Miles McPherson - DO Something!: Make Your Life Count

DO
SOME
THING!

Make Your Life Count

Miles McPherson

2009 by Miles McPherson

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

E-book edition created 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-0725-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture marked NIV is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zonder-van. All rights reserved.

Published in association with Yates & Yates (www.yates2.com).

To my parents, Gene and Margaret, who raised me better than they know. Their love and friendship to this day keep me committed to finish strong.

To my wife and family, Debbie, Kelly, Kimmie, and Miles, for being very patient with my crazy schedule. The Five McPees keep my feet on the ground.

To my staff whose tireless work God uses to bring about supernatural ministry each day.

Finally, I want to dedicate this book to the potential that God has assigned to you, the reader. Gods dream for your life is screaming to come out and do something good for someone in need. My prayer is that as you read this book you give your potential the freedom to speak to you, inspire you, and move you to DO Something.

Contents

5. Brian and Haley: PassionNever Give Up
DO Something! Myth 1

10. Iva: Long Before You
DO Something! Myth 2

15. Francisco: Multiplication
DO Something! Myth 3

20. David: The Equalizer
DO Something! Myth 4

25. Noemi: Extraordinary Measures
DO Something! Myth 5

30. Rico: PassionFinishing Strong
DO Something! Myth 6

I walked directly behind the nurse without looking left or right. She was leading me through the intensive care unit. All I could hear was the hissing of ventilators, the beep-beep-beep of heart monitors, and the whispers of other nurses. I kept my eyes straight ahead and ignored the knot in my stomach.

A church member had asked me to visit a twenty-five-year-old woman named Tracy who had been in a terrible car accident. Of course I would. Thats what pastors do. I thought I was prepared.

The nurse stopped, and I glanced up. There. Oh no. That had to be Tracy.

The young woman lay flat, with a bunch of tubes coming out of her body and running into a machine. Small chains and straps from an overhead frame suspended her swollen arms, burned black and pink. Both legs were in straps too, and pointed toward the ceiling. Her knees were wrapped in white gauze. Thats where they had been amputated.

As I got closer, I noticed Tracys chest was bare. My eyes traveled up to her head. Chunks of blond hair had been burned away. One eye was completely swollen shut. The other one stared at me.

I imagined she had lots to say. Who are you? What do you want?Somebody please cover me up.

It was my first hospital visit as a young minister. I was a professional-football-player-turned-youth-pastor. And I was clueless.

I took another step forward and leaned down, introducing myself. I offered to pray for her.

Around the tube in her mouth, the young woman mumbled something.

Can I get you something? I asked.

She shook her head and mumbled again, this time a little louder.

I glanced around for the nurse, who was doing something a couple of beds away, and then asked, Are you trying to tell me something?

She shook her head and mumbled louder.

Again I asked, Do you want me to leave?

Again Tracy shook her head. This time she began to groan. She started to rattle her arms and what was left of her legs.

The nurse walked over and glared at me, as if Id yanked on Tracys chains or something. She draped a towel over her chest. I swallowed and moved to the other side of the bed as she tried to calm Tracy down. But Tracy wouldnt stop shaking and moaning. The nurse kept glancing at me with a disgusted look on her face.

I looked over my shoulder toward the door. Thats where I wanted to be: through that door and gone. I am in shape, I thought irrationally. I can jump this bed behind me and run out ofhere...

Then an orderly rolled in a gurney, right in front of the doorway. I was trapped! It felt like I was in a box full of antsanxiety was crawling all over me. All of a sudden my vocabulary was one word: Um...

Thank goodness it wasnt long before the nurse excused me from the room. She saved me. It is one thing to miss a tackle or let a guy catch a touchdown pass. But this was failure on a much higher level.

I remember walking to my car as fast as I could without breaking into a sprint. I wanted so bad to hide my Bible under my shirt. I was sweating with shame. I have no business claiming to be somepastor. God sent me there to encourage that girl. I failed herand Him.

Why couldnt I do something for her?

I eventually realized that before I could do something for Tracy, I needed first to do something for myself.

Before You Can Do Anything

I had walked into the hospital as Joe Pastor, the guy with all of the answers, on a self-righteous mission to do something good for someone in need.

But I was missing a huge step. I should have left the pastor title in the car. I should have walked into Tracys hospital room as a broken man who had spent time in my own spiritual hospital bed. Instead of expecting to do something for her, I should have come to do something with her: to hurt.

I should have known better too. After all, I had hurt before, both alone and alongside others.

At one point as a young man playing professional football with the NFL, I was living the dreamand dying a nightmare of a cocaine habit. I was cut from NFL teams three times, and God miraculously delivered me from my addiction in one day. Ill give you the dirty details later in the book.

I eventually made a commitment to serve the Lord and not myself. I had no idea what was in store. I became a youth pastor and evangelist, and eventually started the Rock Church. By our nine-year anniversary, we had become one of the nations fastest-growing churcheswhich simply means we have a lot of responsibility for a lot of hurting people.

I have, in my own small way, been Tracy. And I have seen many Tracyspeople whose lives have been destroyed by car accidents, severed relationships, paralyzing pride, brutal addictions, and smashed careers.

The only reason many of them survived their tragedy is because along the way there were people willing to do something and share the lessons of their own brokenness.

Making Your Life Count

The world needs you. Its broken.

Look around you. Were facing economic chaos, endless wars, AIDS, famine, ecological ruin, political corruptionthe list is endless. Your neighbors are in desperate need of love and a helping hand.