When Randy Alcorn shares your story...
Randy Alcorn shared my story on his blog. Randy Alcorn shared my story on his blog. Okay, I’ll stop. But, guys, Randy Alcorn shared my story on his blog. Before you click on the link below, we need major context here. The best way to provide this context is with a few small snapshots:
1 - I heard Randy (now that we’re buds, I can call him Randy, right?) preach a message at a conference when I was 18. I bought the CD, stuck it in my 1998 Hyundai Elantra and listened to it on repeat for approximately ten months straight. There are verses in the Bible that I cannot read without hearing Mr. Alcorn's (ok, the Randy thing was too much…) voice and specific intonation and enunciation. This messages shapes the way I live and think to this day.
2 - I read "The Treasure Principle" soon after this, and let’s just say that all-wise-18-year-old-me may have “over-applied” the concepts of the book. I made about $200 a month, and I gave about $190 of it away. I used to count quarters to fill my gas tank and thought having a savings account was morally abhorrent. When I got married, I entered the joint bank account with negative hundreds of dollars from all of the bounced checks to Compassion International. I don’t think Mr. Alcorn meant for this sort of situation. This book shapes the way I live and think to this day.
3 - In this same time period, I became obsessed with Mr. Alcorn’s book “Edge of Eternity.” One Christmas I bought 10 copies of the book. I gave eight away (“Why are all your Christmas gifts the same shape? Because I bought you all a gift that is guaranteed to change your lives forever, that’s why. You can thank me later.”), kept one to read (repeatedly), and ripped one apart so I could plaster my bedroom walls with it. This is not a joke. I actually plastered my walls with it. This book shapes the way I live and think to this day.
So, let’s jump back to wear I started. RANDY ALCORN shared my story on his blog. If you’re wondering how in all the world this happened, I’ll tell you exactly how it went down. I wrote my little blog post and sent it to him, 100% sure that he would never lay eyes on it but figuring I had nothing to lose. This is what is known as “swinging for the fences.” That was a sports analogy. I believe it was a baseball analogy.
I’m better with music, so here’s a Beatles analogy. Imagine (pun intended): You’ve always secretly played guitar in your bedroom, afraid for anyone to hear you. You finally get the courage to actually record your music and decide you’ve got nothing to lose by sending it to The Beatles. John Lennon asks you to play on his next album. I am the terrified, inexperienced guitarist. Randy Alcorn is John Lennon (in case you’re wondering, David Platt is Paul McCartney, John Piper is George Harrison, and I want to make Jerry Bridges the fourth Beatle, but I dare not compare him to Ringo.). I’m going to repeat it just one more time to try to get it set in: Randy Alcorn shared my story on his blog.
