Weekly e-News June 15, 2018

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having a blessed, joy-filled day! That’s what Freddy Smith always wishes us at the end of his shift of bluegrass music from six to nine in the morning on 89.9 WDVX…He plays about three Gospel songs (“…to kindly tune up your heartstrings”) but right before, he always signs off with, “Have a blessed day!”

And if there’s something you think you really need, just ask!
Jesus said, “Ask! And it’ll be give to you!…Whoever asks, receives!” (Matthew 7.7)

Sometimes all you have to do is ask!

Once a mom packed a lunch of a few fish sandwiches for her little boy ‘cause he was going on an outing in the country with some friends to listen to Jesus and would be gone for most of the day. “As fast as he’s growing, he’ll be starving by eleven!” she thought.

But somehow, loads of folks hadn’t thought ahead as far as lunchtime, and after listening to Jesus’s longer-than-expected talk, thousands of bellies began to grumble in unison. But one of the friends of Jesus named Andrew somehow got the kid to give up his lunch to Jesus! The Lord blessed the lad’s few fish and pitas, and miraculously and exponentially, multiplied them, so that more than 5000 folks were invited to an unexpected picnic!

“How’d you get that kid to give up his only lunch?” his buddies wanted to know.

“Sometimes, all you have to do is ask!”

The other day, a friend in Missouri emailed me and asked me to video a personal message to surprise our own Bill Reazer to celebrate his 20th(!) year on Young Life staff…

So, Thomas made a silent video of Lee, Pottsie and me sittin at a table at Panera chatting. Slooooowly, the camera scanned to the table beside us where, all by itself, a loaf of french bread sat…

The end!

Y’see, one morning maybe eighteen years ago, Lee, Pottsie, Bill and I were sitting down at that same table, talking about the Book of Romans and other intense stuff. Next to us, this older dude in an open-buttoned shirt (Tom Jones-style) and a big gold chain was chowing down and reading, totally ignoring us. Then, seemingly done, he got up…and left. Not only that but, he left…a big, untouched hunk of that awesome French bread they sell down there.

“Seems a shame to leave that,” Bill said. He looked at me (always hungry). “If I snag it off his plate, will you eat it?”

WITHOUT HESITATION, I answered, “You know it!”

Bill looked this way…then that way…and sloooooowwwwwly leeeaaaned over and just as he reached out to grab that bread with my name all over it….

“Wow! You get up for a second and folks are stealing your food!”

It was him!

“Oops!” said Bill.

“Oops!” said I.

“Ha!” said Pottsie

“Uh…we…uh…thought that you were…um…maybe…uh…gone…”

“Well, my son’s a manager here! I’m calling him over!”

I immediately realized that I didn’t know anything about how that whole posting bail thing worked. Just then, his son came over.

“These boys are so hungry, they’re having to steal food. Could you bring them a whole loaf of that French bread?”

“Sure, dad. No problem.”

As the son threw it down before our unbelieving eyes, the dad looked at us and said, as he was leaving…

“All you have to do is ask.”