MyStuffFieldofDreams

Hi, I�m Willie, yadda yadda.

What�s the craziest thing you�ve ever done?

I consider myself a pretty crazy person. At least more than average. I think my friends would say that I am more than average crazy. I�ve done some stuff�

CRAZY STUFF
I�ve climbed to the top of almost every high building in Walla Walla� (tried to climb Marcus Whitman Hotel this summer barefoot�cop car circled us, killed my feet.)

Used to pass things � like sticks of gum � between cars on the freeway.

Stole the same stop sign three times.

Did everything I could to get arrested by a mountie in Canada�and very nearly succeeded. Then took a picture of the Mountie writing us up.

and when I think back on all the crazy stuff I�ve done, I sigh and think�.man, that was STUPID.

Ray Kinsella must�ve thought the same thing. I want to show you a clip from the movie.

(beginning clip?)

Now, let�s get this straight. This guy was a college student in the sixties � a pretty crazy time. And he went to Berkeley � a pretty crazy place, especially in the sixties. I mean, some crazy stuff went down at Berkeley in the sixties. And I�m inclined to believe, from the way he talks about it, that he was right in the middle of it all. Then he does the last thing you�d expect a hippie to do � he gets married, moves to Iowa, and becomes a corn farmer.

And still, he says he never did anything crazy until he heard the Voice.

The Voice. It�s enigmatic. It�s unexpected. It comes out of nowhere, and doesn�t explain itself at all. It won�t answer any questions. Ray should probably go along with Stevie Wonder � if you believe in things you don�t understand, you suffer. Just ignore it, Ray, and get on with your pretty decent life.

But then, there wouldn�t be a movie.

Ray Kinsella starts to do crazy things. Really weird things, like building a baseball diamond in the middle of his cash crop, or kidnapping a retired writer to take him to a ball game. And his life turns amazing. His childhood hero comes back from the dead and plays ball with him, he restores hope to his favorite author�craziness.

Ray does crazy things. But this craziness is way different than Berkeley-in-the-sixties craziness. He simply know that to NOT listen to the voice is to miss the biggest chance of he might ever get to make his life extraordinary.

But Ray�s choices are not easy.   Ray is risking things � his farm and the welfare of his family, his relationship with his wife, definitely his reputation with his friends and community � and he doesn�t even really know what he�s going to get out of it. And even when he responds to the Voice, each time � I watched to movie three times before I noticed this � each time he does what he thinks he�s supposed to, he ends up confused, bewildered, and just on the edge of giving up and going home. Only then does something amazing happen.

And in the end, it is all about him. The final result of listening to this unexplainable voice is more than he ever thought to hope for.    His dad comes back and gets to meet his granddaughter. And as they have a last catch there is healing in their relationship.

Like Ray, I want an extraordinary life.    Like Ray, there are places inside of me that cry out for healing. And I�m willing to do just about anything to get it.

Now, I�ve never heard an unbodied, audible voice tell me to do anything.   In all my trafficking with Christians, people who hear from Jesus, I�ve never met anyone who�s heard an audible voice like Ray�s.   But I think I�ve found a Voice that seems to me to resemble the Voice Ray hears.

I�m talking about the Bible. This book is a centuries-long record of people responding to an enigmatic Voice, and how that voice � the Voice of God � changes their lives. At the same time, it is a Voice in itself, still speaking, still inspiring people to lead extraordinary lives of hope and healing.

Like Ray�s Voice, it doesn�t often make a lot of sense. It�s not easy to trust. It often doesn�t answer the questions you have for it. It says strange things that are hard to make sense of. And like Ray�s voice, the only way you�ll ever know if the Voice knows what it�s talking about is if you risk looking foolish and take it seriously.

This isn�t about religion, it�s not about theology or philosophy. I can�t answer the religion professor�s questions about the history and origins of the Bible. I�ve never searched for the historical Jesus. The only test I have for the words in this book is the test of my life. When I start to take what it says seriously, my life gets crazy � and ends up extraordinary.

But let me tell you about some of the crazy stuff I�ve done in response to this Voice.

Halfway through my sophomore year, I dropped my PreMed/Biology major, giving up my dream from third grade to be a doctor. I did it so that I could have more time to spend with people.   As a result, instead of starting med school this year, I am working for no money with InterVarsity. And it�s been an amazing, incredible year.

The summer that President Clinton send NATO troops into Kosovo, I went and worked with Kosovar refugees in Albania. My grandparents were sure I was going to be killed.
I discovered much about myself, America, suffering, and the amazing love of God in that place than I ever expected.

My senior year of college, instead of moving off campus with a bunch of friends, I decided to move into North Hall with a roommate I hardly knew so that I could lead a ministry team out there. I found � and was able to help build � an amazing community of people who loved and learned and grew together.   It might have been my best year in college.

When I think about these kinds of crazy things I�ve done, and instead of thinking �boy was that stupid,� I see them as the best decisions I�ve made in my life. These crazy decisions have brought me more joy, more satisfaction, more fulfillment than I ever expected or dreamed.

There are crazy things, and then there are crazy things. I love the crazy stupid stuff, and hope I never get too old to climb to the top of Marcus Whitman tower barefoot. I would imagine that you�re doing crazy stupid things right now in your life, too � it�s Friday night, what�ve you got planned?

But I want to offer you a Voice, like Ray�s Voice. I want to offer you a chance to decide to do crazy things that you will look back on and see as some of the best decisions you ever made.

Underneath your seat are reply cards. On there is a spot to check that says �I�d like to be part of a bible discussion group.� Let me tell you a bit about that. I understand how difficult and vulnerable it is to share your personal beliefs with someone else. I also know from experience how hard and frustrating it is to try and read the Bible without anyone to talk to about it.    This new group, it�s not a bible study, not a typical one, anyway. It�s a gathering of people who are interested in checking out what the Bible has to say. I promise there will be no more than two Christians in a group � and they�ll be there to help facilitate, to try and answer questions, provide some background, maybe some culture info, if it helps. They will not tell you what you should or shouldn�t believe. This�ll be a place where there are no wrong answers, no stupid thoughts, no heresy or sacrilege. You won�t be attacked for thinking something different. It�ll simply be a place to talk with some other people in a similar place as you, trying to make sense of the things in the Bible. Above all, it will be a place you are welcomed into, and a place you are welcome to leave.