When Life hangs in the balance...

When you've been around Christian circles long enough, you learn to recognize "Christianese" (Christian rhetoric that says so much but yet says so little). I've been in many Christian circles on just about every continent. I've preached or spoken in some of the largest churches on the planet, and attended some of the largest Christian gatherings in the 21st century. But all of that fades to insignificance when life hangs in the balance. I met Billy Hornsby about a year before we actually moved to Florida to plant The Well. He was (and still is) one of the most unassuming men I have ever met. He was so authentic and likeable that, at our launch, he was kidding around with my youngest daughter (nine at the time) and "pulled" a five dollar bill out of her ear, which he then gave to her urging her to remember "uncle Billy".

I marveled at how a man so focused on his purpose, and so busy serving the Body of Christ on a global scale, could be so down-to-earth and so delightful. Then I met Charlene, and it all made sense. These are the people you want to sit around the dinner table with at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is the family whose home you want to watch the Superbowl at. These are the kind of people who's house you want to hang out at with your friends. Amazingly, this is the same family you'd want beside you on the mission field, or planting a church, or nursing you through a difficult season, or simply talking about how good God is. The Hornsby's have always fascinated me by their simple and transparent love for God and His people. Now, as they face one of the greatest crisis of their lives, they again exemplify the Christianity they have preached and reflected so eloquently with their lives.

Charlene's story puts life in its proper perspective. It distills the vital from the irrelevant. It forces you to look at your own life in the context of your mortality. You know what impacts me the most about their story though? It's the fact that, knowing that she might have a short time to live, she isn't afraid of dying, nor does she want to change anything about her life. Wow! That suggests to me that the life she is living, fulfills everything that God called her to live, and so she is satisfied that it continue just the way it is until He sees fit to call her home. Charlene and Billy, you are amazing examples of what Christian's should look like. Your lives confidently say, "Follow us, as we follow Christ." We (My family and our church family) are praying for you and your family, and we know that in the end, if we have laid claim to the name of Jesus, we all win!