Day 100: April 16, 2006 5:48 p.m. Church Office

Total miles walked: 1,000

Like a surly grizzly bear awakened from his winter hibernation, I was roused from my lengthy Easter Sunday nap by the ringing of the phone. Gratefully, it was a wrong number. I just wanted to post one last entry to wrap up all the things that we have spoken of for 100 days.

I walked my 1,000th mile yesterday. There was very little pomp and circumstance. I am immensely grateful for the six friends who walked that last mile with me. The last mile was a couple of laps around the Path. We stopped at every scene and gave thanks for every actor/actress and every person who walked The Path. The second Lap was done in silence. It was my way of saying Thanks to God.

My walking buddy made over 500 miles with me. He was there Saturday. God made every mile. He is always there, whether I choose to listen or not is another issue.

The numbers from Path to the Cross are immensely gratifying. There were 150 actors/actresses and 150 other volunteers last week. If you count those who helped with workdays etc. the number grows even more. Over 2,700 people made the walk over three days. I am grateful for every lap around the Path.

Over 2,400 people attended five services here Sunday morning. That exceeds our previous high by more than 350 people. More than that, we were able to worship the God of the universe.

This has been a most rewarding experience. There are some things I know and some I don’t. Will we do Path to the Cross again next year? I think so. Will I walk 1,000 miles again? I think not. Where is the creativity in that? I think I will do something even more creative and demanding next year. I will need the greater focus because people will come in greater numbers and we must be prepared. Will I ever blog again? I know so. The blog will reappear in a few days in a new spot, with a new name, and a new look, but with the same kind of stuff. I will let you know when.
For those who read my blogs, who prayed for me, who walked with me, who served with me, who believed in this vision….I say Thanks!!! It is the most fun I have ever had at church. – Ed

Day 98: April 14, 2006 8:59 a.m. Church Office

Total miles walked so far: 990

I could not wait to get to my computer and give you another update. Last night was better than the first night. We had 817 people come through on Thursday night. That was a great improvement over the 637 from the night before. The greatest change occurred last night about 7:00 p.m. Before that point, the number of guests to church members was about 3 to 1 members to visitors. After 7:00 p.m. that number shifted to 3 to 1 visitors to members. I was at the front of the line and got a chance to personally greet every group. In the last few groups I asked every visitor how they heard about Path to the Cross. The responses were gratifying.

Some people came because of postcards. Other people came because of newspaper articles. Several people received e-vites from church members. Most people came because of face to face personal invitations. Many actually came with members. Even with all the technology available to us and all of the media outlets at our disposal, nothing beats a personal invitation. Thank you for all that you did to invite your friends and neighbors.

Let me give you a real quick update on the 1,000 mile walk. I am only ten miles away. I am going to walk for a little over an hour at mid day which will get me up to 995. Tomorrow morning I am going to walk with my regular Saturday morning crew. Mark told me today that he would kill me if I walked my 1,000th mile without him. If you want to walk with me on my 1,000 mile I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN ME!! I will meet you at the Path at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. We will stop at every scene and give thanks to God for every actor/actress and every volunteer. We will stop at the tomb and pray for the Sunrise Service. The 1,000 mile walk will end at the foot of the cross on 290. We will pray for our Easter Sunday services and our follow up visits for all of the people who came to The Path.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I could have never made it without you.

p.s. If any one has time available, let’s say 9:00 p.m. tonight. I understand there will be a huge clean up party at the church. You wouldn’t want to miss that would you?

Day 97: April 13, 2006 7:53 a.m. Church Office

Total miles walked so far: 981

What a great day yesterday was! Click here to see pictures of The Path to the Cross on our new church website. What a great morning this has been already!! I just read through every comment card. I am so encouraged by all that was shared. There are people who have requested visits and more information. Deacons and staff are making visits next Tuesday. Getting back with people quickly is so important. I can’t wait to see who comes tonight. So many people said they were going back home to invite their neighbors and friends to come. 5:10 p.m. [starting time for the first worship experience] cannot come quickly enough for me.

Well, for those of you who are bottom line kinds of people, are you ready for the bottom line? We had 637 guests who comprised 24 groups that went through the total experience in 4 hours and 10 minutes. We had 150 actors in costumes. We had hosts and hostesses and helpers. We had prayer warriors, and encouragers, and logistical people, and worship leaders, and interactive/background leaders, and greeters and ushers, and security and police, and hospitality people, and sound people, and robe and make up people, and clean up crews, and set up crews, and golf cart drivers and wheelchair pushers so those who could not comfortably walk could go, and parking assistants, and snack and food preparers, and child care workers, and children’s workers, and people who put up lights, and people who helped with anything else that needed to be done.

I don’t know what was more gratifying; seeing the faces of the guests as they walked The Path and saw the story unfold before their eyes or watching the actors and actresses and volunteers as they poured their soul into everything they did. This church has endeared itself to me and my family in so many ways in recent days. Your outpouring of love to my wife in recent days has been beyond gratifying. The love that you poured out to this community last night was overwhelming. Your commitment to hard work and excellence and compassionately communicating the story of Christ is compelling. Thank you.

I thought that last night would be a little like an opening night. I was worried that there would be major issues that needed to be resolved. After sleeping on it last night, there are only two little issues to be fixed. The irony is this: there was nothing wrong in what we did, the crowds just overwhelmed us a time or two in a spot or two.

Why make any adjustments at all? Because people will come tonight. I truly believe that word of mouth will spread and more will come tonight than we had come last night. We must be ready.

My prayer for you ALL is this: I pray that God will renew your strength; that you will run and not be weary, that you will walk and not faint. I pray that God will refurnish you with hidden reservoirs of energy and strength and that you will be refreshed. I watched actors weep for 4 hours. I watched Jesus die on a cross 24 times. I watched children dance and sing past their bed times. I went home worried about you. I prayed for you. God reassured me that He would be your energy; that He would be your strength; that He would be your vision.

That is my prayer for you all! God bless you. I love you all. I truly do. You have captured my heart.

Day 96: April 12, 2006 7:29 a.m. Church Office

Total miles walked so far: 968

Over 14 weeks ago, 100 days ago to be exact, I was sitting in my home, trying to figure out my spring preaching schedule. Actually, it was Monday, January 2nd. Marion handed me a book entitled A LONG OBEDIENCE IN THE SAME DIRECTION by Eugene Peterson. I had no idea how it would change my life. Within days ideas began to come into focus. The staff here had a lot to do with that creative process. A 1,000 mile walk during Lent [46 days] became a more reasonable 1,000 mile walk for 100 days. The ideas of Daily Devotionals and Blogs began to flesh everything out. The Path to the Cross became the glue that held everything together.

Is it too early to declare this process a success? The weather men on 4 local stations and three national stations say there is no rain in sight, but you know what they say about Texas weather: ‘If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour. It will change.’ I have walked 968 miles and plan on walking more in a few minutes. It would take a huge surprise or tragedy to keep from the goal at this point. The Path to the Cross is less than 10 hours away and I only have six items on my To Do List. I hope to have them done by noon.

Is it too early to declare all of this a success or not? The answer is easy: Yes and No.

The walk has changed me. I was tired and discouraged on New Year’s Day/ I had lost some of my creative energy and I was nearing burn out. I have never felt more energized or excited or creative as I do now. You have made those comments to me. You have spoken of sermons with more focus and the fact that I carry myself better. The destination is not the joy of the walk, it is the journey. Will I continue the walk? I will walk at least 5 miles a day. I fully intend on keeping my morning walk up. Next fall I will begin walking with members again in an intentional way. There were some this time where we just were not able to work schedules out. I look forward to that again, after a little break.

The daily devotions have changed us all. Many of you have spoken of the joy of renewing your quiet time. Some of you have even told me of marital or family renewal that has occurred because of your devotions. It has become a wonderful time to get to know our staff better. We will not continue them for now, but we will renew them at Advent before Christmas and Easter next year. By the way, I need feedback on the Blogs. Should I continue after this or not?

The Path has been a joy. It has been fun to watch our property become as beautiful as a park and not just ‘woods’. It has rekindled our vision of what will be. I can not count the number of times I have been asked, while working on The Path: ‘Where will the new worship center be?’ This effort has united us. New relationships have been formed. Sunday school classes have taken on huge responsibilities and bonded with other classes. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the spirit at this church is as good or better than it has ever been. We are one.

In some ways, all of his could end right now and I would be happy at all that has been accomplished. But that is not going to happen. This is not a success yet. The people have not come to hear the good news yet. God has done all of this to help us become clean vessels. We will tell the gospel story tonight. God has been preparing our hearts so He can speak to others hearts. The people will come tonight. They will come by ones and twos. They will come as couples and families and they will come alone. They will come by the dozens and they will come by the scores. They will come and we will be ready. We will ‘Lift Jesus Up’ tonight and lives will be changed.

A middle school boy came up to me and wished me ‘good luck’ on the Path. He said: ‘My dad says, if one person is saved, it will all be worth it.’

He was right.

Here is a note from one of our church members who gave us permission to use it in a blog:

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say “Thanks”. Please pass this same thanks to all of the JVBC staff. Our family is very excited about tomorrow night, and what God is going to do in peoples’ lives. However, on a somewhat selfish note, I am also excited about what HE is going to do in my own family’s lives. Theresa, my kids and I have gotten down on our knees before bedtime every night for several months now, praying about The Path, and asking God to please help us do our scene well, to not mess up, to sing on pitch (which is impossible for me!), and to use us to do His work so those that don’t know Him may come to understand His love, and to accept Jesus as their Savior.

Jack and Shelbi are so excited! Jack really believes that he has a very important part in The Path tomorrow night, holding that goat. And Shelbi, she believes her role as a dancer is a divine directive from God Himself! They are so funny, yet so innocent and willing to listen to what God is saying. Thus the reason for my excitement – to see God work in my own family is truly a blessing and something I am very thankful to you and the staff for giving us this opportunity. My children will never forget this experience, the time spent with Mom and Dad, along with the rest of our church, performing scenes from Jesus’ life. Wow, how neat is that? And the influence you and the other adults in our church have on my kids is so important, as they see the commitment to serving God and to winning souls through Jesus Christ.

While you never get enough thanks, and knowing you don’t do what you do for praise, I just wanted to say Thank You! Thank You to JVBC for allowing me and my family to be a part of such a special event; an event that is going to change lives!

We are truly in the people saving business, and tomorrow night, through GRACE (God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense), people are going to be saved!

Thanks again, and we love you.

Alan

Day 94: April 10, 2006 8:31 a.m. Church Office

Total miles walked so far: 947

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday. We had a dress rehearsal on the Path to the Cross. It is one thing to rehearse, it is another to put on costumes and have people walk though The Path. Last night members from 1st Met came through. Our members really understood that this needed to be a time of worship, and not just a rehearsal. I led of small group of people. After the garden of Gethsemane scene, one of the women in our group began to weep…openly.

I realized that I had been too close to the project to understand the power of what The Path could become. The power comes from the script. Someone asked me if I wrote the script. Actually, God wrote the script. Every word that actors say on The Path is a direct scriptural quote. There is power in words. There is amazing power in the word of God. There is salvation power in The Word of God.

In the beginning was The Word. The reference is not to scripture, but to Jesus Christ. He who knew me before I was conceived… He who wonderfully knit me together in my mother’s womb….He who loved me before I knew what love was….He who sought me out and found me before I even realized I needed Him…He is Jesus. This is the One we worship. This is the One we serve.

My request is simple. I would like for our church to have a single mind and single purpose in our prayers this week. I remember the text in John 12:32. Jesus says: And I, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me. My prayer is this: That we lift Jesus up. If we do this, He will draw people unto Himself.

Marion asked me last night how rehearsal went. I simply said; ‘People wept. Marion, they wept openly and publicly. They wept.’ If I were to ask them why they wept, they might say: ‘When you see what Jesus did for you, how can you not weep’?

Please pray that we lift Jesus up this week.

Day 91: April 7, 2006

Professor Dora Nof has hypothesized that Jesus did not walk on water, he walked on ice on the Sea of Galilee. More specifically, the hypothesis is that Jesus walked on the ice that formed on the salt springs at the perimeter of the Sea of Galilee. As I watched this news special I struggled at what I saw. I was bothered by the hypothesis, but I was more troubled at the hate mail that cam from Christians.

This is not Nof’s first foray into religious controversy. Ten years ago he surmised the parting of the Red Sea came from strong winds and not from the rod that Moses held in his hand. I had a philosophy professor in Seminary who held a similar view. His theory of miracles was this: miracles were God initiated, but could not violate natural law. He surmised further, that every miracle has a natural explanation. One illustration of that theory is; the water turning to blood was actually a dramatic increase in red algae which gave the appearance and smell of blood.

I have two problems with these explanations. The first is this: the scriptures give details which seek to preemptively eliminate such theories. In the parting of the Red Sea it is made clear that the Israelites crossed over on dry ground. If strong winds, a hurricane, an earthquake, or even a tsunami had caused the sea to split, none of these could have caused the ground to be dry. Under those conditions, the Israelites would have bogged down. The second issue I have is this: Who said God cannot violate a natural law? Why must every miracle have a ‘natural explanation’?

My definition of a miracle is simple. A miracle is God’s eternal divinity choosing to alter an event in our temporal natural decaying chaotic world. It is the divine interrupting the temporal. It is at God’s initiative and requires no natural explanation.

Which leads us to Easter: What do you do with a bodily resurrection? Can that be easily explained? Is that the ‘expansion of natural law’? What about the second coming? I know some scientists might state that Jesus was just in a coma. Maybe that is why the gospels put the part in about the sword in the side. But even of you can explain away the first resurrection, what then do you do with the second? Our hope is in a bodily resurrection. How do you explain that miracle?

The question is so simple. Do we serve the Lord God who spoke all that we know into existence or not? If God spoke and light appeared, then making an axe head float is a third grade science project. Either God is who He says He is or He is not. If He is who He says He is, then walking on water was a walk in the park.

Why did professor Nof release this news right before Easter? He understands that timing is everything in getting media coverage and nothing sells like controversy. He also released it right before Easter, because of the nature of what Easter is. Easter is about the ultimate miracle, the bodily resurrection of a dead man. If that miracle never occurred then you and I have no hope.

Either God is who He says He is or He is not. Professor Nof has cast his lot. We must cast ours as well. I have bet my life on the man who walks on water.

Day 90: April 6, 2006

They call it ‘comfort food’. People bring food after funerals. It is one of our better traditions as Christians. It is has been said about Baptists: ‘Where two or three or more are gathered in God’s name, there is going to be a meal pretty soon’. Another mantra is this: ‘We won’t meet, if we can’t eat’. I never knew it could or should be any other way.
Last night our staff brought a wonderful meal. Today some dear friends will do the same.
Patsy McCain mentioned a chocolate pie. Do not expect me to share.

They call it ‘food for the soul’. Every day this week, the mail box has been full of sympathy cards. They are just as sweet as the pie. They nourish the soul. It is so good to know people care. I also know that for every visible symbol of love, there are a dozen more prayers offered on our behalf.

When I was in Groom I went to visit an elderly man. He was a member of no church and his children worried about his soul. I heard that he loved chicken and dumplings. I made home made dumplings and took them by his home. He asked me who made them. I responded that I had cooked them myself. He said back: ‘Put them on the counter, some one will eat ‘em’. Imagine my embarrassment. His daughter called later to tell me good news and bad news. The good news was that her father received baptism from the Methodist minister in town. The bad news is, he had passed away. She then asked if it was a sin to break the confidence that her father had sworn her to. I told her I could not answer that question, but for now it would be best to keep it a secret.

When I left Groom, the daughter came and hugged me and thanked me for my visits. I told her that it was my privilege to pray for her daddy. She then told me the secret. HE HAD EATEN MY DUMPLINGS; AND LOVED THEM. He just wanted to make sure that I never knew that I liked the dumplings.
I would like to think my dumplings made a difference. I know that Patsy’s chocolate pie has curative power. Visible and edible symbols of love always have the power to heal.