IT'S BOB GOFF!

We woke up with the sun this morning to go on an adventure. Yesterday Julia, one of my bible study girls, sent me a screenshot of Bob Goff's tweet that he was coming to Muncie to speak. I did some quick investigating, texted Bob Goff fans and soon had a plan. Abby and I picked up her friend and some coffee on the way out of Indy and made the quick trip to Muncie. Commonway Church invited him to come speak and he agreed right away. My favorite part of the worship set had to be this girl rocking out in the back with a tambourine, xylophone and accordion. She played those songs like it was the most exciting thing she'd ever done.

I found out about Love Does last Spring and read it in a week, got the counselors at Tecumseh to read it last summer, am going through it with a group of 8th grade girls and recommend it every time someone asks for a book suggestion. Bob's book is filled with stories about how he doesn't just think or talk about love, love does stuff. It inspires you to action and it changes the way you grow in your relationship with Christ.

Bob put his phone number in the back of the book because he wanted to become more available to people in the same way that Christ did. I called him for the first time after I finished Love Does and discovered he was just as kind and welcoming as his book makes him out to be. I invited him to come to Tecumseh last summer but he couldn't because he always spends the summer at their house in Canada. Then when I went on the Homes to Hope trip in Mexico we went through San Diego where his office is. He invited us to come and drink lattes with him but the timing didn't work out. On New Years I made "Meet Bob Goff" one of my goals for the year not knowing how that would pan out. BUT TODAY DREAMS CAME TRUE!

We got to the church early enough to get seats in the center of the front row. I wish you could have all been there to see how energy oozes out of this guy, he laughs from his gut, he speak with his hand and his smile makes you feel like you're best friends. I take intense notes when I get to hear someone that I respect and admire so much because I don't want to forget a word. It's not the same as actually being there, but here's much of what I wrote down:

John 3 Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and deeds. 
God is not waiting for a show of hands to see who agrees with him. God wants people that go out and do stuff. We're going to go into the field, find the next step and do that.

I think we should all have bible doings instead of bible studies. God doesn't need people to stalk him, he needs people to love him with what they do. It's easy:

Love God, Love People, Do Stuff

Just point people towards Jesus, that's what we need to do

When they asked me to write a book I asked them to build a school. Then I told them I wanted to put my phone number in the back. I get 50 calls a day and I don't let them go to voicemail. We aren't Jesus but we can be more like Jesus. Let's not screen our calls. There's something beautiful about just saying "Hello."

I used to call my neighbor every day, but she got really sick with a cancerous tumor. And I told her I wasn't going to call her anymore. I went out and bought her walkie-talkies and started talking like that instead.  You know I think we live in this reverse economy of Jesus with walkie-talkies and tree forts because that's how we roll. 

We leak Jesus. My office is above a bakery. Do you know what it smells like? A hundred loaves of bread. We're the aroma of Christ. Bring a bread machine into your office. You don't have to put a bible verse on it, just do it.

They just translated Love Does into Arabic. Do you know the only word they couldn't translate? Dorky. It's hilarious. And now we're going to go and give the book to the new President of Libya. 

We're not trying to turn people into Christians. We're leaking Jesus.

Do you know the movie Hook? Do you remember when he is with the lost boys and they wipe off his face and hold his cheeks and say, "There you are Peter." I think Heaven wants to grab you by the cheeks just like that and say, "There you are." Jesus sees who we're becoming. 
He tells us over and over again, "Do not be afraid." If we can get that right we're loving extravagantly, we're riffing in the key of Jesus.

Most countries measure their progress by their Gross National Product. But one country said, "We're going to do this differently." Bhutan measures Gross National Happiness. They figured out that chances of something great happening are small until you start saying "YES!" to things. You can't just put a toe in life and feel it out, you've got to run and do a cannonball into life. Each morning I wake up and think, "Today might be the day I get to meet the king of Bhutan. And today is the day I get to point to the King and live like the King."

You know a lot of churches lay hands on people when they pray. But I think the body of Christ is like crowd surfing. We lift each other up and you don't let go till five other people have them. People will be lining up to follow Christ because it's working.

Live a life worthy of your calling. Not anybody else's but yours. You know what I do? Every Thursday I quit something. I quit something to make room for Christ to do something and fill that space. If you're married to someone you've got to make it work, but if you're just dating someone break up with them on Thursday! When they ask why tell them, "It's Thursday, I quit stuff." You have all this stuff that's blocking your view of Jesus. Just say, "I'm out," and give it up.

We get to come up with our own language for love. When people ask me to pray for them I hold them close to my heart, I breathe for them. And do you know what? I'm trying to be perfect. I don't go around telling people that, but I remind myself that being perfect is what I'm shooting for.

Once or twice something wonky is going to happen while you're doing love stuff. You'll get scared and stop being who you are. But God says "DO NOT BE AFRAID." You've got to keep being you. You've got to keep doing stuff.

Do you know what you're called to do? Be present. You've got to be there for your people.

Everybody wants to make a difference. But very few people are willing to be different.

When I fly I get to sit in these seats at the front of the plane. But after we land I always wait and let other people go first. I don't make a big deal out of it, I just wait until they all go. It's like the cool version of 'Left Behind.' I think we can find a thousand ways to love people.

God gives us these markers of what to do. Acts 1:1 Look for many convincing proofs that God is still alive. God wants to blow your mind. Isn't it great that Jesus' ability to forgive us isn't limited by our ability to get it?

Romans 8 Nothing can ever, ever, ever separate us from the love of Christ. It sounds like a Taylor Swift song.

We have this parade on my street every year. But everyone has to be in the parade, no one watches. And we always have a really special grand marshal. This past year it was this four footer from Uganda- the first person to ever survive a witch doctor and then take them to court. Well we thought how many balloons would it take to lift him up. We tied 1,000 balloons to this Ugandan kid and it was pretty awesome. When we're all connected like that we can do this. We've got to work the plan. And what's the plan? It's Jesus.

Bob prayed with everyone at the end, having us hold hands down the rows, and stepped down to hold Abby's hand. He stood next to me after he finished and the pastor stepped up for a closing benediction. Bob already told us he's a hugger, he doesn't shake hands, so I said, "Hi Bob," right away and I GOT TO HUG BOB GOFF.

I told him that I know he talks to hundreds of people everyday but I'm the Camp Tecumseh, Homes for Hope, 8th grade bible study girl that has talked with him a couple time. He was so excited that I'd called him and said he remembered those things. Whether he really did or not, he's so sincere and kind. More people were making their way up front to talk to him but he took the time to take pictures with us and sign our books.

We stayed up front for a little while longer as he talked to and hugged more people. We just wanted to soak up a little more Bob Goff. A few of our Young Life friends showed up for the next service and we could tell them that it was greater than we had hoped. It seems fitting that this Bob Goff adventure was so spontaneous and we just had to say yes. It's that easy. Love God. Love People. Do Stuff.