Flashback Friday: Get to Know Me!

Me, 1981. No gray hair- yet!

I thought that since I continue to pick up new readers who may not know me very well that perhaps it was time for a Flashback Friday look at some info on the world's most trivial subject- ME!  Some of you will know some of this and some of you will know none of this, but hopefully none of you will know all of this! Confused? Good! And just for fun we'll make it like an old youth group game, 4 Truths and a Lie. Except there are way more than 4 truths. If you think you know which of these very unremarkable facts is not true, leave a comment with your guess. Or you can just choose to make fun of all of them. The winner, as always, gets a can of SPAM! Here we go...

• I was born in Asheboro, NC while Eisenhower was president. Technically speaking I am in my 7th decade. Ouch...
• When I was 4 years old I went on The Old Rebel Show, a local children's show in Greensboro, NC, and won a wild west quick draw contest. The show was never seen because it was due to air November 22, 1963, and was preempted by coverage of the JFK assassination.

• I once wore all pink- including pink tights- for my role as Prince Dauntless in the Western Guilford High School (Greensboro) production of Once Upon A Mattress.
•  I have been to California, Washington and Oregon, but I have never put even one toe in the Pacific Ocean. 
• My freshman year in college I helped start a fake fraternity called Omega Zeta- or OZ. We  joked that we didn't have a president, we had a wizard. 
• In high school there was a group 0f 7 girls who referred to me as Snow White. I can't make this stuff up...
• The first concert I attended was a Jimmy Buffett show with Steve Semmler and our dates in an ice skating rink around 1974. The guy sitting behind us threw up on our dates, so we missed half the show. Hooray beer!
• In 1979 I drove across the country with my friends Alan Brown & Carl Semmler in a Honda Civic wagon named Clyde. We made the entire month long trip with a tent strapped to the roof of the car.
• I saw Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins play basketball in person- all while they were still in high school!
• As a matter of fact I DID have a collection of John Denver albums on 8-track tape...
• I won tickets from a radio station to see Monty Python's Holy Grail in a sneak preview, two weeks before it actually hit theaters.  I took a date.  We didn't get it.  I now pretty much have it memorized.  Best.  Movie.  Ever.
• At my first meeting as a paid youth leader, at Centre Friends Meeting, I was still 18.  There was at least one student there who was older than me.

• During my 6 summers (1978-83) of working on the summer staff at Quaker Lake Camp (and for a few years afterwards) I had a group of female campers who called me Pops.  Pictured are Sharron Tutterow, Mollie Edwards, me, Debbie Tully, Kristin Hayworth,  Laura Wheeler, Jane Tesh & Jane Terrell.  Even at age 20 I was already a father figure- or at least old!  :)
• At one point I owned over 20 Beach Boys albums.  Those were the big CDs with the hole in the middle...
• I have a Goofy tattoo on my left ankle. I got it at Disney on a dare from my long-time Summer Intern, Jerry Hanbery. He got a Donald...
• I was in Atlanta at the Braves game the night Hank Aaron hit his 700th home run.
• Marilyn and I were married on August 30, 1986 in Elkin, NC. William Joshua was born July 16, 1995. Conner the Dog was born March 15, 2003. That's my family!
• I once attended a Washington Senators baseball game. Yes, SENATORS!
• Alan Brown and I wrote the song There's A Blue Pick-Up Truck Where My Heart Used To Be after he drove behind a really slow truck while trying to get to my house in the early '80s. I later performed it at a National Youth Workers Convention and Tony Campolo stood up in his chair and waved a candle (click here for story).
• My youth ministry career included working with the Quakers, the United Methodists, the United Church of Christ and Young Life. 
• I was in New York so often in the 1990's that at least 6 bellhops at the Milford Plaza Hotel knew me by name.
• While at FUMC-Kissimmee in 1997 I put together a big concert featuring Geoff Moore & the Distance that lost nearly $8000. Unfortunately, this is NOT the lie. See that story here.
• I attended a performance of The Lion King on Broadway and sat next to Batman.
• I have seen Les Miserables 11 times on Broadway- twice from the front row!
• Places I have lived: Greensboro, High Point, Asheboro (all NC);  Worcester, MA;  Clarendon Hills (Chicago area) IL;  Kissimmee, FL; Tampa, FL; & Waycross, GA.
• And finally...I led a seminar at the 2004 NYWC in Atlanta called Pagan Eye For the Christian Guy. CDs are available. Well, CD. I think I still have one...

So there you have it. Lots of random facts, a few embarrassing pictures, and one lie. It's more than you wanted to know I'm sure, but now you have at least some idea of why I am the way I am!  Hope you enjoyed it and will take a guess at my one untruth. Good luck to all, and have a wonderful weekend!

Because of Jesus,

My Great White Whales

In the great book Moby Dick, the character of Captain Ahab is relentless in his search for the title character, a great white whale. His commitment is so complete that the term "great white whale" is often used to refer to anything we become obsessed with seeking and finding. When my son Will gave me a hand-me-down iPod several years ago and I began to collect old songs I had once had either on vinyl or old CDs, there were 2 old favorites I had difficulty finding. I have mentioned both on this blog before for other reasons, and I once owned both songs on 45 rpm vinyl. The first was an old youth group favorite originally recorded by Olivia Newton-John called Let Me Be There. There were dozens of ONJ songs on i-Tunes, but that hit from early in her career was nowhere to be found. I found a YouTube video, but my quest for the original recording went unfulfilled. But I never gave up the search. The other song was a late 70's one hit wonder by Toby Beau that we used to sing around the dishwasher at Quaker Lake Camp. My Angel Baby was an amazing song, but when I searched i-Tunes they had no listing for the band, much less for the song. Again, my search ended in disappointment. And though I never gave up the hunt, for several years I was denied my great white whales.

Then in December I again launched a search for my 2 missing songs. There was still nothing on i-Tunes, but when my search turned to Amazon I discovered they had added some new ONJ in their digital music, and Let Me Be There was among the choices. I was thrilled and purchased it immediately. One white whale down. Only moments later, after once again finding no listing for Toby Beau or My Angel Baby in their digital music, my search uncovered a rare and random CD called Hard To Find 45s of the 70s on CD, Volume 8. And there, at track #10, was my second white whale. I ordered it and it arrived just before Christmas. My search was complete, and the great beasts had been defeated. I was one happy camper!

There are few things that move me like music does, and even fewer things that can bring moments from my past into such clear view. Finding these white whales not only gave me a sense of accomplishment, but they transported me through time to some special places and great times spent with wonderful people. And I don't care who you are, that's a great day of fishing. 

Oh...and one more thing. Just in case you don't know that I have eclectic odd musical tastes, on that CD of 20 hard to find songs were 5 songs that were ALREADY on my iPod. But I did get to add Which Way Are You Going, Billy? and Kung Fu Fighting!!! Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Taking the Narrow Road

While in NC last week I saw a couple of church signs- well actually one sign and one billboard- that caught my attention. The sign said, Follow the narrow road in 2015. Tell people you love Jesus. The billboard said, Make your resolution in 2015 be that you go to church, for the path is narrow. And I have to admit I thought to myself, "That is not a narrow path. Telling people you love Jesus is easy. Going to church is easy. I could drive a tank down that path." So what exactly is the narrow path that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7? And more importantly, what makes it so difficult to find and to navigate?  For the next few Tuesdays my blog posts are going to center around the #NarrowRoad. Here's my first thought on what makes following Jesus such a challenge.

We don't love like Jesus taught us to love, and often it is because we don't WANT to love like Jesus. We enjoy having people- or sometimes entire groups of people- that we don't treat with respect or love. In many cases we actually prefer dwelling on our differences than remembering we share a Creator who loves us all so much he sent his Son to die for us so that we might live and love. Jesus said we should love our neighbors. Why is it that we, just like the Pharisees of old, immediately seek to define who that is? We would like for our neighbors to be people we understand, people who are like us. Jesus squashes that thinking by telling the story of the Good Samaritan and illustrating that if we are going to follow him, EVERYONE is our neighbor! Loving everyone, even people we don't like or would prefer to despise, is taking the #NarrowRoad. Check the daily headlines and tell me how Christ-followers are doing with navigating that path...

If you are only looking for the road that leads to Heaven you are missing out on so much. In John 10:10 Jesus says he came to bring us life in the here and now as well. The narrow road isn't straight, it is winding. It is full of adventure. It is covered in love. And it is not an easy path to tread. But it is soooo worth the effort. Join me each Tuesday as we seek to explore the road and where it can lead us in 2015. And remember that the journey starts with love!

Because of Jesus,

Bruises

Yesterday at church was one of the those Sundays when a 3 minute sermon was packed into 30 minutes. The message was on point; it just didn't require as much time as it was given. It could really have been reduced to three sentences:

1. Having friends is a good thing.
2. Having true friends who stick with you when times get tough is a GREAT thing.
3. Jesus wants to be our friend and for us to be surrounded by friends who help us draw nearer to him.

Like I said- all good stuff! But I confess that in the remaining 28 minutes or so my mind wandered and my thoughts turned to the friendships in my own life. There are so many people who have stuck by me through thick and thin and my life is so much the better for it. A list of names began to scroll across the window of my mind and the blessings each has brought or still brings to my soul was very clear to me. And as these thoughts processed and whirled in my head, I cam to realization. Everyone has hard times. We all have "stuff" in our lives. And the people who have been most significant in my life are not the ones who get the most right. I feel closest to the ones most willing to share their bruises.

Life gets real when we talk about the people that hurt us, the things that have damaged us and the failures we are haunted by on a daily basis. We can be better friends when we quit saying things are "just fine" and start sharing our needs and our pain. Over the years many people have come to me with their hurts and bruises, and it is clear to me now that those same people are the ones who have loved me through all of mine. Bruises appear in all shapes and sizes- but they all hurt. Friendships grow deeper when we allow each other into those painful places and allow one another to love as God wants us to love- unconditionally no matter the circumstances. The band Train had a song a couple of years ago called Bruises in which two old friends reunite and speak of how "bruises make for better conversation...you're not alone in how you've been, everybody loses, we've all got bruises." They also talk about the inclination of people to want to fix each other, to blot out the bruises, when in fact it is our blemishes that often make us unique. It's a great song. Watch and listen below.

So the truth is yesterday's sermon spoke to me. Maybe not until after I tuned it out, but still...it spoke to me. God moves in mysterious ways. And I am so thankful that I have so many people in my life who love me, bruises and all. Have a great Monday!

Because of Jesus,

True Joy

Last night, while walking the dog in an amazing evening breeze, I found myself thinking about joy and how to define it. A blissful image entered my mind. I was transported to North Myrtle Beach, SC, and one of my favorite places in the world- the three story house known as The Betsy B. I was sitting on the oceanfront porch, starring out at a full moon over the Atlantic Ocean and playing my guitar while people I love gathered around me. And I thought about how happy those moments always made me. But is that truly joy? Today I bring you words from Lois Cheney's 1969 devotional masterpiece God Is No Fool (Abingdon Press) that seek to answer the question- what is joy?

Joy is a old-fashioned word. What did it used to mean?

Like "happy" maybe? Or was it "silly" and "giggly?" Could just anyone get to it? Or was it buried in book and brow?

I wish I knew what it used to mean,  for I need a word- a good, solid word that shows how I feel when the day is over, and I've worked well and I'm so glad to be tired.

I need a word for when I've spent hours and hours with those I love, and I'm talk-sore and smile-aching. I need a word for when I'm alone, and over the miles are parts of my heart, deep in others who are warm, safe and at peace.

I need a word for when a job looms like a greyhound and I can do it, and I want to do it, and I tingle to get at it. I need a word for that warm, gentle flow that covers every corner of my being. And says, "Lo, I am with you always."

I need a word. Real bad. And I think it might be "joy."

Or maybe it's God. Then again, maybe they're the same word...

Because of Jesus,

"Even Better Than Before" - The Prologue

With a bit of luck and perseverance my novel, Even Better Than Before, will be ready to share via e-mail with a few friends in the next couple of weeks. I have shared 2 excerpts on this blog already (click HERE for those) over the past few months, but I thought for the first weekend of the new year you should get a peek at the very beginning. So without further adieu, here is the prologue to Even Better Than Before...

Prologue

It was already the second week in April of 2014, but the thermostat outside the large picture window of her beautiful Clarendon Hills home said 34 degrees. Spring or not, this was still Chicagoland. Keri Fischer Thompson snuggled on her sofa with her fuzzy purple Snuggie for another evening home alone. Her husband Mark was traveling for work yet again, as he had done for what seemed like eight nights a week for the past 14 years. They had never had kids, and her beloved boxer, Brutus, had been gone for three years now. This night, like so many nights before, she poured herself a glass of Pinot Grigio and settled in to watch reruns of The Big Bang Theory. The show never failed to make her laugh. And so many nights Keri needed a good laugh.

Often as the night went on and the wine kicked in Keri’s thoughts would turn reflective, her mood would grow somber and her heart would begin dwelling on that most dangerous of questions- “What if?” This night was no different. What if she had not married for money and security instead of for passion? What if she had followed her dream and become a professional singer instead of an accountant? What if she had been more willing to risk and to live a life of adventure? And each time her mind crossed that path, it would stop at the same place. Some nights she would even speak the question aloud. “What if I had gone with Brent all those years ago?” She would think back to their adventures as friends in middle school, high school and college. Theirs had always been a unique relationship. Keri counted on Brent to make her feel special and loved at the times when she often didn’t really like herself; he counted on her to give him courage, guidance and support when he didn’t trust himself. By the end of high school he knew that she was the love of his life, but that was not a role she was willing to play at the time. It was just too risky for her. Over and over again as they grew older they turned to each other for support and comfort, usually emotionally but occasionally physically as well. But they were never truly a “couple.”  They had never really dated; they had slept together only once and that had been 20 years ago. When Brent had left North Carolina to search for fame and fortune he begged her to go with him, but again she was not willing to risk what they had to take a chance on what might be. She got married in 2000 and he in 2002, but the flame still flickered in their hearts. Over the past five years so many things had changed. As her marriage became more stagnant and his life crumbled both personally and professionally he had become her light in the darkness and she had remained his one beacon of hope. Their relationship had always been important; now it was indispensable to them both. They could not imagine life without the other even as they lived 5oo miles apart. On these lonely nights Keri was often haunted with thoughts of how different her life might be if only she had said yes and gone with Brent fifteen years ago. And she was left to wonder how differently his life might have turned out as well.

She was jarred back to reality by the ringing of her cell phone, and she smiled at the irony of it all. The ringtone was the Zac Brown Band song Keep Me In Mind. It was assigned to only one person- and that person was Brent. He didn’t call much because as he often said, “If I call anytime I want to I’d be calling all the time.” She usually called him if she wanted to chat. They would text each other almost daily just to check in and say hello, sometimes chatting for hours on end. So for him to be calling so late meant something must be up. She answered with her usual “What’s up Buttercup?” and as always, Brent chuckled. After a moment or two of small talk, he got straight to the point. “Look Keri…I’ve been thinking about giving in and heading to this thing in Myrtle Beach on Memorial Day weekend. Craig and Dan are really after me to show up. It just feels like it could be a circus for me, so before I commit I need to know for sure. Will you be there? Because that’s the only way I’m going.” Keri smiled to herself. Thirty years and so much of life had flown by, but Brent had never stopped needing her as his support system. His best friend. His counselor. His Soulmate.  “Yes sweetie” she replied in that voice that had always melted his heart. “I will be there. And so will you. Just think of it as a trip to the beach with me. If we happen to run into 15 other old friends, so be it!” Brent laughed. That was what he wanted to hear, the reassurance that she would be there for him to lean on. Keri felt warm all over. This was going to be just what she needed- an escape and an adventure. She loved that Brent still needed her, and that he still loved her totally and unconditionally. They said goodnight and Keri started to get ready for bed. She looked in the bathroom mirror as she brushed her teeth and thought to herself, “What if you really can have a second chance at the life you were meant for?” “Keep me in mind” the song said, “cause somewhere down the road you might get lonely…” She had been longing for an adventure. Maybe this would be it...

A few weeks later Brent sat at the soundboard in his home studio outside of Franklin, TN, doing the final mix on a new song. His good friend and sound engineer extraordinaire Darin Walker was finishing a 4^th new song for a demo project they were hoping to use to attract some attention from local record companies. Darin was really excited about the new music and to be working with Brent again. He thought the song they were putting the finishing touches on, My Amazing Grace, had adult contemporary/modern country hit written all over it. But that was not the song on the demo that had him most excited. They had, with the help of some of the best studio musicians in Nashville, recorded a cover version of the 2003 Sister Hazel song Come Around. The song had never been released as a single and was not all that well known, even in music circles. But it had a great chorus, an amazing hook, and Brent sang the hell out of it. Darin had worked with pretty much every big name in the industry, from U2 to Jars of Clay to Taylor Swift. He knew popular music. And every time he listened to the playback of Come Around he found himself thinking, “This is not just a hit. This will be the #1 song in the country.” Now if he could only convince the people with power to listen to it. He had promised Brent he would personally deliver the demo to some of the record labels in town, but he had no idea what the reception would be. Brent Thomas had been missing from the music business for nearly 8 years now, and his name carried some baggage. But Darin was determined to give this his best shot. This music was good and deserved to be heard. Brent would be venturing out into the world on Memorial Day weekend to see some old friends. Maybe that would be the beginning of his comeback. Or at least of his return to a little bit of a normal life. Only time would tell.

I hope that leaves you wanting more! Have a great weekend!

~CJ

Flashback Friday: Do You Remember?

Happy New Year! I'm still recovering from the drive back from NC yesterday, so today we will celebrate the first Flashback Friday of 2015 with a vintage post asking anyone who was ever in one of my youth groups to read this post and answer this simple question: Do you remember? 

*  On my 28th birthday, someone put a giant sign in my yard at our little house across the street from Springfield Friends Meeting inviting the world to "honk." They did...over and over again! It made for quite a celebration. It's been over 27 years. Anyone ready to confess?

*  Do you remember Burger Doodle, our once a month trips from New Garden and Springfield to various fast food shacks for dinner after YFYF?

*  Remember playing 4 On A Couch?  Remember how the guys team never won?

*  Remember mud slides and the epic Counselor vs. Staff volleyball games at Quaker Lake Camp? And does anyone besides me remember the summer of 1983 and Phi Quaka Laka?

*  At some point during the FUMC-Kissimmee years a train carrying Wendy's supplies wrecked near town, and my friend Eddie (who worked for the train company) got us huge boxes of giant Wendy's cups. There were hundreds of those things...

*  Do you remember the day when the Wesley Memorial UMC youth group skipped our Sunday evening Graceland meeting and went to a local sports bar for dinner?

*  We had this Newsboys stand-up in the youth room at FUMC-K, and I am fairly certain I have pictures of 50 different youth in this very pose! Were you one of those youth? Obviously Catlin Esry was!

*  Remember when we used to play Kick the Can in the graveyards at New Garden and Springfield? I think there are rules against such things now...

*  Do you remember playing Sardines? How about Murder, the card game where if you got an "Ace" you winked at people to kill them? Both of those games go all the way back to my own high school years in youth group.

*  Over the years many of our students got to eat at Kyotos, in Greensboro, Orlando or Myrtle Beach. Did you ever go? And were you there the night in Orlando the chefs honored us with our signature rice?

*  Do you remember camping at the Ponderosa, staying at the Betsy B, spending a week at The Spinnaker or crashing at the Ocean Surf Club? If you do, you probably went to Myrtle Beach with me...

So there we go!  Which of those moments do you remember? It would be awesome to hear some of your memories and favorite moments from over the years, so leave comments or e-mail me at youthguy07@aol.com. Everyone who was part of those moments remains an important part of my life. What a blessing! 

Because of Jesus,