In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.

I have always be fascinated and saddened by the story of Chris McCandless. The book, “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, is one of my favorite. Jon tells about Chris, who died of starvation, on August 18,1992 — 112 days after he walked into the wild, and 19 days before six hunters would happen across the old bus numbered 142 and his body inside.

Soon after graduating from college, Chris left home and disappeared, changing his name and covering his tracks to avoid being found. He wanted to get away where no one could find him. He wanted to be a “nobody.”

By all accounts, Chris was very bright and charming. One of his dreams was to challenge himself by living off the land in Alaska. In the Spring of 1992, he followed the Stampede Trail and crossed the Teklanika River to live by himself near Denali National Park. He wanted to live by his wits, and burned his bridges by going with only ten pounds of rice, a 22 rifle and some books. He ignored the advice of people who lived in the area, and refused to take any maps or arrange any follow-up. He learned to hunt and gather, kept a journal and took occasional pictures. Though he got very thin, he seemed to be doing well. After several weeks, he decided to return to civilization, but found the Teklanika River to be full and wild, impassable. He returned to the abandoned bus he was inhabiting, possibly to wait for the waters to recede. He later became very weak, and eventually died in the bus. Ironically, a couple of miles from where the Stampede Trail crossed the Teklanika River was a line across the river with a tram attached on Chris’s side. He could easily have crossed the river. The exact cause for his death is not known.

Feelings about Chris McCandless’s adventures vary. Many feel he was stupid and reckless to take these chances. Others that he suffered from mental problems that made him “want to get away from everyone and just be a nobody.” No matter what you believe, it is, all the same, a sad ending to a person who felt they wanted to hide from everyone, maybe even God.

David said this about God in Psalm 139, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Can I hide from God? No. And when I find out just how good He is, why would I want to?

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If you want to read a short version of the story of Christoper McCandless you can read “Death of an Innocent,” published by Outside magazine.

I spent 10 years preaching (1992-2002) in the great little community of Tulia, Texas. Tulia is a wonderful little town of about 5000. What a blessing it was to start raising my children there and be a part of such a loving community and church.

While I was there Tulia made national headlines with a single drug bust where 46 people were arrested. Because 36 of them were black, it wasn’t long until the ACLU got involved and made it a “racial” thing instead of a drug thing. When it finally ended years later, those arrested were all pardoned by the Governor, and the wonderful little town of Tulia was left with a black eye but a closer community.

Although I have my opinions, I’m not here to argue about who was right and who was wrong. But I will tell you, I learned that you can’t believe everything you read or watch on the news.

Since the drug bust, the trials and the pardons, a book has been written about the Tulia incident from a pretty one-sided view. AND NOW? I read today where a movie deal is in the works. Yea, a movie. That is huge. I laughed when I read that they already had Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton signed to star in it? Isn’t that amazing?

As I sat and thought about the movie about Tulia it made me wonder who might play me in the movie. You know, if I actually had a part in the movie, “who would play me?” I immediately thought of Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey (ha), but really a Tim Allen would probably be a better fit for me. But then I thought, just for fun, I might ask around and see who my family thought should represent me. So, I asked my sweet, loving and encouraging wife and she just died laughing. After regaining control she said, “like you’d really have a part.” So I asked the rest of my family, and they all thought about it and came up with this guy. He would best represent me in a movie. (click here to meet him).

So here’s a cool question: if someone played you in a movie, what actor/actress would you want playing you, AND who would your spouse say should represent you? Also, what kind of movie would you want to be in, a comedy, drama, romance, suspense, western, war or a disaster movie.

And, let’s hope the movie about your life wouldn’t be rated any worse than PG.

It’s “Top 10 Tuesday” – So here you go:

1. If you consider the church roll the Lambs book of Life.
   
2. If you’re disgusted by the moral filth that is playing out of your own VCR/DVD player.
3. If you think Christianity is about rules rather than relationship.
4. If you think any church that has experienced growth must be watering down the Gospel.
5. If you rebuke the visiting preacher for not wearing a tie when he was in the pulpit.
6. If you won’t let your kids watch “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” because there’s a witch in the movie.
7. If you only see what is wrong in others and never what is right.
8. If you feel it’s your spiritual job to “fix” other people, because you only see what’s wrong in others and never what’s right. If you’re so obsessed with traditions and religion that you miss that it’s all about Jesus.
9. If you accept only the KJV as authorized because it’s the version that Paul & Silas carried.
10. If you’re more concerned with who’s waiting on the table and what they’re wearing, than focusing on the sacrifice & death of Jesus Christ.

What can you add to this list?

(Part of yesterday’s lesson) You get a raise or a job promotion by earning it. You make the team by earning a spot on the team. You get a passing grade in school by earning it. Working hard to earn something is great in our society. But when it comes to Christianity, you don’t earn anything. In fact it’s impossible to earn God’s love and grace. Until we get past the fact that we don’t earn our salvation, we’ll never understand what grace is.

What you and I often don’t see is that we’re crippled. You may not see a wheelchair, crutches or a cane, but I’m crippled. You won’t find any braces on my legs, and I don’t walk with a limp, but I’m crippled. I’m crippled spiritually. My handicap is sin. No matter how hard I try, all my goodness and all my righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Thank God for His grace. Three things about God’s grace in this lesson are…

Tony Campolo is one of my favorite storytellers. He has the amazing ability to touch your heart with stories that challenge you. He tells the story “Party for a Prostitute” and not to long ago he told about a homeless man he met on the streets of Philadelphia. The story goes like this: One day [...]

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Need a laugh today?

1. Tell them that they are in your pew. How dare they … it is your pew! 2. Tell them there is a dress code, that they need a tie, need to wear pants, need to take off their cap or need to dress up more. 3. Let them hear you gripe about everything from [...]

The last few of weeks I’ve gone at an unhealthy pace. Unhealthy physically, emotionally and especially spiritually. My time with God has suffered, my patience with my children has been nonexistent, and my time with my family has been very minimal. Why do I allow myself to get that busy? Sometimes I honestly believe that [...]

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” ~ James 1:2-3 When hard times come have you every questioned your faith? I have. In fact in my lifetime, my faith has been under fire more than once. I’ve asked [...]

Ran across this in my notes. Don’t have a clue where it came from, but it made me laugh. Thought it might be a good change of pace after a couple of days of serious discussion. Blessings … Trey —————————————————- If you can pass the following tests, you may be ready to have children.MESS TEST: [...]

Sexual misconduct. One of the most devastating thing that can happen to a church is for one of its leaders (minister, youth minister, elder, pastor) to get caught in a sexual relationship outside his marriage. When this does take place churches feel betrayed, victims/survivors are often misunderstood and the families of all involved suffer greatly. [...]

Tomorrow I’d like us to talk about a very sensitive and serious subject. Sexual misconduct of a leader in the church. It has to be the most devastating thing that can happen to a church to have one of its leaders (minister, youth minister, elder, pastor) to be get caught in a sexual relationship outside [...]

There is a Texas state penitentiary just outside the city limits of Childress. Since the opening of the prison fifteen years ago, there has been a group of men from the church that has gone out each week to teach a Bible study. We are currently teaching a parenting class in Monday nights to about [...]

“As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” ~ 1 Kings 11:4 That verse hit me like a ton of bricks as I was reading the other day. I’d seen [...]

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Last Thursday night I told Lea to put on her dancing shoes, we were going out. Actually I can’t dance, but I do still date. We left the boys at home and had supper at the restaurant of her choice (unfortunately not the deuce). It was a good chance for Lea and I to just [...]

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1 – Favorite O.T. Bible Story 2 – Favorite Bible Character 3 – Favorite Scripture 4 – Favorite Chapter 5 – Favorite Book of the Bible 6 – What are you reading from the Bible? 7 – Favorite Bible translation

There are great things and tough things about having four boys. Definitely more great things than tough things. One of the things I’ve always struggled with is making individual time for each of them. We’re always doing things together as a family, but not as often as father and son or mother and son. One [...]

Have you ever wondered why some ministers move an average of every two years? Or why are more ministers getting out of full-time ministry than there are getting in to it? I’ve got a few ideas that might help answer those questions. Here are 10 things you could be doing that might make your minister [...]

(HAVE YOU SEEN THIS EMAIL?) Jim Nugent is a coach in Childress , Texas. Jim writes: My name is Jim Neugent. I wrote to ABC (on-line) concerning a program called “THE PRACTICE.” In last nights episode, one of the lawyer’s mothers decided she is gay and wanted her son to go to court and help [...]

My friend Brian said today is commercial day. Thought I’d list my favorite. It is by far, the most manly commercial ever. Then below are two more you can watch if you’re REALLY bored today. Link to Commercial #2

Everyone has questions. We ask them everyday. My son came in the other day with this funny list of questions. Thought I’d share them with you and then add some that are a little more serious at the end. When a cow laughs does milk come up its nose? Why is abbreviation such a long [...]

How about a little fun today. Here are 10 quotes from some of my favorite movies of all-time. Can you guess the movies? 1 – “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes. I hate snakes.” 2 – “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” 3 – “Life moves [...]

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This reminded me of my dad. He loves talking about things when he was a kid. He’d say things like, “When I was a kid, I used to walk 5 miles uphill in the snow.” I think my favorite was when me and my brother were talking about where we were born, and he chimed [...]

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