Hamburgers and Pixie Dust
A little store on the way to Groesbeck, Texas
The latest issue of Cereal Magazine came in and I just had to laugh. Cereal is one of the magazines that inspired us to start our own. In this latest edition, the Cereal crew goes to London and then to Sydney and then to Sri Lanka. They talk to John Pawson and Margaret Howell, designers not just for the up-and-coming, but for the ones who've already made it and then some. Cereal is, no doubt, breakfast for the jet set.
Us? We made our way down this past weekend to Groesbeck, Texas, a small East Texas town with a population of a little over four thousand. It was no Sri Lanka. We went there to talk to a man who has one of those giftings that Paul talks about in Ephesians 4 ("and he gave gifts unto men"). Whenever I sit next to him in church services, like I did on Sunday morning, I can feel the tangible presence of the anointing on him. It's like he's been dusted with a heavy, invisible pixie dust when it's in manifestation. Think of Charlie Brown's Pig-Pen, but in a spiritual sense, and you get the idea.
Downtown Groesbeck
We didn't have the chance to meet him in one of those Cereal-type eateries. No, we met him in a convenience store that serves hamburgers and fries because all the restaurants in town had closed for the night. It was, after all, 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday. Sitting there with our burgers under a dozen neon beer signs and people coming in and out buying gas, he said he'd be happy to be interviewed for Breath and talk about some of the grand experiences he's had with that distribution of the Spirit on him. See Hebrews 2:4 (the Greek word for "gifts" is "distributions"). He has also had a couple of visitations from the Lord. (I'm not talking about some dream sequence or weird thing like that. His experience is straight out of the book of Acts.) His interview will be the marquee article for our first edition. Groesbeck was all worth it.
Note: Cereal and its kin, Kinfolk and Water, are known for terrific photography and minimalist aesthetics. As you can see, this is going to be quite the challenge for us. Vibrant Christianity isn't usually found in designer studios, fashion houses, or contemporary art galleries, but on the highways and behind the hedges. (Luke 14:23)
