Brave Men S2E19: Keeping Hope Alive In The Midst Of Tragedy

I'm sure you were shocked like I was when we heard the news about Kobe Bryant his daughter and their friends and the pilot Who died in a helicopter crash? I was shocked about it and then as I began to look at it. I thought They gave us a path Something that Kobe and his daughter Gigi did that morning Really opened up something new for me and in particular the prayer that they prayed together That morning when I found that out It began to put a number of things into place for you and I And really it's about keeping hope alive. This is brave men. I'm Paul Cole It's brave men with Paul Lewis Cole Wisdom encouraged for the journey Sunday morning January 26 before boarding that helicopter They went Bryant they went to a mass their church our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach and Avian Names Vickert conducted that Sunday Mass was a 7 a.m. Mass father Anthony Vue and and in the back of that church on that Sunday morning mass a dad and his daughter slipped in the back They didn't want to be seen necessarily to cause any commotion because he was very famous and that was Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi and They had communion together before they then went and got on that helicopter in which they and six of their dear friends passed away and the pilot Now as I reflected on that I begin to look at it and say You know first of all there's Brian that shock of You know somebody that's Prime of life He's an icon. He's well known. This is not a thing that happens You know Brian. It's not the shock that somebody gets in an accident. There's Just in the United States. We have 500 people every day die from accidents You know different types of things whether it's you know a car wrecker or poison or just a number of things that happened and Yet here was this moment that touched each one of us so deeply And as I began to look at Brian I saw something I thought man they went to come now he didn't have to do that Brian Let me think about that He's he's well known he's he's You know, he's worth a lot of money. They're busy. They have a lot to do But he thought it important to take his daughter and go to 7 a.m. Mass that Sunday morning Through remarkable Yeah, you know that it's I think any any one of us have been affected by a sudden tragedy. I about a year ago A very close friend of mine Died suddenly of heart attack just he was actually He was actually on a Skype call with a with a client and and as I understand it he he just collapsed on the Skype call And it it shook us to our roots. Yeah, so and I had somebody questions why why why does this happen How do you answer that question why how does one answer whether it's a Tragedy or something in the news or a financial situation How do you keep hope alive? You know, and I think that's where where when I begin to look at what happened with Coving his daughter Brian it really hit me because I I actually went and read the service that they Were at in other words, there was a liturgy in a In a sacrament and in a Eucharist communion and in fact we call a communion. It was That's a colloquial term. It's really called a sacred communion or the Eucharist and in a lot of places or the Lord's supper and I read one of the prayers and here's one of the prayers they prayed together that day So we need to talk about how do you how do you do this? Yeah, I think Brian as a follower of Christ what I've discovered Is there really isn't too many places in fact there's no other place that I know of that I can put my faith and say okay This is where my hope is but to know that Jesus Christ has my life And so this is the prayer listen to this prayer that they prayed that morning They prayed this prayer. It's the second prayer of the Holy communion and it says this oh my Jesus. I firmly believe that thou art present in the most adorable sacrament I love the above all things. I desire to receive the into my heart Come my Jesus. I give thee my heart and my soul Let me be united to thee forever Amen And they prayed that prayer and in that moment here's here's here's where I want to take this Brian in that moment I believe they gave you and I a path To bring hope back into our lives when we hit something that's hopeless and here's what it is communion means Fellowship it really means the biblical definition and the true definition means Deep fellowship a sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts feelings On a mental or spiritual level so that's communion in fact communion of the saints Was an early church declaration and it said it meant we are the church. We are the body of Christ the communion of the saints So here's here's my key and this is what I saw out of this because I saw people coming together After this and and the way when you said you were shook to your core and yet what happened after this here's where I believe It happens Hope Comes from the Lord But it is delivered by people So so we receive this this deep sense of God in his presence and the Holy Spirit And we receive that and yet I believe our hope isn't just In something we can't touch. It's in something we can touch and that's communion or community So our words our actions our love towards each other In in in acts the second chapter in when it talks about the early church and how the early church came together it says they were Mutually linked to one another in other words they they were in communion Says they were in fellowship they shared and of course we know those scriptures were out of generosity They begin to give each other people that needed help they gave them help Now that to me Is how hope Gets delivered Can god he's a donkey to deliver hope Yeah, I think god can't because he's used me Yeah, I think so I think god can use Any of us in fact in fact it is our each of our responsibility To deliver hope we in fact, let me take it a deeper place. We are all carriers of hope if we are followers of Christ What the Bible says is within us is the hope of glory within us resides the presence of Christ himself right So when when I'm with someone else and I speak it doesn't even have to be a oh thou art verily Highly praised my friend Brian It can be yeah, if you could talk to me in King James from now on that's right Yeah, well it would be a little more holy uh And and of course, you know with the with the priest, you know Garb that you wear most of time. I'm sure that's how most people address exactly right. Yeah, you speak So the but the reality is just saying hey Brian, I'm excited about you know the new project you're doing I mean just a generous word where it's not just about me, but it's me A firming you just little things, you know Brian. We are so Um Hope deficit is that is that a concept? I think it is now We should podcast yeah into existence So we're hope deficit and what happens is We so much talk about our stuff right I mean Instagram it's about art now I You know, I understand it because we're sharing what's going on, but it's still it's me talking about me So often and yet When it's so when I talk about you I'm bringing hope back into the equation so you find hope and being with each other I mean think about think about this early church when it says they came together and they begin to pray with each other And they had this miraculous explosion of the presence of God himself And the Holy Spirit is only 50 days after Jesus was killed You know the upper room the whole pentacost thing the whole speaking in tongues and and tongues of fire and all of that that happened That's only 50 days after Jesus was killed and I know we know he resurrected 500 people saw him But there's chaos going on people are being dragged into jail. There's persecution. It's dangerous And what did they do? How did they found hope? They gathered together and in the midst of gathering together God was in the middle of that Bam stuff starts happening miracle starts happening But how did that? How did all that happen? They were together they were in community Mm-hmm This isn't this isn't just for We've got a diverse audience that listen to the podcast Paul so You know when you when I think about communion I as a growing up a AG guy So they've got I think about it differently than a person grows up in the Catholic church thinks about it And and so there's that physical aspect of communion But then you also talked about the communion being just together as a as a group being together as in fellowship Yeah, communion of the saints that's that's how they actually talked about The church in the early church. This is the communion of the saints So quite often we just say well communion and we think of this you know the The littered you know the you know the the holy communion the the uh, right Cracker whatever it may be the bread and the wine and following the last supper and all that but but communion and it's Deepest sense is not just that it's it's the sharing of our lives together It's it is literally community Comes from communion and so when those people were all together in the upper room that community Actually got breathed into the Numa the Ruak the breath of God Actually got that actual breath that breathed into that moment Filled them with the presence of God, but it filled them with hope. That's why they begin singing It says they begin singing making a joyful noise That's why you know when we do music and in most of our churches You know, it's not just about doing music It's about actually the breath of God the joyfulness of having the hope So you know when we talk about this path of communion It's it's community. It's us being together and and of one accord I I believe that that when we don't do that Whereas I've got a a a number of people who've told me why I watch my church online and I'm good Well, I don't know how you do community online in fact It's it's become sort of humorous because you can have Facebook and have you know 600 friends But you don't know 598 of them It's really true. It's really true So you can't tell me that now I I like If I'm on a road or I'm traveling or I listen to podcasts. I listen to Phil Pringle my pastor and his messages and those sorts of things And I think it's great. I've got friends who who When they travel and that they're up at one of the at a home up in the mountains They'll put their church on and they'll worship right there with their church, but when they're home when they're there They're there They go they're there in community touching each other loving each other affirming each other And that's really I believe again. I come back to this You know God gives us hope, but I believe it's delivered by people I think it's sometimes the most interesting person too You know you never would have expected Somebody to to greet you or say something and you carry that with you and you're like wow that really I needed that Yeah, um, it's it's I don't know that it has to be a pastor. No, I mean it could be Your your auto repair guy. I mean, I just think it's the most it could it's it can be the most unique individual that comes into your life Or it comes across your path and and it encourages you you know when you look at the life of Jesus You know, he was always with people He was always with people when you read that's right about him He's with these guys or that person or he's going to you know, Zacchaeus's house, you know It in fact he was so often with different sorts of people that That was one of the knocks on him. He hangs out with ungodly people What kind of Messiah could he be can't be the Messiah? You know and and he's in the synagogue and he was always with friends. He was very seldom alone And and when you think about the stress on him as a man Right all man all God all God all man When you think about when he prayed, you know, even that right before you know after that last supper and it says he The capillaries on his forehead begin to bleed with the sweat of his prayer And well that intensity Now, which is a real thing it actually physically does happen to people in certain situations of intense stress When we think about the intensity of that think about the intensity of of every day And think about how his friends Were there To be friends community how he found life in that How he find found joy in hanging with his friend Lazarus You know Lazarus was a close friend the one the man who lived in Bethany in fact one some places He's called Simon the Tanner also, but here's Lazarus. He's a really close friend In fact, he's such a close friend Brian. He didn't make him a disciple I think it's a family put him on staff. Yeah, I didn't put him on staff But you know, I mean think about it. He he had Lazarus so he had somebody he could decompress with And Lazarus had a sister who could cook so when he went to his house You know, you always got some good food and then there was Mary who was a little dangerous So there was always some fascinating conversation. I'm sure But I mean think about think about having a friend like Lazarus Where where he could just Kind of just go oh man, you know if James and John's mother Shows up again You don't want them to be the greatest Both of them are out. I'm just telling you they're out You know, I mean Or or can you imagine him sitting with Lazarus going man? You should have seen it there today. Oh, yeah, what happened Well, I kind of freaked the guys out. I walked on water You bet. Yeah, it was unbelievable. Yeah, it was you know, it was a mill of the night Freaked him out. Yeah, now Peter, you know, did his credit get out of the boat. What happened then? Well, he began to sink Well, what'd you do? I picked him up. Put him back in the boat I mean think about think about having somebody you can share with a friend And Jesus had friends and Lazarus was one of them and and that's a whole other Thing you can go into but the fact is is that is that communion community That's where we get built up with hope and and so the whole starting point there of Cobe and his Daughter and I think of Vanessa's wife and and the other loved ones and the Family who who in fact just a couple days ago celebrated the The baseball coach and in his wife and daughter And he think of the daughter and son The son who works with the Boston Red Sox and daughter who's still in high school And what's what's happening? Well the brothers there. There's other friends there. There's other family And so that they're finding hope in community I mean it always comes back to that that if we'll stay in community And if we'll be in community our lives will be built up With hope so gods are hope but I believe that spirit of hope is delivered by people You know, it's this We can all look back on our lives at a situation that's affected deeply And maybe there's a situation you have in your life Where you don't think there's any way out I know that I go back to 9-11 and Being homeless at the time and living in a hotel And my wife and I were sitting in a situation where there was no hope Yeah, I mean no one knew it was good And we're sitting in this hotel and there's a knock on the door And a gift basket shows up from our former church where we used to live A couple years prior in another state And in this gift basket there was a Gameboy for the kids. There was a little snacks. There was some stuff for my wife. There's some stuff for me And the hope that was delivered in this basket and here it is 20 years later And I'm getting I'm actually looking at my arm. I've got goose bumps as I say this But hope was the hope was to learn in a gift basket ball Wow and Timing was incredible Timing couldn't have been more fascinating and and so so God orchestrated that even before I knew I needed it or we needed it And I just think that that the situation you're in you may not even know How you can move forward but God's already there. He's already thought about this He's already thinking about who you should meet who you should talk to I just know that God hasn't planned You know, I think you know see my thing is this is that Is that God has a plan but that plan is work through people And right and I believe that every time you say a kind word I believe every time we affirm somebody in fact You know one of the things I read the other day in in Proverbs was It basically said selfish people are always consumed with their own stuff And their words don't help anybody And and I thought about that man, you know, it's so right in fact Is it goes down in that chapters it talks about how selfish people are very critical of others You know, it's so easy to criticize particularly in this in this hyper contextualized You know everybody knows what's going on. We see everything. It's it's just an oversaturated World trolling And it's easy very negative with stuff around us And I mean just I just think about it just even the server who's helping you when you're at uh, you know at at Chick-fil-A And and you're getting something to eat and person to put the right number of Chick-fil-A sauce things in there or something You're like yeah, and you're like hey, you know I supposed to get I mean come on So Smile at them say hey, uh, can I get one more? I mean Well, we don't know everybody else's story, but what we do know is that we can deliver hope By being hope and by being who Jesus was on the earth You two two quick anecdotes add anecdotes and anecdotes um My uh my daughter is currently looking for an apartment in in New York City and she called the yesterday Paul And she found this apartment up in the 90s on the west side and and she goes you know what dad The super who showed us the apartment smiled when he showed us the apartment And she said she said no one smiles anymore wow That funny just as as fresh as today's headlines yesterday. Mm-hmm, and um I just think I think that goes a long way and and uh and I go back to another story of when my wife was going through breast cancer She always had the joy of the Lord she smiled and she had the joy of the Lord is her strength Yeah, and so many people she's met that have had different forms of cancer and so forth I said do you know I remember When you're going through chemotherapy you always had a smile and you always had joy And the impact she never knew the impact that would have on other people So we feel like God used her and that that spirit of joy to impact others going through situations Yeah, and that brought hope. No, that's community. Those are that brought awesome Yeah, you know the miracles of Jesus, you know, and Jesus is on the earth You know he didn't do all his miracles on a stage most of them happen in somebody's house That's right. Yeah, or the farmer's market You know they happen to the farmer's market somebody's house or his house, you know You know that mark two where they cut the hole in the roof Uh, that's his house That's his house Wouldn't you like to been there and see that I mean he didn't he he yeah, I mean, it's just it's crazy because what he looked at he would look at anyone All right, okay fine. I know some guys who can fix that and so his whole his whole thing was He didn't go negative on him. He didn't He he was like, you know what this is about hope. This is about somebody's life and And uh, maybe Brian what we need to do is um You know what Kobe showed us His daughter that morning is They got up early their flight wasn't they weren't catching that helicopter until nine o'clock And in knowing that area a little bit. I know they were probably only about a 20-minute drive over there So They didn't have to do that but but he had a path and he had a an idea of what He wanted to do in his life and that was to be in Community and he was moving into a whole new place in his life And I think that That picture right there that picture of Communion community Love affection everything about that If we could live that way think of how many people's lives we would touch And think about how different things would be if we had that kind of That sense Of everybody has a story not just us And that if we're going to have hope in this world We're going to be the ones delivered That's great. Thank you Paul I'm sure Folks have questions and thoughts so please have a chance if you have a chance to drop Paul an email Paul at cmn.men And Paul you read you don't send them to spam right you read these emails. Yeah, they get read Yeah, no, yeah, it doesn't yeah, it doesn't go to the left turn right turn something. Yeah No, it goes right to Paul and For more, you know, I guess uplifting Content and if you'd like to learn more about cmn We encourage you to go to cmn.men on your and your favorite browser of choice And there's this particular book if you click on resources in books. There's a book called just a bartender And Paul wrote this book and it's only it's relatively new But it talks about one of the topics is how to overcome Obstacles and so I'm not I know there's other resources in their Paul But I'm wondering if just a bartender wouldn't be a good a good choice for someone to look at and and read If they're going through a situation. Oh, I think yeah, I think it'd be great Yeah, overcoming obstacles and then there's also detox which is about getting set free of the toxins It's so easily get on us. There's a lot of great resources strong men and tough times is something that I'm uh speaking on right now quite a bit you know the life of Daniel how to Daniel overcome the obstacles in his life Some pretty heavy stuff and yet he he thrived in the middle of chaos So for for our podcast listeners if you go to cmn.man and click on resources The 10-day detox series is normally $50. It's hey, it's only $35 right now So say $15 so I'd encourage you to go ahead and grab that and um and please tell a friend about the podcast We're available on Stitcher iHeartRadio Spotify Apple Google Anywhere you get your favorite podcast you can listen to the brave men podcast Uh Paul thanks again for uh sharing today and we will see you next time here on the brave men podcast You've just experienced brave man with Paul Lewis Cole Paul is president of the Christian men's network connect with Paul at cmn.man or write to him at Paul at cmn.man You