Of What Came After and What Comes Next

Hello, friends!

It has been nearly two months since either Alan or I posted on this blog, and we have now more than settled back into the daily grind and the fall semester. That said, this trip has never strayed too far from either of our minds, as we have continued to work on our book and to compile and edit our memories. We've entered our independent study program and are well on our way to producing a publishable work, and hopefully one that people will read, enjoy, and find challenging.

But, in that line of thought and more importantly, I simply thought that I would let those of you who are interested know that we have crossed our first two major landmarks now - we have a title and our first manuscript.

Our working title is (for now) - The Caffeinated Gospel. It seemed very fitting on several levels.

Our manuscript was turned in to our editor and our supervising professor this wednesday. We currently have 12 chapters and about 150 pages.

So, I will try to keep this blog updated as other things of major significance happen, but that is all for now!

Thanks for all your support!

--Michael Taunton

Update #9.2 - The Epilogue

And now it falls to me to wrap up the loose ends and finish the story out to it's full conclusion, for we have indeed reached the conclusion of this chapter. So let us begin with a summary of the yesterday evening's festivities before moving on to my larger point:

After meeting April and Kevin, it seemed only natural to ask them to dinner. "The Commissary" (a Memphis staple, I believe) was chosen, and our group of five (for our host, Nathan, had now rejoined us) settled down for some good BBQ and sweet tea, all of which I was very ready for. The conversation was not dull, and we parted ways with an extra bounce in our steps.

Before we parted, however, Kevin made this observation that I hope we have taken to heart and applied: "I really appreciate all your stories and your experiences," he said, "but I'm also encouraged that you're willing to talk about the times that things didn't work out quite right - the times you failed. Not because I'm glad you failed, of course, but it's encouraging to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't always get it right." Of course, I told Kevin, we all fail! Sometimes quite miserably! But that does not change the fact that we have been called to try, and it seems that our story has already been used to give other Christians that extra little push that they've needed to do just that.

Now, I have forgotten to mention that Kevin and April were not doing this with an entire group of similar students. They were not doing this as part of a church or even with a youth group. No, this was just their idea - to go out into the world and engage people as best they could. They had seen the calling, and they had decided to heed it just as every Christian should, which is the point I want to make now - we must all heed the call.

Now that doesn't necessarily mean that every Christian should be required to take a one-week hiatus once a year to go traipsing across the country (though it wouldn't hurt, I'm confident), but it does mean that every Christian is responsible to engage those people who are put in front of them and, more than that, to pursue those people. I don't think Christians are very effective at this quite often, and I am now more convinced than ever that it is due to fear, not a lack of ability. What the guy across the counter thinks of us is typically more important to us than his immortal soul. Not that we would ever put it in those terms, because if we did, we surely would realize our folly, but that perhaps makes the point all the more powerfully - we don't even think in those terms.

For the most part, Christians lead fairly comfortably, unobtrusive lives, leaving everyone else in peace simply in the hope that they will treat us likewise. But what kind of Christianity is that?! Certainly not the one I'm familiar with. The Christianity I know demands action and, if it's true as we believe it is, demands that a choice be made. We act as if the choice God gives humanity is not life's most important concern, and then we are surprised when others treat it the same way. If we truly believe that Christianity is true, then sharing that truth with other people is not something left only to "the elite," something meant only for specifically designated "missions trips," or even for grand road trips to other cities - sharing God's grace with other people should become a way of life, something as second nature to us as any other thing.

Now, this isn't to say that it will be comfortable at first; indeed, it may never be. After three previous "Louisville Slugger" outings, I still was not entirely comfortable with our outreach to Memphis late last night. Still, it was something that we felt we should do (especially since we wanted to get Nathan involved; that makes three so far!). But what I'm talking about is even more fundamental and less intrusive than this.

Alan and I were discussing how this trip has impacted us, as it has rather profoundly, I think. "Well, I won't ever be able to go into a coffee shop now without trying to strike up a good conversation with the barista," I said, "and I think I'll keep carrying a chess set around in my backpack - good hook if I'm not doing anything else."

"Yeah, we should make up some sort of 'evangelism survival kit,' and it should probably include keeping a couple of good books and a Bible in your pack," Alan added, "you never know when you'll have the opportunity to give something away."

Now these things are fundamental and easy, because this is where it begins to work into daily routine. People have told us that they admire what we're doing, but that they could never do it themselves. But everyone can; indeed, as Christians, we must! In our daily lives, some of these sorts of tactics should be included as everyday activities.

So, as I sit now in my own living room in Birmingham, Alabama for the first time in a week and a half, I'm beginning to look for ways to transform my area rather than someone else's. Imagine what could happen if we all did that? With a little prayer and tenacity, quite alot, I should think.

--Michael Taunton

Update #9.1 - In Which God Writes our Conclusion

When we walked into High Point Coffee, we noted the fact that this, at last, was our final coffee-shop of the trip. We assessed the situation: a man reading a book in one corner, a group of three students studying near the front, a lone barista, and a couple talking to one another around a round table. Lots of potential.

"You take the barista, and I'll talk to this guy about what he's reading," I told Denny, and we split.

-----

"Are you a Steinbeck fan?" I asked, noticing the cover of his book.

"Yeah, I like some of his stuff. I saw this one at the store today and figured I'd pick it up."

"Very well. I'm an English major, so I like hearing about what other people are reading."

"Yeah, well this one's a little more obscure, but Of Mice in Men and The Grapes of Wrath are both good ones. I haven't gotten far enough in this one to know."

A few minutes later, he and his son headed off to dinner. Time for a new target.

-----

Wondering how to start up a conversation with the couple, I was surprised to see the girl lean over and look at me. "I heard you say you were an English major?"

"Yeah, I am!" This was neat - someone engaging *me*.

"Well, I am too. Where do you go to school." I took this as an invitation to chat and didn't want to lose the opportunity.

"I go to Samford in Birmingham," I explained, picking up my bag and moving towards them. "I think I'll join y'all over here." As welcoming as ever, they smiled as I sat down across from them.

"What is that you're reading," the girl asked. These people were different. Genuinely interested in who I was and what I cared about.

"It's Through Painted Deserts - by Don Miller, the same guy who wrote Blue Like Jazz. Have you heard of him?"

"Yeah!" she said. "We've actually been going around giving out John Piper tracts."

"Really?" This was certainly something new. "Well, y'all would be interested in what we've been doing for the past week." At this point, Denny showed up.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Michael." "I'm April, nice to meet you." "And I'm Kevin." Somehow my name entered the fray as well.

"They've been giving out Piper tracts," I told my counterpart. "Anyways," I said, addressing Kevin and April, "we've been on what we call an evangelistic road trip..." And we went into story-telling mode. The two were intrigued as we told our tales, and eventually I asked them about their tract-giving.

"So what are y'all doing here?" I asked after their explanation.

"The same thing you are," they laughed. "As soon as you two walked in the door, we tried to come up with some way to engage you. 'They're wearing backpacks,' we said. 'We can ask them if they're students.' And then I heard you were an English major and thought, 'Hey! here's our chance to talk to them.'"

-----

So it was that here, in the very last coffee-shop of our trip, we met a brilliant couple, ready and willing - evangelizing to us.

And what a glorious conclusion! Written, we are confident, by the author of life Himself.

~Alan T. Halbrooks

Update #8.2 - What Goes On In Our Minds (In Case You Were Wondering...)

After pouring a few spoonfuls of honey into my o-so-delicious chamomile tea, I found a chair on the bar between two 20-sommat young ladies. It's always a bit odd striking up conversations with women only a few years older than yourself...to them and to any outsider looking on, it must seem like you're hitting on them. I don't like it one bit.

Nonetheless, I knew it needed to be done. So I sipped away at my tea for a few minutes building up the courage to speak to the first one. Just start saying something, Alan - it doesn't have to be perfect. If you wait till something good comes, you'll never do it. "Hey!" I said. Smooth. "Is that one of the new Macs?" She turned and looked at me. "Yeah. I think so."

"Well, how do you like it?" This was still a bit awkward.

"It's nice." "Yeah, mine's treated me well" and I pointed to my own. We talked for about half a minute more, but when she stopped making eye contact all together, I realized the conversation was over. Hmm - you can't win 'em all.

Five minutes passed as I sipped my tea, walked around the coffeeshop to find a newspaper, added more honey, and finally worked up the courage to try lady number two.

"Hi." I said. At this point I had to follow up. When your courage is sapped, sometimes you just have to start saying something and force yourself to keep talking. "Are you from around here?"

"I am," she said, almost happily - as if she was glad to have someone to talk to. This was encouraging.

"Well, I'm on a road trip and was wondering what sort of things there were to do in St. Louis."

"Oh!" she nodded. "Well, let's see....there's the Zoo, which is free, and Forest Park is just down the road from here. How long are you here?" Just today, I told her.

"Is it just you on the road trip?" At this point, I decided to ramp up the spiritual side of the conversation. Once you've chit-chatted a while, you can work up your courage a little more. And maybe she was a Christian already anyways. So I took the plunge.

"Well, it's just me and a friend, and we're doing something of an evangelistic road trip from Birmingham to Chicago - trying to initiate conversations with people about spiritual things along the way and such. The other day, we were in Cincinnati with the homeless all day. And yesterday we were in Chicago. The reason I was asking you about things to do in St. Louis is because we're trying to find something that can be unique to this city." She seemed somewhat intrigued, but didn't reveal whether or not she was a Christian. I took this as a sign to keep talking about what we'd done and seen.

I told her the story of the Louisville Slugger approach ('we said thus and such, and he said thus and such'), the different conversations we've had over chess games, and the like - hoping these stories would draw out where she was coming from. Also, they were an easy means of sharing the gospel with her.

"What denomination are you with?" she asked.

"Well, we're both Presbyterians - but we're more interested in the teaching of the Bible and Christ, and not in our denomination. If it ever departs from Biblical teaching, I'm not just going to blindly follow it. What about you...are you with a denomination or anything?"

She seemed surprised that I asked this. "Well, funny, actually. My mother was a nun. So I grew up Catholic, and I don't suppose you ever really stop being Catholic."

This would have been a good time for me to ask her what she meant by that, but instead I just said, "Hm. Interesting." I paused a moment and then said, "So did you grow up in a Nunnery, or how did that work? I don't think I've ever met the daughter of a nun..."

"You probably haven't," she said. "There's not too many of us."

I was thoroughly confused, but didn't really want to ask her how this daughter-of-a-nun business had come about. Eventually, I thanked her for her tips on where to go, and got up to add some more honey to my tea. By now, it had become very lukewarm and very sweet. I stopped by the table where Shannon and Denny were playing checkers. "She's the daughter of a nun," I told them.

"What??" "I'm gonna see if I can talk to her again...I didn't really know where to go in that conversation." So I went back and thought for a minute before re-engaging her.

"One more question for you." "Sure," she replied, and turned my way. "You said you were a history major. Has your study of history led you away from Catholicism? Because you said you 'never really stop being a Catholic' but sound like you don't really agree with it all."

"I wouldn't say history as much, because I didn't study much from that time period. And I still believe a lot of the central ideas about justice and such, but the church has become so stringent and political." She had an issue with women not being allowed to preach. "I think they should just change with the times. I mean I understand holding your values, but they turn away so many people because they want to be so conservative."

There were all sorts of way I could go now, and I'm still not sure I chose the best route, but I went ahead and told her that a lot of the people we had come into contact with over the last few days had had similar sentiments. Since the emphasis on the personal worked so well with Camille, I figured I'd give it a shot again.

After we talked for a bit, she seemed ready to end the conversation, so I finished with this: "Well, thanks for talking with me - I want to just stress that Christianity isn't about the institution, but about a personal relationship with God, and you seem to grasp that." I'm not sure she really did grasp that, but if she didn't it would at least encourage her to think about it.

"Yeah," she said, "maybe I've given you more information than you asked for, but that's just what I think about the church."

----

Not a milestone conversation by any stretch of the imagination. Really, I was somewhat disappointed, and even more-so now that I look back on how many different ways it could have gone. Still, I am reminded that we don't always get to be harvesters - sometimes we're the seed planters. I shared the gospel with her, and that, I know, has power that is greater than man.

~Alan Halbrooks

Update #8.1 - In the Shadow of the Arch

I have nothing great or profound to say after my previous post, which was slightly longer than I meant it to be simply because I also included some of today's activities in that post; they matched my theme. But, I do want to say that Alan, Shannon, and I went to the St. Louis arch today armed with a few Fixed Point resources and began handing them out to interested individuals. It was a highly successful venture (far more so than it was in Chicago), where we left resources in the hands of a few skeptics, helped give an intellectual foundation to a couple of Christians who felt beaten down, helped encourage a couple of Christians to be bolder with their beliefs, and armed a local pastor with some of the tools he might need to properly aid some of his congregates who were really seriously facing these issues.

We found ourselves empty handed in a matter of thirty minutes, which was a completely different response than we had expected after Chicago. It simply shows that just because a particular methodology fails in one circumstance, that doesn't mean it will fail elsewhere. We must constantly be looking for new and innovative ways to approach every situation, and that takes tremendous creativity since no two situations are identical. But God has been gracious, and he certainly was today.

Tomorrow, it's off to Memphis for the last leg of our trip!

--Michael Taunton

Update #7.2 - A Reflection on Bravery

As I comfortably sit in St. Louis after an exhilarating game of nerts with some friends from Samford, it seems that the heaviest part of the trip is over, and now we are in a sort of "falling action;" we have not stopped our evangelistic efforts by any means, but we have hit something close to a routine and have taken it a little easier the past couple of days. On the seventh day, God rested, and we have tried to follow in kind. The two of us are simply worn out - happy in our work, but worn out. I must say that after this trip (which will only be nine days long, in the end), I have a far greater admiration for Paul and his missionary journeys than I did before; how did the man keep going? Truly, he was spurred on by the Holy Spirit, because the emotional and mental drain of this trip has been incredible, and I've been on missions trips before.

All of this said, we have still managed to accomplish great things in the past couple of days, and that is largely due to the fresh blood that joined us - Will Dahl and Shannon Dille. Will is an old high school friend of ours who goes to school here and is working here for the summer; Shannon is a friend from Samford and the one whom we happen to be staying with, and both of them have proved invaluable.

We met Will for pizza on our way into the city (St. Louis style pizza, which Will accurate described as tasting like Easy Cheez on cardboard; I don't really recommend it, but we truly appreciated the gesture), and then we asked him if he wanted to come with us to do some "Louisville Slugging" late in the evening. He agreed and told us that he had some NIV New Testaments, and that certainly beat our KJVs, even if it was only the NT.

After this, we went to Shannon's house where we were settled in and then told her about our evening plans of "drive by evangelism" and asked her if she wanted to participate.

"I've never really done anything like that before."

"Well neither had we until a few days ago, and we're certainly not old hands at it now."

"But that's not really my kind of personality, you know?"

"Well, the funny thing is, I thought it was my kind of personality, but have become so intensely frustrated at how many opportunities I just watch go past because I'm too afraid to stick my neck out; if we have three good conversations in a day, we've done pretty well, and that's just sad when I consider in retrospect how many we might have," I offered; I cannot stress enough how true this statement is, either.

"Yeah, but you see, that's just the thing. You talk about 'three conversations in a day' like that's not very many, and I've probably only had three conversations like that in my whole life!"

"Not only that," Shannon's mother offered, "but it's probably easier to do it when you're not at home, too."

"Oh that's very true," Alan responded. "You can see that just from us! We had to leave the city before we felt at all brave enough to try something like this."

"But the point remains," I said to Shannon, "that you shouldn't think we're some super brave and courageous people for doing this; if anything, I've realized how cowardly I am on this trip, and I think Alan feels the same way. I'm angry at myself all the time for letting conversations slip by and for not making myself as useful to God as I could. You could do this, I'm confident, and the offer is there."

Only about an hour later, Alan and I were in the car with her on the way to ice cream as our own gesture of gratitude (it's about all we can afford). She knew what the plan was for afterwards, and had been reluctant to come along, but she wanted to make sure we stayed out of East St. Louis (high crime rate, we're told), and we told her that she wouldn't be required to do anything that made her uncomfortable unless she wanted to (because, of course, none of this is very comfortable). So we had a group for our evening activities. We picked up Will Dahl around 9:30 and were off to downtown St. Louis.

Now before I move on, I do feel the need to note that Will is absolutely perfect for this sort of role; if anyone in that car was completely comfortable with the situation, it was definitely him. Though his being oblivious to social expectations (he truly is oblivious) might irritate some people or even get him into trouble from time to time, in a context like this, it was exactly what was needed. I say this only to point out that there are probably some, Will being among them, who truly do not fear this sort of work, but the other three of us do not fall into this category. The trick is simply to be able to work beyond that fear.

But, coming back to our posse, we ended up in downtown St. Louis for probably an hour and a half, driving around without any luck for the first thirty minutes of this outing. Alan and Shannon were in the back busily dog-earing John 3 and circling verses 16-18 while Will and I navigated the city and looked for people who were by themselves and looked like they might be interested. After searching hopelessly for quite awhile, we hit on a flurry of activity, giving out six Bibles within about ten minutes! In the next hour, we probably talked to about eight different people, receiving positive reactions from some (very positive from a couple of people who were clearly looking for hope), and negative from others, especially from well-educated, white males - that demographic we still seem completely unable to crack. We felt surprise, encouragement, discouragement, joy, and all range in between during that next hour, and not just Alan and I, but our new companions as well.

It was truly fascinating to see how little of an advantage Alan and I (who had done this several times now) had over our friends. In spite of her earlier worries of being fearful, Shannon proved to be one of the boldest of the lot, very willingly asking questions, conversing with others, and handing out Bibles as if she were the old hand! We went on rotation, and Shannon never once showed any unwillingness to participate when her turn came around, though we would have thought none the worse of her if she had. Mustering the courage to do these things is very difficult, and I could well imagine some of the thoughts and fears that might be running through her head as they were also running through mine, but in the end, she was able to overcome all of them and never looked back.

"Shannon and Will were terrific!" I told Alan as we prepared for bed.

"Yeah, they really were."

"I mean, they really showed us up! Think about it: it took us four days of this kind of thing to get comfortable with an idea like that, and they did it right out of the gate. And in their home city, of all places! We still haven't done that! I mean, how can people look at us and think that what we're doing is really special when those two came along and did everything we did in one evening!" This was one of the few times where I considered being beaten a good thing.

The next morning, Shannon also wanted to accompany us to Kayak's coffee shop where we were going to try engaging people in conversation just casually or over chess. Alan succeeded in engaging a very interesting young lady casually while Shannon and I tried to attract people to our checkers game and were given some time to talk:

"You're really natural at this, Shannon. In spite of all your worrying that you couldn't do it, you really did well last night. You and Will showed the two of us up considering you had never done anything like that at all and we had a week's practice already." She responded very modestly and then made an interesting observation.

"It's really cool that you and Alan are doing this now because I've just been struggling lately with what you were talking about - seeing all kinds of opportunities show up in front of me, but then just watching them go by because I'm too afraid to say anything. It really frustrates me and I've wanted to change it, so maybe you've helped get me past some of that and just do it anyway, even if it does make me uncomfortable. I don't think there's any way that either me or Will would have been driving around St. Louis last night handing out Bibles if the two of you hadn't come here to do it with us. I think you kind of pushed us out."

We were interrupted right about here, which was unfortunate because the conversation was a very good one, but she had given me something to think about. Now this I could swallow; I do not think that Alan or I are really any more intrinsically brave or special than tons of other people, but maybe God has spurred us on to press just a tiny bit further, and the best thing that can happen with that is for it to push others just a little bit further too. We had done nothing for the two of them but show them a way, and then the actions were all theirs.

Maybe it's just strength in numbers, maybe it's just being shown a method, but whatever the case may be, I think the greatest thing we've done in the past two days has not (probably) been the things we've done for non-believers so much as it is the things we've helped Will and Shannon do. Alan and I have already discussed that we won't be able to go into a coffee shop without trying to strike up a spiritual conversation with the barista anymore, and if we can help bring that kind of clarity to other Christians simply by involving them in some of what we've done, and then if they go and do their own thing and involve even more people in it, then a drop could just become a ripple and maybe even a wave.

--Michael Taunton

Update #7.1 - For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

It's been far too long since I've interacted with children. A week, almost.

So when we started a game of chess with three middle-school sisters, it's no wonder things got out of hand. I'm normally a pretty energetic type. Put me with a group of children I've never met, fill me with lemonade, and I become like one of them. This is not always a good thing, but yesterday, I think it was for the best.

"Do you play chess?" I asked as Maddie walked by. "A little, but my sister is better."

"I'll play you!" her sister Emma chimed in. "Alright!" I exclaimed and cleared the board of the game Denny and I were playing (I was getting thoroughly destroyed, anyway).

As Emma sat down, the third sister showed up and pulled in a chair. As it happens, Maddie, Emma, and Jen were the daughters of the guy who ran our coffeeshop. The children didn't need to ask us any questions. To them, we were instant friends. - what wonderful people.

Before long, I was losing pieces like an old jigsaw puzzle. Emma's queen single-handedly took out half my army. Denny says I let her win. Really, I was just distracted by all the joy emanating from the children around us. They talked about mission trips they'd been on this summer, the new Abraham Lincoln penny that just came out today, summer reading, and whatever else came to mind.

Amid much laughter, we told them about our trip, about our job as youth leaders back home, and at one point the Halbroox Bros. production company. This is how it happened...

Emma: (moves queen and takes out another pawn)

"Now what are you gonna do?"

Alan: (after a look of horror)

"Hahaaaa! I think I'll do.....This!"

...at this moment several things happen. My rook moves into a trap, Emma shakes her head, and my arm takes my lemonade cup clean out...and straight into my lap. The little girls burst into laughter, and I can do nothing but join in.

If we weren't friends before, we definitely were now. Denny hopped up to get me some fresh clothes, and the kids joined in the clean-up-the-floor party. Before long, we were back at the chess game, and about the time Denny returned, my King had lost his head.

The shirt Michael brought was a Halbroox Bros. shirt, and after I had changed into it, Maddie saw me and asked, "Are you one of those people on the shirt?"

A remarkable little lad. Most people that even know my last name is "Halbrooks" don't make that connection. "Ha!" I said - "actually that one right there is me, and those are my brothers. We film movies, like our own version of the Lord of the Rings."

"You should do the Three Amigos!" ...wow...little did they know this was one of my favorite movies of all time. A moment later, the four of us were singing the Three Amigos theme song and saying things like "I'm Ned Needleander!" right out loud. The other customers must have thought I was a loon. I probably am a loon, but that's beside the point. The point is that children are grand. They're naturally observant, full of hope, and don't care to put you in a box.

After giving them a copy of The Little Prince and writing a note in the front cover, we left them as they were summoned home. I left there with a spring in my step. Re-energized and still laughing about the joy of life.

When Christ says "Let the little children come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," I can't help but think of their joy. The only reason some children have that much joy, you may tell me, is because they haven't been exposed to the evils of this world. But if we truly believe in God's love, in the hope and power of the Gospel, why should any exposure to the world keep us from experiencing the joy Christ has offered us?

"Because your love is better than life, O Lord," says the psalmist, "I will praise you."

~Alan T. Halbrooks