Guest Blogger – Guy Richards
I just wanted to give all of you who read my blog a chance to celebrate in one of our many victories at Shore Fellowship. Just this week our church and Patmos Park were highlighted in Outreach Magazine. Guy has played a key role in this vision being realized. I hope you enjoy his story.
GUY RICHARDS
From hustling crack to loving Jesus and the concrete skate park that popped up.
It all started with the lure of what I saw and heard growing up. It is almost surreal as I remember back to my younger years. I remember looking at people as they clawed and fought to get to this place called “I made it.” This place was said to have it all. The girls, the money and all the fame which would lead to total contentment. It was what few people had but what everyone seemed to be going after.
I too bought into this dream. My plot was if I can get the money, all these other things would come. My way of getting the money started with selling drugs. I started selling weed in middle school and progressed to crack by the time I made in to high school. Which had a better return and hooked people in.
I was getting the cars, cloths and the quick fame that came with it. This pursuit of success followed me as I got out of high school and into legal business. At the age of 20 I was running a clothing company I started called ENVE. It was an urban clothing line that was growing fast. I got kicked out of AIPH in Philly for a gorilla marketing a sticker campaign. I was in and out clubs vending and started getting distribution. During this time ENVE showed up on one of Mtv’s shows.
People around me started seeing this and assumed I was going to be the next young millionaire. But I started to notice my friends were more focused on what they could get from me then just being my friends.
One Friday my little brother got locked up for following in my footsteps. We couldn’t bail him out over the weekend. When Sunday came my mom was so stressed she asked me to go to church with her. We went (Shore Fellowship- then it was called Trinity) and Pastor Tim Chambers was talking about envy. I couldn’t believe it. ENVE was the name of my clothing company and it was talked about in the Bible.
By the end of the service he asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ. I raised my hand and really wanted change. I got it. Every time I would open the Bible it would speak to me. I told God if He showed me he was real I would sell out my whole life. He did and I struggle to hold to Him as He has been doing things like PATMOS I can only explain was Him.
One thing I didn’t tell you was I grew up racing bikes and motocross. It was bread into me to love everything from snow boarding to bridge jumping.
Seeing that Pastor Tim wasn’t your average priest or pastor. I would randomly mention that we should build a skate and bike park. Well after a few years he pushed me to start it. And the story started. My brother who got locked up just got saved and heard Pastor Tim say to just get started. Well that’s all he needed. He pulled his chain saw out and started cutting. That was the 3-4 year process of getting this concrete skate and bike park in the ground. During this time we saw the community and church come together to build this 550k-650k park for 80k. It was a lot of prayer, blood, sweat and fasting.
The second kid from PATMOS who gave his life to Christ (Casey Doyle) is now running the daily operations and we are seeing all kinds of ministries grow from this. We now let roller blades, skateboards, scooters and bikes in at the same time. We are the only free community park in the country with dirt jumps. And God sent a guy from Los Angeles who is starting a graffiti ministry. We let kids come in and spray paint the park. It has really become a community of love for the kid/adults who normally don’t fit into the classic ministries. And would really would be unreached other then this ministry.
This last Sunday I saw 4 kids (one with his mom) come to a Sunday service.
Boy can I ramble about this.
Wild Goose Chase – Review
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (www.markbatterson.com). He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.
He has written another book called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. If you liked that book you will Love his new book. It’s called Wild Goose Chase.
If you are wondering what this book is about read this summary.
Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect.
“Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….
Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.” –from the introduction.
Make sure you check out Mark’s 10 steps for setting life goals.
You Can find the book at:
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.cbd.com
www.familychristian.com
www.parable.com
On a personal note I was challenged right out of the gate in chapter 1 when Mark asks the question, “I wonder if we have clipped the wings of the Wild Goose and settled for something less-much less- than what God originally intended us for”. I hope you grab the book and put in your lineup of favorites.
99% Honest
Did John Edwards hear what he said? “Being 99% honest is no longer enough”. What???? Is that even possible? You either are or your not. I’ve got news for you Senator, 99% honest has never been enough. I can’t imagine as a kid saying, “we are going to play 99% Truth or Dare”. He not only doesn’t understand the concept of truth, he obviously can’t handle the truth.
I always tell my kids, the moment you lie to me you damage the relationship forever. If their answer was, “I told you 99% of the truth”, that wouldn’t get it for me. I remember Just a few years ago the Governor of New Jersey say in his speech admitting to his indiscretions, “Everyone has His or Her own Truth”. It seems that we live in a society where the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is not what matters anymore.
Well, I know it matters to God. David said in Psalm 51 that God desires truth (which is 100% by the way) in the inward parts. Jesus says that He is the truth and that knowing the truth will set you free. God is all about truth and He will settle for nothing less than 100% honesty. It reminds me of the words to an old Billy Joel song that I think expresses the heart of God.
Rise Of The Silver Anniversary
In 35 minutes I will have been married to Donna for a Quarter Of A Century. Wow, that went fast. The thing that I have come to appreciate is not all the assests ( haha) that we have to show for those years together, but the things those years have produced. I truly believe that God blessed me with one of the best wives in the business. She has always been a model of what you look for in a wife, mother, and fellow laborer. No matter what she has always stood firm by my side. Believe me, anyone who could put up with me for 25 years should be given an award. It’s not often you celebrate a 25 year anniversary and I am proud to be able to say “Donna, I love you even more with every year that goes by”. So, Happy Anniversary!!!!
Audited
I had to visit the tax man today. For the first time in my life I am being audited by the IRS. The thing that they wanted to examine was my contributions. I have to be honest, I was a little amazed that they were challenging my integrity. Who are they to question me? During my appointment they made me feel like in their minds I was guilty before I even came in. I was told that I need to bring in more “proof” to substantiate what I gave to the church. Apparently they felt like the church would forge documents for me.
WOW, what does that tell you about how the church is viewed by the world? It’s one thing to let someone evaluate you, it’s another for them to just intrude into your life. It was in that moment that I remembered a verse that I had shared with the church just yesterday;
So what was I saying about the IRS? I think the least of my worries is the tax man. How is that for a wake up call? We have a God that watches us every day and He has every right to “intrude” into the lives of His children. We need to be more like David who begged God to “intrude” and not just that but to let him know where his life didn’t measure up so he could get in alignment with God right away. Thank you God for the reminder today.
