I just finished reading The Looming Tower  by Lawrence Wright. I was very familiar with the flow of the book given that so many of the blogs I read have commented on so many parts of the book. I know bloggers expect politicians to have et least read this book in understanding the threat we face from radicalized Islam. Most haven’t read this or anything else on the subject.

The book reads like a novel. I just picked it up at the Prescott Library book sale for 3.50 on Friday and finished it today. The author did a great job in painting the human side of Bin Ladin. I was amazed how much his organization was held together by his ability to pay a minimal salary. I’m sure salaries are still being paid by someone. The issue that struck me was the issue of “takfir”. This term surrounds the issue of Muslims killing innocents and fellow Muslims in their suicide bombings. Both suicide and murder are expressly forbidden with some exceptions for murder. One of them is if a Muslim has backslid or apostatized. This is the logic that says since the Muslims who died on Friday Sept. 11^th were not in prayer that morning they were not really Muslims.

I talked about these issues with the Muslims I knew in Zambia. The weakness of the law is that everyone is guilty of breaking it in one way or another. A radicalized Muslim could be manipulated to murder anyone. I read an article at a  West Point Website concluding that the war must be fought by overcoming and exploiting these doctrinal points within Islam.  In the book agent Soufan uses his Arabic and knowledge of Islam to break Bin Ladin’s captured body guard following the 9/11 attacks.

I am back to believing that part of the last days scenario is a resurgent Islam, but also God finding Muslims within that surge and bringing them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

You can’t help but remember your 9/11 experience as the book winds down with to the climactic attack upon the Twin Towers.

Just came out of an experience that has escaped me for at least the last 27 years. I was invited by “Mo” from the church to come down to his barber shop and get a haircut. He and his brother Carlos opened up about 5 years ago and do great business here in the town of Palmdale on 20^th East. I used to cut my hair myself for a few years before I got saved, that along with a once a month shave gave me just the right look. Since marriage Joan has been cutting my hair, doing a great job, but she has always wanted someone who really knew what they were doing to cut my hair. Admittedly, these days there is not as much hair to cut.

I was a little nervous about the visit. Would I get a buzz that was so popular these days? Would I be able or willing to communicate what I wanted? Do I even know what I want? The sign said “Razor Fades, Flat Tops, Tapers and Line Up”. I went into the shop. There were 6 chairs with 4 barbers working. Four in the chairs and about 6 waiting. I was greeted as I took a seat. Josh from church was getting his haircut with Carlos. He said he comes every Thursday. Mo would later tell me that that some of the young guys come twice a week. I watched these 4 in the chair all finish their haircuts with an obvious pride as they examined themselves in the hand held mirrors. I asked one guy how he felt, he said great. Mo apparently is a highly sought after barber, I patiently waited my turn.

I took my glasses off and took my place in the barber’s chair. I asked about the style of haircut the pastor gets. A #2 on the sides. This didn’t help much, so I just said give me what you give the pastor. Mo started to work on me and then said he would just give me a cut that would make me look good. I was relieved. He used the clippers but then started using hand scissors, like Joan does. He asked how my wife cut my hair and how long it takes. He then said he looks forward to the opportunities to give haircuts using more than just the clippers. I was now in that special comfort zone, confident in the barber and confident of the outcome.

As Mo was finishing I asked a young lady who had come into the shop to admire the finishing touches that Carlos was putting on her boyfriend if she would grab my camera and take a picture. She did. After a short haggle over the price, free or a little something, I proudly put my glasses on and headed out the door with many thanks and goodbyes. You already know what the first thing I did was. Yes, I looked in the mirror. It was difficult driving back to my hotel, while watching traffic and myself in the mirror the whole way. Back in my room I took a closer look, yes a fine job, with fine lines, yes, this is what everyman needs. I see now why Josh comes once a week. It’s more than just a haircut.

In preaching at different churches you quickly begin to identify with the church and the struggles of the different individuals in the church. It affects the sermons and it affects the preacher when he prays for people. This sense I get when I preach I compare to God’s sense “who knows our anxieties”. And just as I will try and preach in such a way to touch upon issues of the heart, responding to the people coming to hear me preach, I know God does so much more when people respond or call out to God. So much of my job is to convince people to reach out and “touch the hem of His garment” and that he knows all about what is going on and will be able to help a person who looks to Him.

A young man from the church took me out for a burrito last night after church along with the pastor and some other young men. He was the son of one of the families in church. He had joined the Marines and now was working on helicopters at Edward’s Air Force Base. He talked about going to Boot Camp saved and how it helped him minister to people. Boot Camp takes away all of the fronts that allow the Marines to shape a man into the Marine he needs to be. It also is the perfect time, minus all of the identity games, for a person to hear the gospel and pray. Danny shared preaching opportunities that have followed him from coast to coast as a Marine and probably to Iraq in the future.

At one point he was allowed to attend chapel services with his fellow soldiers. The sermon was a little lukewarm. The next week it was the same sermon, so he asked the chaplain if he could have some time in the service the next week. The chaplain agreed and all week he prayed and prepared a short sermon. The next Sunday came and he preached his heart out and held an altar call. The chaplain was awe-struck as 17 soldiers raised their hands and came forward to pray.

What I enjoyed most about this story was the chaplain’s reaction. He could have been offended. He could have taken this as a personal shot against his ministry. But, instead he joined with the excitement of the moment (“he who is not with Me is against Me”) announced a Baptism service the very next Sunday. Many of us in ministry get stuck in our ruts forgetting that we carry the words of life and that these words are powerful (“to the discerning of the heart”). 

I left Prescott Valley Saturday for Palmdale going past my turn on Hwy 89. I had just started mentally and prayfully rehearsing my present circumstances before God. So I just continued onto Williamson Valley Rd which I thought would angle back North on 89. The road kept going past some nice houses and eventually some nice ranches and then turned into a dirt road with a warning and a mileage marker of 45 mile to Seligman.

Never have been one to backtrack I continued on through the National forest and the ranches that share the space. I only saw a couple of pickups and some hunters in jeeps along the road. The monsoons had left a beautiful green covering upon all of the landscape. I think I passed the beginning of the Verde river, although I am not sure, (see picture) and am looking forward to taking a short camping trip into the area in the future.

Having arrived in Palmdale around 5:30 I went down to the park for the church outreach. I was surprised to see lots of people in the park. The rapper had about 30 kids sitting in chairs listening to his songs. The next morning we had about 10 visitors with 5 responding to the altar call. After service I had a young man come up to me saying: “So this is Kevin Hansston”. I thought some terrible event from my past might be coming to haunt me, with nerves of steel I waited. It turns out that Anthony had been asked years ago to pray for a missionary and he had chosen our family. He had faithfully prayed for us for a whole year. He mentioned an email and my response and I do remember responding to his email. When I mentioned this to Joan she said she remembered the email and mentioned how little we know about the power of prayer in all of our circumstances. She mentioned that sometimes she prays for Sandra Bullock.  

I am back home after a great revival in Green Bay with Pastor Roger and Linda Fisher. Of course the really big news of the week was the opening of Packer practice. I finished the revival praying for a young man named Frank in the church. I had been praying about him during the week and spoke to him about falling in love with the word and even went further with a specific suggestion for him.

One of the more gratifying experiences in Zambia was a Sunday school series based upon the suggested topics of the congregation. In one week we had 70 topics so I quickly closed the listing. I then slogged through 70 weeks. They were great bible studies. Needless, to say the leading beneficiary was me as I did the studies each week. We ended by turning it into an outreach program in which we published the 70 topics on a hard piece of paper and then folks could ask people what subject they would like to know about and then do the study with them. Each Sunday morning I would be writing down the topics and the number of copies that each person would need and spent my afternoon making copies. We eventually published them in a handbook for all of the church members.

With this in mind my suggestion to Frank was to ask people he worked with and anyone else he knew to give him suggestions of topics that they would like to know what the bible says about the given topic. It turns out that Frank loves digging into topical discoveries so it could be a perfect tool for him. We will see what happens.

This last trip was my returning to the realities that await me with pioneering in the future. I went on two outreaches. As I thought and prayed about Frank I began to run with the idea myself. You could post flyers and people could email you topics and you could respond via email and include church activities with the email. You just have to run with ideas, just no sense walking given the times we are living in.