Tag: life

“Did you hear about Michael Jackson?”  she said as she opened the door for me.

Nobody asked about Ed McMahon.  Nobody will remember where they were when they heard about Farrah Fawcett.

But the king of pop died.  And that meant a perfect stranger on the street in San Francisco felt compelled to ask if I’d heard.

Who is going to ask about you when you die?  Will perfect strangers share their favorite memories of you?

Say what you want to about Michael.  But when I traveled to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, the village children who knew three words of English also knew to yell out “Michael Jackson” as I walked along the road.  He impacted every corner of the globe.

So yes, there has been media hype over his death.  But it’s only overly hyped when the media is talking about something that everyone else isn’t.  And in this case, we are all talking about it, too.

Don’t drive past the significance.  The world is reeling from a loss.  We’ve lost something of value.  The church, however, should be careful not to chastise folks for worshipping Michael Jackson.  Instead, we should show them a Jesus who is more worthy of worship.

See, in a year there will be a few people who celebrate the anniversary of Michael’s death.  In 5 years he’ll get a made-for-TV documentary, or a mention on late-night television.  In 30 years he’ll be something that everyone’s parents talk about.  But every single Sunday between now and then, over a billion people will gather in homes, dorm rooms, condos, elementary school gyms, bars, and auditoriums around the world to remember the death and ressurection of Jesus.

Michael is a big deal, sure.  But Jesus ought to be a bigger one.  Just not one that TMZ is going to break the story on.

And you just might hear talk of it from a perfect stranger on the street.  But that’s pretty normal.

Rob Upton’s bench has become a crossroad in my life.

I never met Rob Upton.  He was 10 years older than me, and died when I was 12.  We lived in different states thousands of miles from each other, went to different schools, and until about 5 minutes ago when I googled his name followed by the year he died, I didn’t even know how he died.  It’s unlikely that we would have any connection whatsoever.

But every other year (give or take), I meet God on Rob Upton’s bench.

I was too busy to notice his name emblazoned on the plaque at my feet when I first sat down 6 years ago.  I was wrestling with God.  With tears streaming down my face I told God I’d break up with the girl I thought I was supposed to marry, if only he’d lead me.  I’d do whatever God wanted me to do.

Two years later, I was a single man who had just been shot down by yet another girl when I walked out across the lawn to meet with God on Rob’s bench.  I again cried out to the Lord, asking only that he would lead me.  I’d do whatever He wanted me to do.  In the cool night air, I begged God for a wife.

Four years later, (25 minutes ago) I put my minivan in park, and walked out across the same dew-covered lawn.  I celebrated (again with tears) that God had, just days after I prayed four years ago, introduced me to Jacqueline Brooks, and began writing the love story of our life together.

Rob Upton, a sophomore thrower on the Colorado State University’s track team, died in a climbing accident in 1992, and the university paid tribute to him by putting up a stone bench in a wooded area of campus.

Our staff conference is here every other year, and each time I am amazed to sit down on Rob’s bench and reflect on how the Lord has changed things since I last visited.  Here’s to a God who is so interested in planning out all of our crossroads!