Quick update…go here first http://giftsofwater.com/10/get-involved/virtual-10-card/ to sign a card and then you can text your donation. (I got this link from them today after the post) Thanks!

Hey friends. Today I’m going a little off topic to promote something that is close to my heart. I know I’ve talked before about all the suffering we see and how overwhelming it can be. It seems that so little can be done to put a dent to the suffering in the world. Last week I was contacted by an organization doing just that, Water Missions. They provide water systems that stay in the villages after they’re gone and connect the systems with missionaries already spreading the love of Jesus and gives them a practical and life changing way to show that love to their community. Check out this video. It will give you a clearer picture of what they do:

Gifts of Water from Water Missions on Vimeo.

Here’s what they’re doing that I think is so cool.

Beginning October 10th, Water Missions International is launching an initiative to bring the safe water crisis that plagues some 1 billion people everyday into our daily lives as well. The Gifts of Water initiative will be a series of campaigns and challenges geared to help people give small but life changing gifts to people they have never met, but will soon learn to know and love.

It is called the TEN challenge, and it starts with a simple question: “If you knew that, for $10, you could give the gift of safe water to someone in need, would you do it?” Of course you would. It’s so little. “Good! Take out your cell phone and Text the message WMI to 85944. and you can give $10 to give the gift of safe water to another person!” But the challenge just doesn’t stop there; the TEN challenge is not just for YOU to give $10, it is for you to get 10 friends to give $10 as well—10 friends giving $10 to give 10 people the gift of safe water.

We don’t want people just to give, we want people to build relationships. Each group of 10 people are given a greeting card (printed or virtual) to write notes of encouragement on and sign. Then the cards are sent, with the water system, to the community where the water systems is going live, to show them how many people care about them. When people sign the cards they can also give their email addresses, so that we can share a video with them as each community receives the gift of safe water.

So here’s what I’d love to see happen…Let’s give a village clean water. That’s 2500 people giving $10. That’s a crazy, big goal, but I’m feeling all crazy big today. I’ve already given my $10. Help me get the word out? Tweet it, facebook it, text it, shout it from the rooftops. Let’s use this community we have to help give clean water to a village. Make sure to leave them your email address  and tell them Adam Herod sent you so we can keep track of how many folks have given. Giving them your email address will help them let us know when our village (and other villages) receive clean water. Shoot me an email or leave a comment letting me know you’re “in”. We can do this together…spread the word.

I love (read: hate) these “let’s see how many Christians there are…Click like if you’re not ashamed” or “let’s see how many of you aren’t ashamed of Christ and forward this email message”. Yeah…I’m sure the white throne of judgment will include a section on how many Jesus based Facebook groups did you join or how many emails did you forward in my name. Ugh. I love Jesus it’s just that I’d rather live it out than spell it out on Facebook or an unwelcome email to a non-believing friend. It’s not that I mind your stories/groups/picture groupings or emails. It’s just that coercive bit at the end basically saying that someone must not really be that into Jesus if they don’t do what you say is the kind of super religious hyperbole that’s caused a TON of  problems in the past.

Disclaimer: I’m sure the people who create those emails/groups and those that forward/join genuinely love Jesus.

Today I got a text from a friend who’s Dad just lost his battle with brain cancer. As I was telling my wife about it my 9 year old, Judah, overheard the conversation. We stepped outside a few minutes later to toss the football around and he asked me about it. As I explained to him that being a good friend meant that we sympathize with how the other person must be feeling and pray for them from that place he got a little choked up. He said “I don’t know what we’d do without you Dad”. I told him we hopefully won’t have to worry about that for a long time. Then he smiled and said…

“Dad…if you die will I get the XBOX 360?” Me…”yes”. Judah….”so you’re saying there’s an upside?”

I don’t think I’ve laughed harder in a long time. How did this kid get my sense of humor?! What’s the craziest thing your kid has said this week?

My kids both prayed “salvation prayers” at early ages. They’ve both heard the Gospel, but it can be easy to forget the beauty of the story. This morning we were having our family devotion and my 9 year old son, Judah, said he wanted to ask the family something. Here was his question. “Are we doing enough to get into heaven? When Jesus comes to decide who gets in, will we have done enough?” It created the perfect opportunity for us to revisit the Gospel.

We turned over to Ephesians 2:8&9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”. We spent the next few minutes talking about the beauty of the Gospel story. That Jesus died for us; paid the price for us; so that through His sacrifice we could have eternal life. That our hope doesn’t rest in our ability to keep a prescribed set of rules. That obedience doesn’t come from a place of fear of retribution but out of a place of gratefulness for salvation.

Judah responded by saying (tearfully) “you mean God gave His only Son for us just to give us this gift of eternal life?!”. I haven’t heard John 3:16 said with any more heart and thankfulness than my 9 year old described it.

The Gospel is beautiful. Can I get an amen?

Saturday I got some news that rocked me. My friend, Arielle Parker, was killed in an auto accident. You can check out an article about her here. I connected to Arielle and her family about 4 years ago in a deep way through a week at camp with them. You know how you connect to certain people and know immediately that not only do they love Jesus, but you were meant to be friends? That was me and the Parkers. Just amazing people.

Needless to say, Saturday was a punch in the stomach. I can’t imagine how the family felt but I know my family wept along with them. Some young people exude a sense of love and joy that makes other people wonder what their secret was. Arielle was one of those kids. Everything I ever saw her do said “I care about you” and “I’m sincere about loving Jesus by loving you”. She was an amazing person whose future seemed infinitely brighter than I think she ever had a handle on. I’ve yet to hear a bad story about her and doubt I ever will.

As I hung out with the family on Sunday and cried, laughed and prayed together I was shown some of God’s grace through this. Her cousin told me about a video she had made for her brothers about her being “gone to school”. That video obviously has a different depth and meaning now. I also heard about her stepping up and out in front of a huge crowd to share the gift of her voice in worship in a way that probably surprised even her. I heard about “cousin day”, trips to a favorite restaurant, faithfulness to Jesus and a life well lived by all accounts.

Even in the midst of those graces the question of “why” lingers on. I doubt we’ll ever know and I doubt I’ll ever understand. But this I know…we do not live as those that have no hope. Paul said this to the church at Thessalonica “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) It’s moments like these when that hope has to fill our hearts and the comfort of the Holy Spirit comes alive in us. As I cried with her mother she asked me to sing “I want to sit at Your feet…drink from the cup in Your hand…Lay back against you and breathe…feel Your heart beat”. They were lyrics from one of Arielle’s favorite songs to sing “The More I Seek You” by Kari Jobe. Then Djuana said the words that still echo in my heart. She said, “I guess that’s what she’s doing right now”.

May the God of all peace sustain our hearts, enlarge our hope and further focus our passion and intentions on Him alone.