Thursday, June 23, 2011

Open Doors



Maybe you have read Blue Like Jazz.  If you haven’t, make a point of doing so.  Soon.  Donald Miller’s honest approach to faith is so thoughtful and refreshing that his insight and voice will stick with you long after you finish.  

This weekend in Lexington, I was blessed with the opportunity to hear Mr. Miller speak in person.  Unlike many authors whom I have met after reading their work, he was just as interesting in real life as he was on the written page.  Afterwards, I excitedly purchased a copy of the book he is currently promoting, Father Fiction.

It seemed providential that we had chosen to make a fund-raising/reunion visit to Lexington on Father’s Day weekend, and as Mr. Miller graciously signed my book, “To Axel, A Father to the Fatherless,” I felt a boost of inspiration to keep pushing forward in our campaign.

Equally providential on this trip, have been the opportunities for me share Whetstone’s universal message of rescuing lost boys.  On the Sunday after hearing Donald Miller, my friend Barrett Coffman lost his voice right before preaching, and I was able to assist by sharing many of Miller’s observations from the night before, as well as my own thoughts about the crisis of fatherlessness in our country today.  I guess it was what you might call a “God thing.”  

Last night, I had the honor of sharing Whetstone with a bible class in Jackson, TN, which had not found a speaker.  We “just happened” to be visiting my mother-in-law, and I jumped at the chance.  The more we can share the need, the greater the possibility we can do something about it.  

Our message is simple.  Boys must learn to become men.  They do not become men in the same way that acorns become oaks.  It doesn’t just happen.  This is the message of Donald Miller’s “Mentoring Project,” which you can visit on line at http://thementoringproject.org.  This is the message of so much current research.  This is what many of you have given so generously to support.  

Pray that God continues to open the doors that will allow Whetstone to open its doors, on October 1st.

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