Today we did the most labor intensive part of our trip.  We went back to the place where we had cut down tres the other day (Friday, I think), this time to cut down another tree, burn the brush we had cut down last time we were there, and dig some holes.

You wouldn’t think that would be a hard day’s work, even with the hot equator sun and uneven terrain covered with brush to hide the dips and swells of the fairly steep yard.  But then, you’ve never tried to dig a hole in Pearls, Grenada.

Here’s how it went down.  Charlie pointed to Greg where he wanted to start digging the first hole and then walked away to measure where the other holes would go.  Greg started in on the brush first, and I looked around for another shovel to go help him dig.  I picked up the shovel to my left and stabbed it into the ground as I leaned forward to get up from my seat (a chainsaw case).  But I heard the ‘all to familiar’ twang of shovel hitting rock as I fell back down to the case and, looking silly, grabbed the top of the shovel to retry my aim.  But when I looked down, I didn’t see any rock in front of me.  So, I stabbed the shovel down again, this time paying attention to how it landed, and again, it bounced off the ground just as if it had hit a rock.  So I took the shovel and pressed it into the so-called rock to see what it was and to my surprise…there was no rock.  It was just dirt.  Plain ol’ dirt/clay/unbreakable brown stuff.

It took 4 of us over 2 hours to dig 2 holes.  We had to take turns because we just got so worn out banging the shovel down as hard as we could over and over again (we did try other techniques too, but this seemed to work the best).  I’ve never experienced anything like it.  It was perplexing and amazing all at the same time.  It felt a lot like the many winters in CT I would spend chopping solid 3 inch ice off our driveway with an ice pick, except we had to dig 3 feet.

But in the end, we got 2 of the 4 holes dug pretty close to 3 feet, and we got the trees cut down and moved, tomorrow we might go back and burn the stuff we cut down today and dig the other 2 holes.

We made our way back to the house tonight and got ready for dinner.  Karie’s back is slowly getting better, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to blister (which is a good thing).   A guitarist from one of the local churches came over with his guitar and I gave him some basic guitar lessons, and just about the time we were wrapping up, Sue, Karie, and Greg decided they wanted to go to the beach.  It was a short walk to the ocean, where the moon was full and the water warm.  We floated and relaxed and talked about some of our goals for the island and our role in it, and we laughed about all the crazy stuff that Sue’s kids did when they were younger   Eventually, our fingers turned to prunes and we had to get back home to get ready for another early day, which brings me to now.  So, have a great evening; where ever you are

JF

We got up early to go to the church in Sauteurs and we set up for church.  Most of our group went to this church, but Pastor Neil was speaking at the Pearl’s church, so a few people went with him.  We got started around 9, and we played for about an hour and 15, then Pastor Todd preached for about 45 minutes.  At the end, the host pastor got up and spoke for a few minutes, and we were done by noon.  The other group was a bit later, rolling in around 1:30.  Pastor Neil is known to run a little long

I was on the cooking crew today, and for lunch we made burritos (come to think of it, we haven’t really had any ‘grenada’ dishes yet, but we will tomorrow I think…) with a fresh squeezed lime/gospoo drink.  It was great.  Oh, I forgot, yesterday we made a drink from these cool red flowers that look a little like a big strawberry.  It had this really interesting/good taste, sorta a combination of kool-aid, grape juice, and tomato soup.  Anyway, after lunch, Karie and I enjoyed my favorite part of the day.

We called my parents on skype, and we got to see Addison for the first time.  It was wonderful!  She played the piano and sang for us, and she spent some time making funny faces with Karie.  We even got to show her the beach, which was a miracle because the internet is usually so spotty around here, and we usually don’t get reception that far out.  She was happy to see us (skype is so much better than the phone), and she wasn’t that sad to see us go (ok, maybe a little, but I told her to ask Grandpa for a cookie, and she jumped right on that )

I heard rumors that the video went well at church this Sunday… I hope it helped remind people that part of their church was out here and that we were representing them and their city.  And I hope it might have encouraged a few people that they could make a trip just like this in the summer or next winter.

After lunch, we went down to bath for a little while to the beach, just to take pictures and check out this sweet reggae band that we could hear from the house.  Karie and I tried to stay in the shadows ‘cause we were really scared of getting too much sun again, but it was a good time.  Greg got a cool soda that was half mountain dew half lime, and we got some great pictures to take home for screen savers   And the reggae band was legit!  The Rasta guitar player had to have been over 50, with a sweet Marley hat and a rock-n-roll guitar that was perfectly out of tune.  And they just played on and on for hours.  It was a great vibe.

We got back, and left right away to go get ready for the conference tonight.  We got to do a real sound check tonight, and the sound was much better.  There were more people than last night, and the energy was much higher overall.  We had another guest soloist with us, I can’t remember his name off the top of my head, but he’s the press secretary (of Grenada), I think.  Overall, the night went awesome, and we all came home tired, but happy.  Right now, we’re all in the main room laughing and talking and snacking on leftovers (except for Kevin, who’s goin’ to bed early cause he’s flying out tomorrow).  Karie’s checking her FB, which I’m about to do now, so I gotta run!
JF

Well, we knew it was gonna happen, we just didn’t think it was gonna be us!  You would think that only being in the sun for 90 minutes AND having 30 SPF on would at least protect you a little bit…but no, it doesn’t, not when you’re at the equator

Karie’s burnt worse than I am, I feel really bad for her.  Mine isn’t so bad, it could be worse (I’ve had worse, anyway).  So if you could send a prayer over for Karie’s skin to heal quickly, that would be VERY appreciated.

As for the rest of the day, the ocean was amazing!  Truly a paradise, with the most beautiful blue water, where you could see your toes when you’re neck deep, and the waves wonderfully large.  It was Saturday, and we were the only people on the beach.  There were 2 things about this beach that were awesome:  there were no large broken shells when you get 10 feet in the water (like jersey beaches) and there’s no creepy, crawly things in the water to make you think you were about to get bitten

Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, you will have seen a video (if you go to St. Paul’s) of what our team’s been up to in the last week.  We worked on that video today, and when we were done, we went to the church to run the 1^st night of the 2 night worship conference (which is more like a gospel service than it is a conference).  Things went swimmingly, and we had a blast!  There was a guest band that did a few songs in the middle of the night (to give the choir a break).  They were pretty good, and I guess they’re pretty popular here.  I think someone is interested in bringing them stateside sometime this year.  But, and it’s a big but, they’re vocals were SO LOUD!  Now, we didn’t really have a sound person for this thing, we’re using a PA head on the stage, and Charlie doesn’t hear so well, and the equipment is as you would expect in a Pearls, Grenada school, but somehow they were able to get the vocals so loud that I thought my ears were gonna bleed!  Neal, who runs sound for bands and has his own concert rental thing for our area was guessing that they were running at 125 dB.  I would have guessed only about 5 dB lower.  It was intense, and when it ended, I was clapping with everyone else that my hearing wasn’t damaged   But they did a good job, their musicians were great, and backed the choir for the rest of the evening.

It seems like everyone is getting comfortable being down here with the Grenadians, especially the children.  When we go to the church, there’s at least 10 kids that are constantly chasing Greg around for him to wrestle and for Karie to tickle.  There’s lots of laughs and hi-fives and young adults wanting to teach us cool handshakes and joke with us about American Football.  And it’s cool, but many of them have limited internet access at school, and most of them have facebook, so it will be cool to keep in touch with a lot of these folks.

We have to get up early again tomorrow!   We’re doing a live radio broadcast with the concert in the morning, and then we’ll come home for a little while and then do it again at night!  So, good night to you and have a great day tomorrow!

JF

Ok, so today started a bit later then the last couple days  We met with another person from the Ministry of Agriculture (who was part of the livestock division, not 4-H) to talk about more official stuff (like shipping containers, working with the university, etc.), which followed by chapel with the students in Pearls.

I just need to say, it’s awesome leading worship with people around here.  I know we don’t have an awesome sound system on stage, but even so, I know it’s pretty loud.  The thing is, the people are louder!  I hardly have to sing, everyone else really sings their heart out   I don’t know how to explain it except that it’s awesome, and even people that might not be in to singing get drawn in, and before you know it, everyone is just singin’ like crazy!

After chapel, we had lunch with some of the kids.  We had a sweet soup with peas, a chicken wing, and long finger-like dumplings.  And some more goospo juice.  Then Kevin and Greg headed up the hill in the back of the school to start digging some holes.  The school’s 4-H club is getting ready to start raising some bunnies.  The holes Kevin and Greg dug were for the extension of the existing chicken coup, so the building will house both animal types.  Kevin got a bunch of blisters, and Greg swung the pick-ax like a champ.  I know… I have pictures.

We started working on a video after lunch that we’re hoping to show in church this coming week, and we found out that their computer room has air conditioning!  So we hung out in there and worked.  After school, there was a teacher-parent-student meeting in the same room where some of the kids seemed to be in a bit of trouble   The teachers said we could stay in the room and work, but after a while, we felt bad because these kids were getting the ‘talk’ about all the bad stuff they’ve been doing at school and how they have so much potential and they’re smart but they need to study, etc.  Sorta like the conversations I remember having with my teachers on a pretty regular basis (and they and I both ended up getting suspended in the end )

After a while, it was time for youth group.  Pastor James asked Karie if she’d like to teach, and of course Karie said yes.  She started off with a game (2 truths and a lie) that sorta tanked until the very end because the kids were super shy.  They would talk loudly and laugh in their seats, but when they got up front, it was like they weren’t used to speaking in front of people and they kinda froze.  It was funny to see the transformation from the seat to the stage.  I think that if Karie had played the game at the end of the night, the kids would have been more open.  By the time the night was over, kids were coming over and hugging Karie and giving her hi-fives.  It was cool.

Just about the time we were starting to get worn out, it was time for rehearsal   We went through the songs with the band (who showed up island time…) and finished at about 9:30.  A quick ride home and a chance to talk with the parents and Jazz (who was excited about getting her picture taken) and that brings me to now.

And now it’s time for bed!
JF

So, today, among other things, we cut down some trees  We got up in the morning and went to a clearing in the (jungle?) middle of Pearls to a small plot of land that our hosts were clearing.  Next week, another team is coming from the states to help take apart a sweet woman named Agnus’s house and move it to this clearing.  Yes, I said her house!  Around here, houses are movable (because there’s not much to them).  In fact, many people don’t own the land they’re living on, but they own the house.  In fact, sometimes in divorce hearings on the island, the judge will award one person the house, and the spouse the land the house is on.  Then the person awarded the house has to take it apart and move it somewhere else.  Lol, I know!  Weird!

Ok, after chopping some trees down, we came back to the campus for a music rehearsal and a chance to shower up before we headed out to a few meetings.  After the music rehearsal, we took all the supplies we had brought with us for 4-H down to the school in Pearls.  We spent some time with their 4-H director and school teacher, Mr. Samuel, explaining what we brought and how he could use it.  He and the people that were with him were very excited and very thankful.  So, to all of you who donated things that got brought down here, many thanks to you!

After giving out our 4-H supplies, we went back to the Ministry of Agriculture one last time to meet with some advisors of the 4-H program.  There, we spoke with about a dozen young adults who have been working to help younger children in 4-H and working to grow their own abilities both in farming, animal raising, and even wine making   After a long but productive conversation, we headed back to Pearls for another music rehearsal, this time with the choir.

We made it back late tonight, spent some time processing what we’ve experienced in the last 3 days as a team, and the spent some time catching up on e-mails and the Apple press conference.  iPad, huh?  I’m thinking no.  You?

Ok, it’s late (again) and I need to go to bed (again) so I can get up early in the morning (again)… need…to…break…the…cycle…

JF

Here’s what I did…We got up early, had pancakes, and went to meet someone from the office of the ministry of agriculture in Grenville.  From there, we went to a bunch of different sites to take a look at how different people are taking initiative in their areas of expertise.  The first spot we checked, we met a really nice woman who was close to 60 years old.  She took the team down a hill walled with exotic vegetation 10’ tall.  That went down to a small area where she kept some sweet pigs that were almost 3 feet high and looked more like they belonged in the jungle than in this nice ladies backyard.

I’m a little fuzzy on the details because as the team headed down the hill, it started to sprinkle, so I headed back to the car to put the camera away.  The rest of the team were pretty far down, so I made my way to a small building right next to the van.  It turns out it was a post office ‘post’, where mail carriers would meet each other and exchange mail.  If you saw it, you might not call it a building, but maybe a concrete hut.  Inside, there was a woman named Vira.  I went inside to talk to her, and she offered me a chair (a stool with no seat, but 3 pieces of 2×4 placed across it) and shared her testimony of how God had worked in her life from the discovery of a brain tumor discovered at a young age (when she started blacking out at random times) to her eventual operation in Cuba, and the way she was able to share her faith to everyone along the way.  It was a great story, and I’d be glad to share it with you sometime…  When the team got back, they brought some nutmeg and a cocoa bean pod that the lady had given them.  Very cool!

We went to a few more sites, including a farm just off the old Cuban runway on the north side of the island.  As we met with the owner (actually, he doesn’t own the land but the government allows him to farm on it), we saw lizards running back and forth from the house, and he was kind enough to give us some locally grown fruit pronounced gospoo (basically a sweet orange that has green skin instead of orange), carving it with a 14 inch knife   It was also cool to see an old Russian and older Cuban airplane that had been left to sit near the runway.  It was so cool/weird/interesting.

From there, we made our way to the school, where we just missed the process of moving chicken from pets to food, but we got a few pictures of the students stuffing the birds into bags to be sold.  We said goodbye to the ministry of agriculture folks, and headed back to the compound where we enjoyed a very late lunch and a quick nap.

After an awesome meal called Nigerian chicken (kinda a cross between Indian and Ethiopian), we headed out to bible study.  Kevin and I lead worship for about 25 minutes, followed by a good teaching by Neal Whitney.  The ride back was a van stuffed with 14 people (that’s crowded with 8)with several stops around the island to drop folks off before we made it back home where we had some fabulous drinks made from papaya and banana and welcomed Todd O’neil (who had to leave Cincinnati a few days later than us).

I’d love to write more, but it’s super late, and we’re getting up early (again)   I’m still looking for this ‘island schedule’ to show up!

JF

I won’t lie, I wasn’t ready for it.  I was pretty tired waking up this morning (6 am Eastern time), but after a good breakfast, I figured I’d be able to shake off what seemed to be a Dramahangover.  But after a trip to meet with (essentially) the department of agriculture in Grenada, a long walk around Grenada’s second largest city in 95 degree heat, and a visit to the local school to meet with the 4-H club, I was practically delusional.  My brain was awake, but my body just wanted to shut down.  I probably hadn’t had enough water and the yummy lunch that didn’t sit well in my tummy didn’t help.  But we arrived back to our home base to quickly eat before music rehearsal, and I needed a break!

Luckily, I wasn’t on dinner duty, so I was able to take a quick nap.  Let me tell you, that made a difference!  I woke up with a clear head, and my body felt so much better!  After a great dinner of salad and stew, we took a trip to a church to have a choir rehearsal.  Oh, and I got my first bug bite I remember turning to Sue and saying something to the effect of “if I had money, I would fly every one of these people back home to sing in our choir”.  And it’s not because they were good (although they were good), it’s because they sang out so loud and with so much passion, it was contagious!  They would stand up and clap as they got into it, and they didn’t seem worn out even after singing (the highest tenor parts I’ve ever heard) for almost 2 hours!

We ended with a really neat prayer time, one I’ve never experienced before.  We gathered together in a circle and shared prayer requests with one another.  Then the leader offered us the chance to pray for all the requests (and any new ones) aloud at the same time.  It was kinda like hearing a group of people all speaking in tongues (if you’ve ever experienced that) except that if you listened, you could understand what each of the people were praying.  As people prayed for whatever was on their heart, the jumbled noise got louder, and some people started to sing their prayers, others were just thanking God for being amazing or thanking Him for things He’s done in their life.  Eventually, things settled down, and the leader closed in prayer.  Ya know, I’m not sure that everyone would be comfortable with this kind of prayer (Sue said she actually tried it once in Celina, but people were too scared to pray aloud while someone else was, and it only lasted for about 10 seconds) but I think everyone should least experience it once.  It put a smile on my face

Anyway, it’s late, and we’re up early for a tour of the different agricultural sites on the island, so I gotta run.  But I want to thank you for your prayers, they are definitely felt down here (and if you’ve never experienced what it feels like to FEEL someone’s prayers, you’re totally missing out) so keep them up.

And enjoy the snow!

JF

We’re finally here!  We made it!  I gotta say, I don’t think I’m a fan of more than 2 flights in a day.  Man, it wears  you out…

Ok, so, first thoughts…

We can tell we’re being prayed for.  Sue (nor anyone else) threw up on the car ride from the airport to the compound.  That might not sound amazing but you gotta understand that we took these roads in a Toyota box van faster than anyone should be allowed to drive, and in a way that that would put the hardcore Need for Speed addict to shame.  We actually pointed out places that we had stopped on previous trips to let people offer their lunch to the island.  It’s great that your prayers could help things as simplistic as not getting car sick   It’s funny, but the island is only 22 miles longs, and our trip on the east coast routed over 35 miles of switchbacks.  It would be a great ride for a motorcycle

The weather is…well… wonderful   as I type, I can hear the soothing sounds of frothy waves washing onto the shore, the rhythmic waving of palm trees and banana leaves shuffling under the gentle breeze, and the relaxing chirp of tree frogs (reminding me that I’m on an island, and I should be moving a bit slower).  Every once and a while, I hear a dog bark in the distance (they run wild here, similar to the squirrels back home, just bigger) but it’s not jarring, it’s kinda peaceful…and a bit old-world.

We’re getting together early tomorrow morning to go to town for 4-H meetings, then some meetings with a government official or two and a college professor.  I’ll know a lot more later (probably when I meet them ) and I’ll try and tell you all about it in the evening, after music rehearsal.

So, thanks for your prayers, we’re glad we’re here, and enjoy the snow if you got some today

JF

Here we go!  We’re kicking off, or sailing off, well, really we’re flying off to the country of Grenada in just a few short hours!  I can’t say I’m not a little nervous about what is lying ahead.  The stories I’ve heard about giant bugs and killer smoke monsters (and people calling me Mr. Eko) have been a little disconcerting… but if that was the only reason to visit the island, who would go?  Right?

I had to laugh a little as I did research on the island over the last few months (ok, days); it felt a bit sci-fi.  I just searched Grenada in Wiki, and up came a bunch of information.  But then there would be this link, which of course I would have to click, and I was off on a tangent, learning more about a people group and a culture in 1 hour than a graduate anthropologist studying Caribbean people would have learned in a semester 30 years ago.  So much information right at our fingertips.  It was pretty cool, slightly humbling, and truly fascinating!

Of course, it doesn’t do much for me to talk about history in Grenada prior to 30 years ago.  It seems like the first 300 years of history (since Grenada was landed on by Europeans) was pretty similar to most imperial ‘acquisitions’.  Feel free to read it, it’s only a google (or a bing) away.  But what I thought was amazing was the amount of ‘history’ that’s taken place in the last 30 years.  In just about my lifetime, some major events have happened, totally changing (or throwing into chaos) the island and the Grenadian people.  Again, you can read it on your own…

So, after the turmoil, scandal, invasion, and rebuilding, just when you would hope for some things to start going right, they run into weather man Chris Farley’s not so funny El Ivan.  Which is Spanish for… the Ivan.  I don’t think anyone can comprehend the impact when they first hear the statistic “90% of homes were damaged or destroyed”.  So just look out your window and then pretend that your house is the only house still standing on your street.  Then picture your neighbors standing on your front lawn, asking if they can room with you.   Yeah, I know, it’s not a good thing.

But I’ll tell you what, the thing I’m most interested about at the moment (besides setting the alarm for 4am) is the Grenada 17.  More specifically, the 7 remaining prisoners that are due to be released this year.  And if that doesn’t make you want to do a little bit of research on Grenada, than nothing will.

Well, it’s a travel day tomorrow, so I’ll catch ya on the flip-side!
JF

Newer and Better!

So, I didn’t get to go to the National Youth Workers Convention this year in Cincinnati  But I did get to have dinner with someone who did!  I’m sure a few things were lost in translation, but the dinner was only $30 (plus a babysitter), and I was able to hear a cool story or two from people like Tony Campolo and Reggie Joiner (through the summary of my dinner date).

One story stuck in my head and I decided I wanted to write it out.  I guess I would call it a modern day parable shared in a way that makes sense in my head.  This might not work for you, but then, this is MY blog, and if you have a better story, you should write it on YOUR blog…

First the back story.  The conference theme was about ‘time’ and everything that goes with it, and this particular story came through a talk about how long (or not so long) churches take to move through change.  A church consultant firm had shared some statistics they had measured in churches regarding how change that moves quickly (in 3 months) sees the same numerical loss (in attendance, tithing, participation, etc) as change of the same magnitude that takes 2 years (approximately %30).  The speaker suggested that if the same amount of loss was going to take place, it would behoove the church to make changes quickly and completely so as not to drag on what would be a difficult situation for 4-6 times as long as would be necessary.  Ok, I can agree with that.  I can think of a few examples in my life where a church would have been better making a change quickly and decisively instead of dragging things on and on.

But, that’s just the back story.  We’re not there yet…

So then Reggie uses an example of how the digital camera came to market around y2k, and how 3 different companies (Kodak, Nikon, and Cannon) handled the change differently and saw different results.  That’s another good story I don’t have time to share, but basically, the company that tried to take the time to transition slowly (to hold on to their customer base) lost a very large chunk of their customers to the company that jumped in with both feet and made the change quickly.

The common theme that I heard shared by multiple speakers was that churches that are willing to tackle the hard issues and solve them quickly and completely are the churches that see the most positive growth (spiritually, and numerically) while churches that seem to toy with ideas or slowly integrate new processes over time wear down congregations and (more importantly) good leaders.  There was another example shared that I don’t have the time to go into where a bunch of employees in a company recognize and admit that because of poor performance, their entire group is about to be fired by upper management.  So they sit down and make a list of all the things that will change when the board brings in new people (staff, processes, budget, etc).  Then they look at each other and say, ‘well, we’re gonna get fired if we do nothing, so let’s do what the new guys will do and we’ll see what happens’.

But that’s not the story…

The story comes when the presenter walks out on stage with a package.  He’s talking about change and how it’s important for our church to pay attention to how well we’re prepped for ongoing change.  He’s talking about how if a church is building a building, are they building a space that can change easily?  Are they preaching that when the place is built, people can’t sit back and say ‘finally, we have our space’ but can say, ‘ok, now how can we constantly adapt this new space to meet the changing needs of our community’?  He’s asking if our church structure is arranged so that we can shift easily when needs come up or do we find ourselves saying “if we only had more money, or a bigger building, or a better location, or more teachers, etc”.  All good questions, but not where I’m going…

And then he pulls out of the package an A2 Apple computer.  It was his first computer.  It cost $2,400 new.  Ya’ll know what I’m talking about, that’s old school

So, he explains how he just recently purchased Adobe Photoshop CS4 for another computer and it occurred to him that he’d like to put it on his old A2.  But of course, he couldn’t.  The first problem was that the A2 didn’t have a CD drive (or a color monitor which is kinda important for a photo editing program ).  So he decided to call Mac technical support!

The conversation went something like this:

Mac:  Hi, how can I help you?

Reggie:  Hello, I’m having trouble installing some software on my computer and I was wondering if you could help.

Mac:  Sure, what kind of software?

Reggie:  Adobe CS4

Mac:  Sure, no problem!  We can help you with that.  What are you installing it on?

Reggie:  An Apple A2

Mac:  [long pause…]  I’m sorry, can you repeat that?

Reggie:  Yeah, I’m having trouble installing Adobe CS4 on my A2 computer

Mac:  [long pause as the tech person waves over all the other people in the office “you guys gotta come over here and listen to this!”…]  hold on while I put you on speaker phone… Ok, can you please repeat that?

Reggie:  OK, I’m trying to put Adobe CS4 on my A2 computer

Mac:  [laughter from everywhere…]  Sir, you can’t put CS3 on your computer.  You need to go buy a new computer…

You get the idea.  I was laughing out loud picturing this guy from tech support wondering if the person on the other end was crazy.  When the A2 was built, it took a crane to move a computer that had enough memory to support CS4’s processes, let alone even store the data from 1 picture.

But here’s where it matters.  Reggie says this, and it blows the crowd away…  he says “you can’t put new wine into old wine skins.”

There it is… the modern parable.  You can’t put new wine into old wine skins.  But what do we do as a church?  We try and shove new wine, the new things God is doing, into systems that just can’t support it.  We don’t operate in a way that allows for the new things God wants to do, because we’re too busy protecting the old wine skins.  We love our old wine skins.  We’re friends with them.  We have carried them for a long time.  They’re worn in the places we’ve held them, they’ve covered miles and miles as we’ve traveled together.  They have done their job and done it well.  We feel like we can’t just move on, we can’t just abandon what God did before.  But if we’re not preparing ourselves to receive new wine, all we end up doing is breaking our old wine skins and loosing the wine we’ve been praying for.  No matter how much we want it, we’ll never be able to run Adobe CS4 on an A2.  And we’ll never be able to respond to the ‘new thing’ that God is doing in our church if we’re not willing to get ourselves some new wineskins.

That’s a modern parable that I can relate to.

JF