Brian Dolleman's Blog

What if it took 300 “touches” (interactions, personal involvement, conversations) with someone before they were ready to cross over and take that step of faith in order to follow Jesus?

Everyone wants to be #300.

We’d all like to be the one who seals the deal.

We want to be able to say, “I led Hector to Jesus.”

But I wonder if we’ve underestimated the significance of touch #25 or #48 or #197.

Do we seem less interested, committed, loving, compassionate, or genuine when a decision isn’t right around the corner? Are we willing to be real friends when there’s not even a hint of change on the horizon?

Are we willing to be #25?

Perhaps #300 (being the moment of decision) would not be possible without #25.

I wanna be willing to be #25.

How about you?

Thought I’d share some fun & free stuff with you—just ’cause (it’s Friday).

#1. FREE BOOK—Love Does by Bob Goff.

This is currently my favorite book. I love the stories, adventure, & challenge to love God & do stuff. Be the first one to comment on this blog post & I’ll send you a copy (scroll down to the bottom of this page to comment). Also—follow Bob Goff on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did.

#2. VOLKSWAGEN SCREENSAVER & iPHONE APP by Gobasil.

OK, I realize I’m probably the only one excited about this—but just in case there are any other VW weirdos out there, click the link & check it out. It’s FREE!

#3. BILL MURRAY ON COMEDY & LEADERSHIP by Jonathan Herron.

Jonathan Herron posts regularly about “Improving Leadership—using rules of comedy to lead the church”. You know that sounds fun! This post is short & sweet. Enjoy!

#4. BED OF NAILS PRINCIPLE by Ben Arment.

This is an excellent post—short, sweet, & to the point (literally). Here’s the opening line: “I really wish you could lead people with a mass email.” Check it out.

#5. CREATIVITY IS LIKE JUMPING ROPE by Stephen Brewster.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs. If you’re a creative type, I highly recommend it. Being a creative & a jump-roper, I thoroughly enjoyed this post.

#6. SENTENCES NO ONE HAS EVER SAID by Bryan Allain.

I love this concept (& I’ll probably rip it off at some point). This definitely falls under the “fun” category.

#7. WHEN IN DOUBT, GIVE ‘EM GRACE by Andy Jones.

I work with this guy—he definitely understands building a culture of grace in the church. Excellent, laser-focused blog post. Read it! One more thing: you should probably follow Andy Jones on Twitter.

#8. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE by Matchstic Blog.

I don’t typically dig acronyms, but they got me with this one. I like it!

#9. A CULTURE OF CRITICISM by Jonathan Malm.

Such a great analogy shared by Jonathan in this post: “Every family has a racist/drunk uncle.”

#10. INVEST IN ME by Angela Hagebusch.

Quoting from this post, “If you don’t invest in the lives of the young people around you, if you don’t speak into their lives, someone else will, and who knows what kind of a path that could lead them down.” Check out this post & others by Angela (especially if you like crying). Also—if you like cute tweets, you should probably follow Angela Hagebusch on Twitter.

Greek mythology’s King Midas was known for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold.

Sam Briggs, the lead character of the 2008 comedy series “Worst Week” was known for his ability to turn everything he touched into a disaster. (NOTE: In my opinion, this is one of those great shows nobody seems to know about. I’ve watched each of its 16 episodes at least 3 times)

Confession: I’ve never had a King Midas experience but I do know what it feels like to be Sam Briggs.

I’m more familiar with the “This is the worst day ever” feeling than I am with the “Everything I touch turns to gold” one.

How about you? Have you experienced the worst day ever?

The Bible tells the story of a woman who experienced the worst day ever…

Jesus came to the temple and taught the crowds of people who had gathered to see him.

The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.

They stood her in plan sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” (John 8.1-5)

Uh, yeah—talk about worst day ever.

Caught in the act. Paraded into a crowded church and put on trail for her life.

She wasn’t singing DJ Kahled’s “All I Do Is Win” and she didn’t feel like King Midas.

This was the worst day of her life…

And Jesus stepped in, turned it all around—he gave her a fresh start, a clean slate, a do-over.

I want you to remember something:

When you feel like you have the opposite gift of King Midas…

Even the worst day ever gets a fresh start with Jesus.

I’ve been in the church my whole life—which means I’ve seen a lot of stuff…

Both the good and the bad, the helpful and the harmful, the wonderful and the weird.

I’ve even been in a few services that were hijacked.

Someone came with an agenda and did everything they could to control the service.

On one occasion, a man came in while my pastor was preaching, walked down the center aisle to the front of the stage, and yelled an announcement about some upcoming community spaghetti feed at another church. Then he said, “Everyone loves spaghetti here. Amen?” A few people muttered “Amen” which seemed to satisfy the man. He turned to my pastor, said “It’s all yours,” and walked out the doors.

That was weird.

One day, Jesus was teaching in the temple. A crowd gathered and listened.

Everyone’s attention was on Jesus—and then it happened…

A group of hijackers loudly interrupted.

“As he was speaking, the teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. ‘Teacher,’ they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?’” (John 8.1-5)

These guys had an agenda.

They were hoping for a good old-fashioned stoning…

And they really wanted to catch Jesus saying something they could use against him.

They hijacked the service and were turning it into some kind of circus sideshow.

The hijackers were only interested in getting what they wanted out of church.

They weren’t asking, “Jesus, how can we serve here?”

When this happens—when church gets hijacked—the only solution is to turn it back to Jesus.

What does He want? What’s on His agenda?

Jesus’ genius response to the hijackers was something like this…

“OK. Stone her. But the first stone must be thrown by the one who has never sinned.”

The hijackers went from grins and high-fives to awkward silence, and then they started shuffling out.

They left, one by one, until it was just Jesus and the woman and the church audience.

Jesus stood up, looked at the woman and said, “Where are your accusers? No one condemned you?”

“No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

So… what does Jesus want? What’s on His agenda?

Grace. Forgiveness. Restoration. Healing. Fresh Start. Clean Slate. Second Chance.

That’s what Jesus is serving up at church.

When church gets hijacked, let’s turn it back to Him.

Strain and stress aren’t my friends.

They don’t help or bring out the best in me.

I don’t love them—and they certainly don’t love me.

When I’m full of strain and stress, I’m like a cracked-out squirrel on meth… needing an intervention.

Peace and rest are my friends.

They make a huge difference and bring out the best in me.

I love them—and they love me back.

When I’m full of peace and rest, I’m healthy and confident and strong… ready for anything.

God’s plan for us includes more peace and rest, not more strain and stress.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out?
Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won’t lay anything ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn how to live…
freely and lightly.” —Jesus (Matthew 11.28-39 MSG)

The man (I call Scary Harry) in Luke 8 and Mark 5 was living in a constant state of strain and stress.

He was tormented, sleepless, and stressed.

I’m confident of this: Scary Harry was no fun to be around. People avoided him.

Jesus gave Scary Harry a fresh start—and exchanged his strain and stress for some peace and rest.

I love how the Bible describes Scary Harry after this exchange…

“He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane.” —Mark 5.15

No longer cracked-out. Not tweaking anymore.

Peace and rest.

Thank you Jesus!

Here’s the simple point: Peace & Rest > Strain & Stress

Maybe you’ve been holding on to strain and stress as if you love them and they love you back.

The truth is, they don’t. And you shouldn’t.

God has something greater for you.

Peace and rest.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
He lets me REST in green meadows; he leads me beside PEACEful streams.
He renews my strength.” —Psalm 23.1-3

You might also enjoy: Squirrels On Meth

When I read the story of Scary Harry in Mark chapter 5 and Luke chapter 8, I’m struck with the incredible transformation that takes place.

A quick look at the stages and steps…

1. HOT MESS
He’s Scary Harry—troubled, tortured, broken, helpless, and hopeless.

2. MEETS JESUS
He’s nervous and scared—he actually has a negative preconceived idea of what Jesus is all about.

3. FREED, HEALED, & WHOLE
Jesus didn’t hurt or harm Scary Harry—he healed and restored him. Scary Harry isn’t scary anymore…

4. SITS AT JESUS’ FEET
He listens. He learns. He gets instructions.

5. GOES & DOES
Scary Harry becomes a man on a mission. He does what Jesus told him to do.

So, that’s Scary Harry’s transformation story.

How about you?

Are you moving from________ to man/woman on a mission?

Where do you see yourself in these stages/steps?

Scary Harry (that’s what I named him—because I imagine he was both scary and, well… hairy) was the type of guy who would be making the headlines in the “Weird & Unusual News” category…

“Howling Streaker Disrupts Funeral”

“Zombie Tomb Dweller On The Loose”

“Goth Gone Wild!”

Here’s how Mark chapter 5 describes Scary Harry:

“When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.” (Mark 5.2-5 NLT)

The Gospel of Luke adds another detail to the story:

“For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town.” (Luke 8.27 NLT)

Wow. Scary Harry.

At my daughter’s elementary school, they hand out awards to kids for being “Community Contributors.”

Well, let’s just say Scary Harry wasn’t winning any awards for being a community contributor.

If you think about it, he was a menace to society.

You wouldn’t want to open up a preschool in this town—not with a howling naked guy on the loose.

Scary Harry wasn’t helping to improve the quality of life in that region.

He wasn’t adding anything positive. He was a detriment.

However, Jesus saw value in Scary Harry.

He didn’t ignore him or run from him. He stopped and talked.

Jesus cared about Scary Harry. He healed him and set him free. He gave Scary Harry a fresh start.

“A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane…” (Mark 5.15 NLT)

Talk about a turnaround!

Not only was Scary Harry healed and whole—he also had a new story to write.

“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man (Scary Harry) begged to go with him. But Jesus said, ‘No, go home to your family and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.’ So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.” (Mark 5.18-20 NLT)

Scary Harry became a community contributor.

He lived with new purpose.

He was on a mission.

He was making a difference.

He had a story to tell—Good News to share.

His life became a vivid example of grace, second chances, a clean slate…

And that’s what a God-given fresh start will do in you too.