"One who comes along side to help."

Meet Richard Price….Standing at a humble 5ft 8 inches, barely able to walk and without feeling in most of his left side, is 100 times the man that I could ever hope to be.

Mr. Price has been happily married for 63 years to a beautiful woman named Pamela. These were clients of mine, but they’re now my friends and inspiration for writing.

Mr. Price was a sophomore in college attending UCM in Warrensburg MO, when he met Pamela on a blind date. He immediately fell in love with her. Every week he would hitch hike from Warrensburg to Independence. HITCH HIKE… about 50 miles just to see her for a couple hours. One time his ride dropped him off at the wrong side of town so he walked for an hour just to say hi to her even though he had to go back to school a couple hours later. 

When I look at this man I see one thing.. I see Hope.  Hope for myself. You see I have this problem.  I can’t seem to find enough courage to be vulnerable enough with a girl to tell her that I love her, let alone walk 50 miles just to see her smile. As discouraged as I feel right now, I have that one thing to cling to. It is what is pushing me forward at the moment. The fact that I realize that I need to change. The fact that I look at this 87 year old man and can say I want to be a fraction of the man that he is. I know that somehow I’ll get there. That someday I’ll find the courage to look past my selfish ambitions and insecurities to love like this. Shaking off the coward that clings to my heart as I find a way to love recklessly and without restraint.  So here’s a thumbs up to those who pass by as I make my way to her down this road of serendipity.  And a kiss to the wind for the girl who’s waiting. Please be patient. 50 miles is a long way to walk.

Mr. Price hitchhiked to his love for 6 months until she finally agreed to marry him. That was 63 years ago as of Dec 19^th 2010.  When his wife stated that they got married after only knowing each other 6 months, he told me that the six months represented one thing.  A waste of time. He would have married her the first night. 

Chapter 3

Ninja Jesus


That was it.

No more I said.

Not on my watch.

Looking in the mirror as I secured my Tae-kwon-do head band. Making meticulous adjustments in order to keep it from stifling my vision, while making sure that my hair was properly placed, as to not hide its glory. I wanted my foes to be able to recognize the symbol on the front of the head band. I wanted to them to remember this defeat.

I was almost 9 years old at this time. And I was Daniel Larousso, the Karate Kid.

My enemies were larger than I. Then again everyone was.

Weighing in at less than 100 lbs going in to high school, my appearance didn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of my adversaries. So as you can imagine, my countenance at age 9 didn’t add much to the element of surprise in my assault offensive.

The battle would be against “The Bullies.“

Yes those guys. The same ones that haunted your adolescence. On your playground, in your back yard, and always in front of the cutest girls in class. They are ageless eternal and faceless creatures. If I were to show you a snapshot of one of these Bullies, you would surely be horrified to discover that they were same omnipresent beings that tortured you as a child. Able to be in my backyard, shoving my face into a snake infested sandbox; while visiting your senior high prom dance. All in the same day.

This would be the end of it. “Stickin’ it to the man,” I thought as I approached The Bullies Hideout. My yellow belt snagged the fence as I jumped it, making a loud ripping noise. Not a good start to a pre-victory march. Thank God I was wearing whitey tidies.

To my surprise there were only 3 of them there.

Perfect I thought.

3 Bullies versus my four appendages.

I have the advantage. I have the upper-hand.

“Breathe Steady. Don‘t forget to breathe.”
I recited my Dojo’s words as I approached the bewildered thugs.

“Why are you dressed up like a white ninja?“ one of them mocked.

“Halloween isn’t for a few more months.“

Fear gripped me as I had flash backs of our previous encounters. It was in this very back yard that I received several of my worst beatings. I remembered when two of them would hold me while a few others took shots at my stomach. One time I was crying so loud that my mom heard me from 3 blocks away and came running to my rescue. Not exactly how you wanna see a fight end.

With your mother carrying you off crying.

That was more emotionally damaging then the actually beating itself I think.

But this time my mom wasn’t home.



No one was there to stop them.

Or should I say to stop me?

I was a new man.

3 weeks of Tae-Kwon-Do training at the YMCA?……Check

Pre-match Tailgating Session consisting of 2 bowls Count Chocula Cereal; while viewing all 3 Ninja Turtle movies, back to back?…….. Check

I could feel the tide changing as I approached the enemy’s lair.

So there I stood. Just me, Master Miyagi (In spirit of course) and 3 of the world’s most fierce bullies.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins was enough to power at least 3 city blocks. Or at least enough energy and confidence to spout off a movie-worthy rebuttal..

“Did you come to get another lesson in being beat-down shrimp?” The big one shouted.

“Well, it looks like you’re the one who needs to be taught a lesson, pal.” I replied

(Thank you Casey Jones for this epic line of retort. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -Circa 1990)

With fists lowered to my side in my favorite karate stance.

Go Ninja…….Go Ninja….. Go.

I could hear the Vanilla Ice rendition of the Ninja Turtle Anthem echoing throughout the entire neighborhood.

One of them confidently drew near.

Find your chi, young sensei.

I girded all my strength as he came within striking range….and let go as I unleashed fury upon my target.

I could feel my body transform into what in my mind woud be an infinite repetition of quintessential round-house kicks, intertwined with obnoxiously loud variations of martial art-like grunts.

“HiiYah”

“Waaaahhhhhhhhhhh”

“Ha”

“Heeeeyahhh”

Here I was, in all my glory. A tornado of sneakers, fists and pre-pubescent shouts.

Dressed In an all-white, over-sized, ketchup stained YMCA karate uniform.

I could feel a breeze run up my leg from where the steel fence had ripped my pants.

I kept my eyes closed for several seconds, afraid to look.

Surely I was dead.

Finally I found enough courage to look up. And to my surprise, all I saw was their backs, as the bullies retreated home.

To their mommies I presume.

Move over Chuck Norris. There’s a new sheriff in town.

Walking back I felt… different.

I went into that backyard a boy and came out a man.

I could hear the animals scurry away in fear as I made my way home.

Even they were in awe of my new found powers.

Walking back that day, the fall leaves applauded my victory. But a deep chuckle in the distance overshadowed all sound around me.

And for the first time ever, I heard God laugh.

Jesus, let me give you some advice, You need it.

35
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38
“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
41
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.
42
They all ate and were satisfied,
43
and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.
44
The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Familiar place, familiar story.

First, I’d like to recognize some interesting plot points in this tale.

1) The disciples devised a plan, and TOLD Jesus what to do. As if Jesus wasn’t aware of their hunger. Jesus invented snack time folks,

2) Jesus told the disciples to provide for the people, even though most of them could have probably provided for themselves. Obviously some of them had food with them.

3) The disciples had enough money to buy all the food. (Verse 37)

4) Jesus’ miracles paint both broad and detailed strokes. They often have meaning beyond just one angle. (The first being to prove His authority through miracles) He wasn’t just teaching the crowds, He was teaching his students, His disciples.


I often think of advice for Jesus.

Jesus you should put me here in this ministry so I can help these people in this way with these gifts.

Jesus you should cause me to meet my wife (Who is both Godly and Gorgeous) on this day and at this time.

Jesus you should reveal yourself to these particular people in my family in this fashion, that they might come to know You as their Lord and Savior.

Jesus you should give me this brand new Camaro so that I can give hitch hikers rides and help elderly women with their groceries. As the new Turbo Charged version has extra trunk space.

(Okay. So maybe some suggestions for Jesus have more obvious ulterior motives.)

It’s true though right? It’s a constant battle. Leaning on our own wisdom and understanding.

1st Corinthian 3:19
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”

Here’s one more point I’d like to recognize in this story.

Do you think that Jesus knew how many loaves and fish that the disciples had?

I think so. After all, He’s King Baby Jesus. All caps.

Maybe He wanted them to see really how small their offering was. So that He could show them His transforming power in their lives.

Lord but how can I help You? How can I make a difference in this poor corrupt world around me?

All I have is a broken past, full of felonies and DUI’S.

Lord, all I have is a 1982 Pinto, a quarter tank of gas and an overdrawn 2nd Chance Checking Account.

Jesus, I just checked. Here’s my list of credentials. 9 months retail experience, a blind man’s fashion sense, a thick lisp and a GED.

And Jesus’ response is this.

“That’ll do young student. Give it to Me, I’ll have my Father Bless it. Now here my loved one, go feed the world.”

Wake up Jesus

No really. Jesus wake up.

37And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

38Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

39And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

40And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”


Because sometimes you just need to wake Jesus up.

Interestingly enough, Jesus didn’t rebuke the fact that the disciples woke Him. He rebuked their fear.

This was one intense storm. I mean come on, it says water was filling the boat. Besides that, these men where experts at sea. Many of them were veteran fishermen. Let me repeat that. Fisher “MEN”. They had probably at least 100 years combined experience at sea. Guaranteed Peter nicknamed this storm in his Journal, “Hurricane HelpMeJesus.” As they would say in Texas “This storms a meaner than a sack full o’ rattle snakes.” If Bush were in office at this time, I’m sure headlines would read this. “Now I know this storm is big n’ strong, but listen now Amurica, that’s what terrorists want you to believe.”

So obviously Jesus needed to be woken up. If the storm would have subsided itself, Jesus wouldn’t of had to rebuke it.

He rebuked their worry. Their doubt. Their unbelief that God wasn’t still in control.

God knows I’m in the storm of my life right now. I’m walking with Jesus closer than I ever have. But it seems as though He’s asleep and water is starting to get in my boat. I’m standing here on this boat of life, traveling with the Love of my life Jesus Christ and He wants to go through this storm with me. I don’t like these kind of storms. Their uncomfortable and they tend to get my things wet. This sounds kind of cliche, I get it. A storm of life. Jesus is suppose to calm it. Yea, yea. No but really. I break down on average 2-3 times a day for the past 5-6 months straight. Just crying cause this place in my life spiritually is so uncomfortable. Everything I thought was valuable to me is getting ruined and soaked in water all around me. And Jesus seems to be asleep, mumbling something to the likes of this, “Just 5 more minutes Tyler, leave it alone, it doesn’t matter. All those things. Your job, your looks, your success in life. None of it matters. All that matters is where I’m taking you. Across this body of water to the other side.”

I find myself yelling at Jesus lately.

“JESUS, WAKE UP. WAKE UP!!”

Sometimes we do need to put down our own maps as we try to navigate the more nautical parts of life. Yea I know Captain Jack Sparrow. You’ve charted these seas vigorously. But life is liquid. It takes on new shapes everyday.

When the wicked storms come a knockin,

there are times that we just need to wake Jesus up.

And other times we just need to go curl up next to him on the dry part of the boat, and fall into a deep peaceful sleep.


Maybe Jesus wants a little water in the boat.

The Purpose of The Lie

Lie ::: A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive. [1913 Webster]

Deception ::: The act of deceiving or misleading. [1913 Webster]

Genesis 3:1-5

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Here we see the lie. The enemy convinced Eve that God was keeping something from her. The Enemy knew this not to be true. So why did he try to deceive her? What was his intentions? What was he hoping to accomplish? Why did he go after the woman instead of the man?

He wanted her to eat of the tree because he knew it would ultimately separate her and Adam from God.  The serpant hated God and wanted to hurt Him by taking from Him His most prized possession.

I believe the serpant attacked the woman, not because of her inferiority, but because of her God-like influence on Adam. The serpent knew that if he deceived Eve, that man would follow because of his newly found attachment to woman. Instead of Adam stopping and “asking for directions,” he wanted to prove to his wife that he was capable of making decisions on his own without God’s help. If adam would have stopped and sought God out for wisdom involving this deception that had befallen his wife, things would have ended differently for man-kind.

The serpent knew that if He could convince Adam and Eve that they could make it on their own, that Adam would no longer be as vulnerable and open to God. That it would infact hinder the intimacy in their relationship…Our Pride causes us to hide from God.

This is the same deception Lucifer himself fell under in heaven.

Let’s look at how the enemy accomplished this..

Genesis 3:6-8

6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Something changed. as we look earlier in Genesis, before this tragedy we know that Adam and Eve were comfortable with their nakedness, or vulnerability.

Genesis 2:25

25The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Our lack of vunerability is what separates us from God today.

Look at how the God responds to this event that happens.

Genesis 3:9

 9But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

The Almighty, All-Knowing God asks a very simple question…

“Why are you hiding from Me”

This question has yet to be answered….. All we have are excuses and facades that guard our hearts form God.

These excuses are never ending.

Worldy Gain, lust, sex, drugs, alcohol, money, our perception of freedom, fear of being alone, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, our parents hate us, our parents will hate us, fear of the unknown, lack of understanding, seeing is believing, lack of vision, lack of trust, fear of forgiving others, fear that God won’t forgive us.

God will not force His way in. He has already come to us. He already knows everything we’ve ever done. 

Revelation 3:20

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.”

God cares far more about being with you, and having that intimacy, than He does about all the mistakes you have made.

Romans 8:35

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:38-39

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

My friends, the price has been paid for our sins. God is no longer mad at us. He just wants us to come home. Won’t you come out from hiding as God calls to you?

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”