Dan Cooley's Blog, page 16

3 Haiti Surprises

I’M IN HAITI!

Surprise #1: I left for Haiti Sunday night without the church knowing. I arrived here around 4pm Monday and did some upkeep around the place. Tuesday was the same, Wednesday I was able to work on my favorite Isuzu Trooper. Thursday at 9am was terrific.

I was able to shock most of the 14 people coming in from Cottonwood Church by meeting them at the airport. Great fun! It may have been more of a shock riding with me from the airport to Maranatha Ministries without brakes.

Surprise #2: The Missionaries stole my luggage. At the Florida airport i was asked if i wanted to check my luggage. Since I had 35lbs in my carry on and the flight to Port-au-Prince was packed, I did it. That gave me 2 50lb bags and my 35lb bag checked in the belly of the plane. When I arrived in Haiti there was the typical customs line up so it took me a while to get to the baggage claim. Not that I needed to hurry.

My bags weren’t there.

My life was in my carry-on. And it wasn’t there. I could have kicked myself for letting them check the bag. I went to the pile of bags that in this airport generally gets dumped to the side after they make a few rounds. Thankfully I put red duct tape around the handles to make them easy to find. I saw one bag with red tape. “My carry-on!” I prayed.

Nope.

But it was one of my bags. One down, two to go.

I started looking around, watching people leaving the area, looking for red duct tape. There was a missions group with the obnoxious matching t-shirts loading a bunch of bags onto carts. One of the bags they were about to load had… red duck tape!

I ran over and snagged it. “Oh, sorry” said the leader.

That wasn’t adequate. So, I started looking through bags already on the closest cart. There was my carry-on, loaded and ready to go with a bunch of matching t-shirt missionaries. I snagged it. “I looked like ours,” said the leader. “Why” I wanted to ask, “because it was black?” Ugh. Anyhow I finally got all my stuff and headed out to beautiful Port-au-Prince.

Surprise #3: The Trooper Lives! Well, it lived for a day. The 1998 Trooper with endless miles that had been sitting for 4-5 months ran after a day of work. A friend and I got it to the gas station, where it died. I had my first experience of pushing a car down a packed street with motorcycles and cars squeezing and honking around me. Great fun. Wish I had a video.

We then got it running long enough to go to the airport and back. Currently it is waiting for brake parts. It was a rather hairy airport ride. We now know 3 of the 4 disk brakes were frozen.

That’s it for now. Off to work on a Trooper and enjoy some Cottonwood folks crazy enough to come out here. What an amazing church!

danielcooley.com

Damage: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: A great read, easily one of the best by Dick or Felix Francis. Lots of fun horse and horse racing facts mixed in what a good thriller.

The Bad: It seemed to end too quickly – abrupt really. Maybe that just shows I liked it a lot and didn’t want it to end? Nah, lousy author.

The Ugly: It took some research to figure out this one was written by Felix, the forth since his dad Dick’s death. Sad to see him have to write alone, pretty cool to see the son pick up where his dad left off.

Tripwire: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: Unlike the rest of the reading world, I’m new to Reacher. I hear the books improve the more you read. Not that you could prove that by this one.

The Bad: A few things here – #3 SPOILER ALERT! Skip it if you need to as it gives something away.

1 – The story took a long time to get going.

2 – Reacher seemed more like a lucky creep than a cool, wise, good-guy.

3 – In the end, it reminded me of the old Saturday Morning Cartoons – unbelievable. Muscles that stop bullets? Gag me.

The Ugly: Three books into the series and I’m done with Reacher. I know the books are supposed to improve, but this one isn’t nearly as good as the first two, and I just can’t get behind a cradle-steeling, bullet-stopping-pectoral-muscle creep saving the day. I miss underdog.

It’s Official!

From the CCRF Website…

Best-Selling Author Donates Proceeds of New Book to CCRF
Best-selling author, Dan Cooley, donates all profits from new book Bizarre Bible Stories 2 to help children with cancer.

“Dear God, why did you give me cancer?” asked Kristina, daughter of a long-time friend of Pastor and author Dan Cooley.

Dan recalls, “In the summer of 2013, Kristina wrote me a note with that question. I tried to give an answer in Bizarre Bible Stories 2!, but fell short. One day I’ll see her again, and she can show me her mansion and introduce me to Jesus who will answer the question with depth.”  Kristina went to heaven June 21, 2014.  The new book is dedicated to her.

More…

I Just Wrecked Someone Else’s Car

It was totally my fault, as I hit a fairly stationary curb.

NO – this isn’t a picture of my wreck. I put this one in so that the owner of the Ford I did wreck would maybe think, “Hey, at least it wasn’t that bad.”

Today HAD to be perfect. It was our first day bringing kids to Glorieta Camp for our first year. I was chosen to drive someone else’s car – as it sat more kids – to help bring the kids to camp.

I was on my way to the office to pick the kids up, adjusting the mirrors, the seat, the radio, getting use to things.

Somehow, I’ve no idea how, the curb jumped out of the right hand lane and hit the front passenger’s side tire.

Ugh! I felt sick. I figured it must have blown the tire, as the steering wheel went weird. It would be embarrassing to call and let everyone know why I was going to be late, so I was hoping to jump out and change the tire ASAP. I’d have to buy a tire and talk to the owners later, but that was doable. Unfortunately, it was worse than I thought.

When I tried to get off to the side of the road the Ford Explorer wouldn’t move.

I got out. The tire looked fine.

I looked closer. The wheel looked fine.

All I knew was that things must be worse than I thought.

Upon looking closer yet, I saw that the axle had popped out of the transmission. Double Ugh. I asked myself, “myself” I asked, How could the axle fall out from hitting a curb?”

It was worse than I thought.

The lower control arm had broken. If you don’t know what that is, it’s bad. But it was about to get worse.

I had to call Sue, our Children’s Director and let her know that the kids waiting for me weren’t getting their ride. She wanted to know why. I wanted to answer. “You see Sue, there was this semi that ran me off the road into a curb.” I so wanted to lie. Thankfully, Sue had an emergency list of other drivers and cars. Go Sue! But for me it was only going to get worse.

I was hopelessly stuck in the middle lane, with speeding cars on Southern Blvd weaving around me. A passer-by called the cops to help direct traffic. I called AAA. No one hit me. But I had another call to make. To the owner of the car.

Clay the owner was more understanding than I might have been, and it was great to have that call behind me. But, I still had an hour to wait for the wrecker. Plenty of time for things to get worse.

When you do something exceedingly stupid, wouldn’t you like to do it in solitude? Southern Blvd is not a street of solitude.

Enough neighbors and church folks either saw me and/or stopped to try to help that I figured I’d better get this out there. People are starting to call. Ugh.

I’m not sure what was hurt more. The Ford or my pride.

Sure hope this doesn’t get worse.

Humbly, Dan

Free Book of Quotes

A good friend – and a terrific writer – Chad Barrett has a free book offer.

When his daughter Kristina died, Chad stopped blogging and started writing down his thoughts. This free book is a collection of quotes from his journal. Here are a few:

1:There is nothing so dark that may come your way

that God’s truth cannot disperse.

Nothing so painful that God’s love cannot heal.

Nothing so twisted that God’s justice cannot fix.

No heart so heavy that His grace cannot uplift.

2: I think God is more concerned

about us trusting Him fully

than He is relieving our pain.

3: The same God who met with Moses

on the mountain wants to meet with you now.

Careful though, your heart may

glow afterwards.

4: We can’t out-suffer

the comfort Jesus gives.

5: “H.O.P.E.

Hold On Pain Ends.”

– Kristina Barrett

If you found the quotes inspiring, here is a note from Chad’s new blog, and how to get the free book:

I WANNA GIVE YOU SOMETHING…

About a year ago, I stopped blogging. I love to blog, but with Kristina’s grand homegoing, I had to stop.

But to honor her memory with the upcoming 1-year mark of her death, I’m ready to go back. And if you sign up, I’ll send you something free.

It’s at http://ieworks.org. .

Here’s the rub: if you sign up to receive my blog posts, I’ll email you a link to download this booklet: Thrive Not Just Survive: A 12-week Book of Quotes.Even if you decide not to stay with my blog, you can keep the download. It’s my gift to you, because you are so awesome.

My blog is mainly about inspiring others to live out the gospel of Jesus; showing His love in real ways, being aggressively gracious to the world, amazing stories that inspire me to thrive, and more. Even if you aren’t a Christian, I think you’ll like my blog. And I welcome your thoughts and interaction. I love to interact!

Would you sign up? It’s here: http://ieworks.org

Already signed up and want the booklet? Private message me, and I’ll send it to you.

Thanks!

Buy a Book, Help a Family Battling Cancer

Dear God, why did you give me cancer?

Chad was in my youth group back in the 80s. In the summer of 2013 his daughter Kristina wrote me a note with that question. I tried to give an answer in Bizarre 2!, but fell short. One day I’ll see her again, and she can show me her mansion and introduce me to Jesus who will answer the question with depth. She went to heaven June 21, 2014.

Meanwhile, I’d like to live with some of the grace she showed throughout her life.

When Kristina was diagnosed, Helping Hands, a division of The Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation, walked with the family through some incredibly difficult times. It seems logical then, that all of the profits of Bizarre Bible Stories 2! should go directly to Helping Hands. It really is fun to give this way, you don’t notice the money you never had. I know they will use the funds better than I would, and this way I’m not tempted when the Jeep catalogs come in.

So, Buy a Book, Help a Family Battling Cancer.

After my publisher, Heritage Builders, got in touch with Greg Anderson, the founder and CEO of Cancer Recovery Foundation International, he sent me this kind, very gracious letter. Makes me realize it’s one of my best decisions ever. Here is part of the letter…

Dear Pastor Cooley,

Growing up Lutheran in rural Iowa, I was taught the definition of grace was God’s unmerited goodness.  If ever there was a perfect example of grace, your donation of royalties to Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation is it.  Thank you.  We gratefully accept. 

Even with good health insurance, the downward financial spiral of families dealing with childhood cancer is ubiquitous.  It’s the combination of increased medical expenses like co-pays, travel, lodging and more, while at the same time the family’s income typically declines as parents must take time off work to be with their sick child.  Last year, Helping Hands received applications for financial assistance totaling $294,079.00.  We were able to fund only $120,603.00.  May I suggest your gift be designated and restricted to Helping Hands where it will fund past due rents and utilities of families who have a child battling cancer. 

Finally, know how grateful I am for your gift. 

With sincere appreciation,

Greg Anderson, Founder & CEO

Cancer Recovery Foundation International

Tel:  936.231.8460, x-110  Fax:  936.231.8462

www.CancerRecovery.org

What Weird and the Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation Have in Common

As you may know,  Bizarre 2! is dedicated to Kristina, the daughter of a close friend who died of cancer just as the book was going to print. The Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation was a place of refuge and help to the family throughout the process. So, I thought if the book was dedicated to Kristina, why not give the profits to the the CCRF?

So, I contacted Heritage Press, the publishers, and they are now working through the process of giving all the profits to the CCRF. I just hope they are OK with me stealing their logo off of their webpage for the blog. Anyhow they are a terrific organization and I hope this little bit helps.

Meanwhile I’ve been getting some new reviews. Kristine wrote, “I’ve been reading it [Bizarre Bible Stories 2!] every morning to my little ladies. We are loving it. The words they use to describe it are, “awesome, funny and weird.”

So, the CCRF isn’t weird. Bizarre 2! is. I’ll take it as a compliment.

I HATE THIS!

Not that I’m a bad sick person, but…

Friday-Sunday I would have swore I got hit with an experimental nano-virus made up of millions of cat-like rabid living razor blades using my throat as a scratching post.

Late Sunday the head was still congested and in pain, and I was coughing up all kinds of nasty stuff – but the throat didn’t hurt as bad when I did it. I figure I’m on the mend. Then came last night.

I wake up at 4am with nasty chills and a churning gut. I put on every blanket I can find (sleeping on the sofa) and shiver while the dog watches. Then at 5 I was in total disbelief.

And I run into the bathroom to start throwing-up. What evil virus goes from a head cold to vomiting? I hate throwing up.

I stagger back to the sofa and huddle under 50lbs of blankets and try to forget about the last half hour. That’s when the dog scratches to go outside. “Forget you” I think. Wrong.

Next thing I know the dog is making those heaving sounds by the door.

I shiver my way to the door and the dog goes outside and vomits. Sympathy throw up?

I hate this, not that I’m a bad sick person.

A King in a Suitcase

Another free devotional for your kids – this one from BIZARRE Bible Stories 2! Ch. 4

Scripture Passage: 1 Samuel 10,15

So What? So stay committed to Christ!

For Parents: [Anything in brackets]

What do you do really well? What do you not do well? If God promised to help you do what you are not good at – would you trust Him to do it?

God seems to enjoy asking us to do things we don’t think we can do. Sometimes we’re correct; we can’t do it on our own. God is teaching us that He will equip us to do whatever He asks us to do.

About 1000 years before Jesus was born, Samuel was a prophet. Many people looked to Samuel leadership because Israel didn’t have a king. God told Samuel to find a young man named Saul. Samuel was to tell Saul that he would be the first king of Israel! Then Samuel was to introduce King Saul to the rest of the country. Saul was God’s choice as king, and Samuel was God’s choice to make it happen.

Saul had a lot going for him. His family had a bit of money, and he was bigger and stronger than most people his age. He was a man of action. But Saul had a problem.

It was hard for Saul to trust God.

God wanted to set Saul up for success. God knew Saul could make a brilliant king if he would rely on Him. God, through Samuel, did a number of things in order to give Saul confidence in God. Here is what happened on the day Samuel told Saul he would be king:

1. Samuel poured oil over Saul’s head. Saul knew this meant God had selected him for special service, and the Spirit of God would assist him.

2. Samuel told Saul “God has appointed you to be king over Israel!”

3. Samuel told Saul he would meet two people later that day in Zelzah. He even told Saul what those two people would say!

4. Then Samuel told Saul that he would later meet three men who would be on their way to Bethel. They would have bread, wine, and goats. He also said they would offer him the bread and he should take it.

5. Finally, Samuel told Saul that the Spirit of the Lord would come on him at a place called Gibeh, where he should wait for a week for further instructions. Samuel told Saul what was going to happen before any of it happened. How cool is that?

ALL those things happened that same day – precisely as Samuel said they would! If that happened to you, would you trust Samuel? Would you trust God?

Have you ever played “Hide and Seek?” Do you have a favorite hiding place?

Later Samuel called all Israel to meet together at Mizpah. The news quickly spread that God had picked Israel’s first king. People from all over traveled to see who it would be. They packed up their wagons and animals and traveled to Mizpah. Once there, they unloaded their wagons, found a place to sleep, and waited for the big announcement.

Samuel got in front of everyone and announced, “God picked the first King of Israel! His name is Saul, son of Kish! Saul, come out!”

The people cheered – they clapped, shouted, waved, and waited to see Saul. But Saul had disappeared! The clapping died down. Everybody was waiting. Awkward!

“Saul?”

“Saul!”

“HEY SAUL, WHERE ARE YOU?”

Samuel asked God, “Where is Saul?” God answered, “Hiding among the baggage!” The great king Saul was hiding in a suitcase on his first day on the job!

Saul knew he didn’t have the ability to be king. Trusting in his own abilities, he was overwhelmed – so he hid. Saul didn’t understand that whatever God calls us to do; He will equip us to do. Saul was still having a difficult time trusting God.

Saul became king in spite of his hiding. As Saul learned to rely on God, he became a better king. He ruled with wisdom, success, and insight – for a time.

Things were going so well that Saul started making decisions on his own.

Have you ever disobeyed your parents because you thought, “Even if I get caught, it’s worth it. They will forgive me anyway?”

God told Saul, through Samuel, to go to war against some particularly wicked people. He was told to destroy everything. God knew that keeping what the wicked people owned would cause problems later. Saul didn’t do what God asked.

Once Saul and his army won the battle, the soldiers wanted to keep some of the stuff for themselves. “Why destroy it?” they asked. “This is good stuff! Let us keep it!” Saul said to himself, “Self,” he said, “I can’t control this entire army. There are 210,000 soldiers of Israel here. I’m just one guy. I’ll let them keep what they want and hope God doesn’t notice. It’s easier to be forgiven by God than to obey Him. I’ll even keep some of the animals to give as a sacrifice to God. Surely then He will understand.” [1 Samuel 15:24]

Saul and his army disobeyed the command of God and kept the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, horses – they kept the best of everything they saw. They only destroyed what seemed worthless to them. [Maybe they kept the best clothes, tents, and jewelry too. If this were happening today, what would you be tempted to keep?]

Have you ever changed your mind? What about?

Because of Saul’s sin, God rejected him as king. 1 Samuel 15:11 says the Lord told Samuel, “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” [NLT] Does this mean God changed His mind?

Psalms 102:26-27 teaches that God is changeless and perfect. Therefore, it is impossible for God to change His mind. So why was God sorry He made Saul king?

Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us that God knows everything. We can’t give God a surprise birthday party because He always knows what will happen next! Matthew 10:29 says He even knows when a bird dies. So why would God choose Saul to be king if He knew Saul would mess up?

When God said He was sorry He made Saul king, God wasn’t saying He made a mistake. He was explaining His actions in a way we could understand. God often uses human illustrations to explain what He is doing.

[The fancy word for this figure of speech is “Anthropopathism.” It means to ascribe human feelings to something that isn’t human. One example of this is 2 Chronicles 16:9 which says, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (NIV) Can you imagine two eyeballs floating around the planet like space ships looking for devoted followers? It’s an illustration showing us how God is always looking to strengthen His followers. Also see God’s wings in Ruth 2:12, His hand in Ecclesiastes 2:24, etc.]

God knew Saul could follow Him and become a great king. It was Saul’s choice to follow or not. God was “sorry” means God was sorry because Saul didn’t follow Him. Maybe this story will help.

For a moment, pretend your mom can look ahead in time. She sees that tomorrow you will be playing in the street and a car will narrowly miss hitting you. Today she tells you not to play in the street – ever. She tells you again when you get up the next morning. “DO NOT PLAY IN THE STREET!”

Later that day you disobey your mom and play in the street. Yesterday your mom saw you would do it.

Did your mom want you to play in the street? No way, she told you not to! Did she make you play in the street? No, it was entirely your choice. Just because she saw you would make a bad choice doesn’t mean she forced you to do it. In fact telling you not to do it is proof she didn’t want you in the street at all. She did everything she could to help you do what was right. She could then say she was “sorry” you played in the street.

It’s not God who changed in this story, but Saul. God wanted Saul to succeed. Even though God could see ahead in time and knew Saul would mess up, He still gave Saul the chance to do what was right. Saul stopped following God; therefore, God was sorry He made Saul king.

SO, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

STAY COMMITTED TO CHRIST

God wants you to succeed. He will never ask you to do what He will not equip you to do. God is searching the earth to support those who are fully committed to Him. Stay committed to Christ, and He will help, strengthen, and reward you! “May he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.” [Hebrews 13:21]

REMEMBER: YOU’VE GOT HIS WORD ON IT

2 Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Ruth 2:12 May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 There is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

Psalms 27:14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

Psalms 62:5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

Psalms 130:5-6 I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

Galatians 6:9 Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.