.

“I wonder how many first graders I could beat by myself?”

I meant in a game of tug-a-war, but Jonathan took it a step further in his follow-up question: How many five-year-olds could I take in a fight?

Three dozen according to this website. Sounds about right.

What about you?

36

Created by OnePlusYou – Free Dating Sites

free fry refills?

Linds and I were at In-N-Out tonight on a fancy date, and I saw something that I need to get some clarification on…

A guy walked up to the counter with an empty french fry holder, asked the guy at the counter for a refill, and the guy quickly said “Of course“, turned around, held the fry thing up to the fry girl behind him who scooped a HUGE fry scoop into this guy’s fry holder.

Nobody blinked an eye. The two guys didn’t know each other (one was a teenage kid and the other was an old guy). It was all so normal to both of them.

IS THIS NORMAL?

Does In-N-Out hook up free french fry refills?

Is that way too much french fry for one man?

Does everyone know this but me???

OK wait… it gets even more ridiculous.

The guy THEN asks for “some of that chocolate milk“. In-N-Out doesn’t have chocolate milk bro. But the kid gives him a water cup filled with CHOCOLATE SHAKE! He didn’t even tell the guy that they don’t have chocolate milk. He just gave the dude some shake. WHAT THE HECK???

Not a shady looking kid, in a very crowded restaurant, with employees everywhere.

Am I missing something? Is this normal?

200 sandwiches

pbj1

Tomorrow morning we’ve got a whole bunch of high school students waking up early to meet us at the church to make 200 sandwiches.

We’re heading out to an area in Santa Ana where we know that there are dozens of homeless people, and we’re going to hand out a whole bunch of lunches. We’re going to encourage our students and leaders to just spend time with the people they meet. I want them to learn their stories. They may even get a chance to share their own stories, who knows… but I think it’s just important that we are available.

We have a lot of partnerships with local organizations that meet all sorts of needs and have all sorts of programs and assistance for the homeless in our community. We might tell them about those organizations if the opportunity arises.

But our mission for tomorrow is sandwiches. Because people are hungry, and we have a solution to their hunger. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some chips, a bottle of water, and some gift certificates for more sandwiches at local restaurants.

Sandwiches aren’t going to solve the bigger problem of homelessness.

But they’re something.

And something is better than nothing!