Grease the Flywheel

A trip to Tulsa for me and a trip to El Salvador for Sixto kept us out of touch with each other for a few days. Sixto will land back in the United States tonight. I miss having him and his insight around. He found himself in the middle of flooding and outages due to Hurricane Ida. Tomorrow we make plans to go to Houston for meetings on Friday and Saturday. There, we will meet with church planters and churches who desire to support and know more about Genesis Alliance.

I made the statement last week that if we had 20 planters right now, it wouldn't be sufficient to meet the needs of our planned plants. The problem with a lack of planters goes hand in hand with our lack of "seed money". If I understand Agriculture, most farmers today have to borrow their seed money for the years crop, only to be paid back after the harvest. Well, if I may quote Sixto, the fields are brown unto harvest. Friends, the workers are few. In our effort to recruit, screen, train and place, funding becomes our greatest hurdle. We would love for someone to give us the seed money and let them see the harvest happen right before their eyes.

Last week, Genesis Alliance completed the huge task of activating "Online Giving" on our website. Security was the highest priority, not only with us, but with the bank, host, software developers and other partners. I grew to appreciate through the length of time and the frustration of waiting, just how careful and precise key elements had to fall in place to make this happen. I want to encourage you to spread the word and excitement about what we're doing at Genesis Alliance. I ask you to consider giving and asking others to give to this important ministry. Asking for money is one of the most difficult things one has to do, but when the need is as great and as important as Genesis Alliance, I find myself getting over my timidity very quickly. Go to our site now and find the "Give online" tab and follow the directions and you'll be part of one the greatest ministries in the history of evangelism. www.genalliance.org

Shifting Gears

"The rains came down and the floods came up." I don't hear this song much anymore, but my mind found it in the archives of songs long gone from my youth in the recent deluge of fall rains. The saturated grounds made for an interesting landscape in East Texas. Fire ants were forced to build mounds above ground. The scene looked as though the pastures had been pelted with little bombs. The ebony mud was hauled from below and placed carefully in its place as though the little red workers were rebuilding the pyramids of Egypt. Ants send a clear message in their construction. If I were to stomp and tear down the new abode, the next morning the new ant hill would be back as though there was never an intruder. The message is a loud one in that no matter how many times I repeat my vandalism, regardless of how righteous, they will build one more mound than the number of hill crushings I render. What kind of message would we send to the world if we rebuild the Twin Towers exactly as they stood before? What would we say if September 10, 2011 looked like it did in lower Manhattan on September 10, 2001? The only difference would be a stronger spine and the resolve to cherish what we hold dear and no longer take for granted.

I learned a new verse of the oldie but goldie about the wise man just a few years ago. I heard the last verse and regretted not having it available back when flannel boards were the highest "tech" in the classroom. It goes like this: "The blessings come down as the prayers go up." The blessings are definitely coming down on Genesis Alliance like the fall rains. The blessings are changing the landscape of America. Instead of ant beds (as we call them in Louisiana), Latino churches are springing up all over. We are just getting started in what could be the largest growth of saints to ever hit our country. The prayers are going up constantly as the blessings come down. Sing with us as we watch God at work. As Solomon watched the ant and admired the little creatures, we work with the same diligence. www.genalliance.org

Transmission Fluid

At Genesis Alliance, our job is made so much easier when we have team players that make the wheels turn. Our three major partners are the planters in the field doing the hands on work. There are also established churches who lend a hand getting new plants going. The third is so important, the contributor. In Bradenton, Florida, we have an established church home preparing to take one of our church planters who will graduate from Texas Gulf Coast Bible Institute in Houston, TX. We have 2 of the 3 legs of our stool before it will stand. We need those who will financially support Piero Drago in our newest plant on the west coast of Florida. Your support will not be viewed as "eternal". Piero will be encouraged to be on declining support as he builds up the Latino church in his area to provide his own support. Can I encourage you to send Genesis Alliance help to evangelize the 3rd highest Latino populated state in the Union? Genesis Alliance 10805 Walnut Hill Lane Dallas, TX 75238. Manual Transmission is "moving across" the room, house, desk to get the checkbook and write a check for any amount. Let's blanket Florida with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You're the fluid that allows the wheels to turn. Thank you so much.

Move Across

The literal translation of "transmission" keeps me thinking about its meaning. The thought has really inspired me since I've chosen the name for my blog. Last night I 'moved across' a line that I found out rather quickly that I was not allowed to cross. I stepped onto the Texas Ranger's playing field by invitation from Brad Ziegler, a reliever for the Oakland Athletics, to have my picture made with him. Quickly a security guard headed my way saying "off the field!". Well, the picture was taken and the moment was tainted by the unexpected surprise command. Once I took my place in the stands with the great cloud of witnesses, I pondered the privilege of being able to enter the forbidden arena for the less talented. Other than the neice of Nomar Garciaparra and the lady who sang the National Anthem, I was the only undeserving in thousands to feel the red clay border of the field under my feet.

I know there are many who want to enter the "playing field" on which many of us participate. (I want to clarify quickly that none of us are on that field because of our ability.) However, the multitude wants to cross that partition called hopelessness. They want to 'move across' but are just not sure how make that move. Burdens like disease, relationships, finances, etc. have many looking for relief in solid answers that just turn out to be vaporous or worse-addictive.

When I took my seat in the stadium, a Bob Uecker quote came to me. You probably know the one: "Good seats ey buddy?". Really, they were great seats. I took in the view with my life-long friend Mike Williams and tried to soak in the experience. I called my wife and girls, I twittered, answered texts, even some from Greg Ziegler who is the father of Brad. I wanted to share with everyone I could what 'I was doing now'. Isn't that the social networking trend now? When I realized that they only way I was able to get inside the confines of the fence was...I was invited to move across. Brad Ziegler was gracious enough to spend the time to 'move across' into the area of distraction, even when he's scheduled to pitch. It was the scene of two lives coming in contact and with the invitation, I was more than glad to enter his realm. On his part, he made himself vulnerable to open up the gate and let me on the field to the scruitny of security and the knowlege he had another important task at hand.

I translated the events of the night, made the application and was anxious to pen the experience for my good and hopefully yours. There are many who would like to move across into our realm, but we see the task at hand with no room for any additional distractions on our field of play. Believe it or not, today you'll see someone who wants your autograph. Sign God's name and not yours.

Transmission?

I remember being baffled in school the first time I heard the word "transmission" defined as "move across". I thought "wrong!, it's underneath the car!". The literal meaning of the word has caused me often to ponder the definition. It has never entered my mind more, now that I have become involved in church planting. The popular talk show host, Michael Savage, often repeats his mantra of 'Language, Culture, and Borders'. I agree with Michael in his terms of protection and preservation. As I work with Latino church planters I have learned a valuable lesson. To accomplish the goal of preserving the trio of afore mentioned icons, one must "move across" to preserve them. It calls for a destruction of the barriers of comfort on the part of both parties. To understand another language, or culture, I must leave mine and go to theirs. I find when I show the willingness to brave a new frontier of moving across even an unmarked border and stand face to face with a possible new friend they are appreciative of my move. I have made myself vulnerable to their critique of my language and culture (people) skills. However, I have made the move across the border of comfort. I want to define this as my "Manual Transmission" I can hear you now, "No!, it's under the car!". Bear with me as I begin this blog with the title "Manual Transmission". Together we can "move across", and believe me, at first it will definitely not be an automatic.