We WILL NOT give you Ramen Noodles

My wife, Marisol, is from Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. If you know anything about Mexico, you know Mazatlan has been one of the top 10 beach destinations in that country. If you know more about Mexico, you will know the state of Sinaloa is the most drug cartel infested area in Mexico and one of the worst in the world. It is a place where much of the drugs that come into the USA are cultivated.

For brevity, check out the video report on what is happening in Mexico right now.



President Calderon, the new president, has stirred up a massive African Killer Bee nest by declaring war on corruption.

Here is how it hits home personally. My in-laws live on a gold mine in the middle of nowhere in the Sonoran desert. It is about 2 hours from the Arizona-Sonora border. Because of Presidente Calderon's war on corruption, the drug cartels have become much more aggressive by using violence, kidnapping, beheadings, and the list goes on. We were just in Mexico in January and read about some police officer's heads being placed on the steps of the police station.

My mother-in-law owns an eatery in a small village about 5 miles from the gold mine where my father-in-law works as the director of security. This village (called an "ejido" in Mexico) is quite secluded and driven by the business generated by those who work at the mine.

Two weeks ago 60 armed men drove into the small village with a truck full of kidnapped hostages. They stopped at my mother-in-law's eatery and walked in demanding to be fed. They also wanted food for the hostages they were holding. As my mother-in-law was walking in, the leader of the group asked who the owner of the eatery was. The ladies behind the counter lied and said the owner is not around much. This probably saved my mother-in-law who was just walking in. See, these cartels seek out business owners who they know probably have some money to pay for ransom, then they kidnap them.

My father-in-law was able to summon the military to the village. They sent tanks, hummers and quite a few soldiers. What is scary about this is there is a deep distrust of the police and military because of the deep corrupting among them. Cartels have become so aggressive that they are even posting public recruitment adds like the one above. It says "Los Zetas (strong cartel in Mexico) wants you, military or ex-military. We offer you a great salary, food and care for your family. You no longer have to suffer mistreatment or hunger. We WILL NOT give you Ramen Noodles. Call us...phone number."

Some great things are happening in the Portland/Vancouver area as a result of the Portland CityFest and Season of Service last year. Churches in that area just convened a few weeks ago to launch Season of Service 2009, a continuation of 26,000 volunteers serving in nearly 350 projects. This is what the civic leaders are saying about it.

Re: 26.2 miles, 6 Hammer Gels, 1 5-Hr Energy shot...

Well, after six months of training and running over 500 miles I ran my first marathon. I had originally started out training to run the half marathon. It was about October when I set out to run 8 miles and ended up running 14 that I decided, "Hey, if I just practically ran a half marathon, why don't I go for the whole enchilada."

I ran the marathon in 5:04. This was disappointing, since my goal was 4:45. I started out with the 4:45 pacer. This dude was impressive. The Little Rock Marathon was his 148th race! This dude runs 22 marathons a year! That averages out to almost one every other week.

I hit my wall at about mile 14 and found my second wind at mile 22. What a wonderful sight to see my family at the finish line jumping up and down and shouting my name. It made me feel I was in first place.

During my race I couldn't help but ponder. I had 5:04 minutes to ponder. My pondering ranged from lunch at the Flying Fish after my race, to "do these running shorts make my butt look big?" What really captured me was the thought, "Run in a way that you may obtain the prize." I began to think what that would take. The dude from Holland who won first place literally had time to go back to his hotel take a nap, a shower and have lunch before I crossed the finish line. He ran the marathon in 2 1/2 hours. So, what would it take to "run in a way that I may obtain the prize." Well, losing 75 lbs would be the first step. Eating correctly would be another step...probably not at the Flying Fish. Maybe hanging out with the dude from Holland to see how he trains? Those things came to my mind.

True for the race of life as well, I believe. Lose my weight, unnecessary things that weigh me down. Have a good diet of things I allow in my life. Surround myself with winners.

Running crazy!

I have decided to run the Little Rock Marathon.  I started training in October.  Things have gone well, so far, except for the other day when a 60ish year old lady ran by me like I was standing still.  That was quite encouraging!

Tomorrow I have to run 16 miles.  That is the most I have ever run.  The marathon is March 15 so I have a few more weeks to go.  Thank God for my Ipod and Celia Cruz who keep me moving.

I have learned some valuable lessons during this training.

1. Use plenty of vaseline.  (Do I need to say where?)

2. It's ok to wear tights, no one really pays attention to you.

3. When you think you are about to collapse, just keep running, your second wind usually hits you.  That is true in general life as well, I think.

4. Don't try to catch up to everyone you see ahead of you like you do when you are driving on the freeway.  It proves for a shortlived run.

5. Only sing out loud along with your IPod when there are no runners or bikers in a 400 meter radius.  They may look at you like you are out of your mind.  Especially if you are singing along with Celin Dion.

If all goes well, my goal is to try a triathalon.  We'll see.

Re: Penn's Wisdom

I lose focus on eternal perspectives easily!  I tend to shift to emerging philosphies of how I can and should run a PR campaign for Jesus, because many feel His followers have botched up His image.  The reality is that as long as I am human and do things in my own human strength, I will have the tendency of botching up Christ's image.  My responsibility is not to carry out a PR campaign for Jesus.  He doesn't need that.  My responsibility is to be helplessly in love with Him, thus be in love with my peers so much that I would never go withouth letting them hear about the ultimate life they can experience.  I learned so much from Penn's voice of wisdom...

Messiness.

This past week has been quite messy in many parts of the South East.  We even caught the brunt of Hurricane Ike where I live.  Thousands found themselves without electricity, trees on top of their houses, like my neighbors, and in the midst of messiness.  Soon clean-up of Ike will begin.  It already has.

There's a new show on TV.  I've not seen it; only teasers.  It's called The Cleaner.  Apparently, it's about a dude who was into addictions and now has a team going around cleaning up people in messes.

I've found quite a list of messiness in my life; some of it caused by Ikes in my life, some of it self inflicted.  Then there are times the Cleaner comes in and, in order to get rid of my messiness, causes more mess.  Just clean out your garage and see the messiness it initially causes, all to bring in order.  Ironic but necessary.
I guess messiness brings in newness, freshness, renewed beginnings.  

To messiness.

Fun with the Little Rock crew.

Five fearless souls from Little Rock attended the Portland CityFest this past weekend. Pat and Peggy Malmstrom, Jack and Sue Hazelwood and Pastor Phil Spigner all trekked up for what was an unforgettable weekend. It was wonderful getting to know them better and deepening our relationship as we launch into something bigger than ourselves.

We were also able to meet people from San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Chicago, Rwanda, Scotland, England and other places who were there observing the festival as we were.

The Oregonian, the local paper, reported over 185,000 people in attendance over the two days. I have been with the Luis Palau Association going on four years. Every time I experience what God does in the hearts of people during a festival I am amazed. You can read story after story of changed lives on http://blog.portlandcityfest.com/ or even watch the streaming videos.
Right now I am on a plane from Portland back to Little Rock feeling like a race horse desperate to be released from his chute. Every image I saw in Portland of lives changed, of people serving in the name of Jesus, of Christ being lifted up, I imagined when our time comes in Little Rock and together, we as a team, rejoice in what God does in the hearts of man.