So I have had Olympic fever all week.¬† I’ve been watching an awful lot of the coverage and I always seem to get addicted when the Olympics roll around.¬† For me, sports have so many applications to real life.¬† That’s why sports movies tend to be so inspirational.

By now you have probably heard of the US Men’s Swim Team’s dramatic victory in the 400 meter freestyle relay.¬† The French team had told the press before the meet that, “We’re going to smash the Americans.¬† That’s what we came to do.”¬† These words were spoken by French swimmer Alain Bernard, who was the current record holder for the 100 meter.¬† He was going to anchor the French team, swimming the last 100 meters of the relay.

Things did not go well for the Amercans…in a relay, they rely on Michael Phelps to get them off to a great start and give them a lead.¬† However, as Phelps completed his part of the relay, the Amercans did not have the lead.¬† In fact, going in the last leg of the race, the Americans were still a length behind the French and it all came down to Jason Lezak…32 years old, against the world record holder Bernard, for 2 lengths of the pool. ¬†

By the time they touched the opposite end and began the last 50 meters, Lezak still had not closed the gap at all.¬† This is the best part…it was at this point that Lezak looked at Bernard to his right and briefly abandoned hope.

“The thought really entered my mind for a split second,” Lezak said. “There’s no way.”

However, as soon as the thought entered, it was wiped away by quite a different perspective…

“I changed,” he said. “I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous. I’m at the Olympic Games, I’m here for the United States of America. I don’t care how bad it hurts, I’m going after it.’

Long story short, Lezak swam the race of his life…gaining on Bernard steadily over the last length of the pool, and at the end barely outtouched him…breaking the world record and giving America the gold.

Over the last year, I am sure the same thoughts entered the minds of many of us.¬† I remember the meeting on Sunday morning where we all had a chance as a church to discuss the proposed purchase of property.¬† For most of us, while we liked the idea, I think we exhibited the same momentary fear that Lezak had.¬† There’s no way.¬† We’re too small.¬† We’ve never given over $5000/month and now we have to give over $8,000.¬† We don’t have what it takes.

However, in spite of our fears we decided to press on, saying¬† “This is ridiculous.¬† We’re doing God’s work here.¬† We don’t care how much it hurts, we’re pressing on by faith.”

In the end, it has been and will continue to be a tremendously rewarding experience.

I’ve posted the video of Lezak’s swim below. ¬†You gotta see it. ¬†I encourage you to thank God today for the opportunity He has given us to be a part of something so special.

Well finally had our first service on the new property and I think it was a huge success. Many thanks go to the people who have helped get the land ready for meeting on… You had all of three days to do it and it turned out great! The children had ample space and for once had tables and chairs to work from. Also, it was really kind of cool to meet in the tent. We had 75 people there and realized that we need more chairs. What a great problem to have!

I look forward to seeing all of you when I get back from Canada. Have fun this Sunday on the property. The tent has been reconstructed, and the location will get better every week. See you soon!

While the property closing has already taken place, we will not take possession of the new property until July 15th which leaves us without a place to meet this Sunday! ¬†Never fear though, for we are indeed meeting at Linda Vista Park in Syracuse (1800 W 2700 S). ¬†Linda Vista Park is adjacent to our new property, so we at least look…just not touch!

I am pleased to announce that we have closed the sale on the new property as of Friday, July 11th and will take possession on Tuesday, July 15th.  This is truly an answer to prayer and the beginning of the most exciting part of our church growth.  Continue to pray and fulfill your pledges as we move forward.  The first project will be getting the auxillary building ready to meet in and then we build!

I have always admired people like Rick Warren who use their influence with other celebrities/leaders/famous people. Billy Graham was one such example who I know counseled several presidents. I came across this clip today and thought it was pretty cool. It’s of a young Billy Graham on a show with Woody Allen (must’ve been some kind of talk show). For a lot of pastors, this would have been an uncomfortable situation, especially with the jokes that Woody made, but Billy Graham handled it with a lot of poise and used that more comfortable atmosphere to gently nudge Woody in the direction of a loving God who would accept Woody just the way he is.

Anyway, enjoy the clip! I think we can all learn something about how we communicate with others.