September 30th, @ ASU
I'm sure you guys have heard about the death of Kyle Lake, especially if you went to the Crowder concert. Kyle was the pastor at University Baptist Church on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, TX. While standing in the water preparing to baptize a girl on Sunday morning, October 30, Kyle reached out to adjust a microphone and was fatally electrocuted. There were 800 people watching. He had a wife, a daughter, and two twin boys.
I can't really say why this story had such a profound impact on me...but I couldn't get it off my mind for days. I was driving to work when I heard on the radio that a pastor named Kyle Lake was killed in a baptism accident and I knew I had heard that name before... and then it hit me. The week before I read an interview with David Crowder and he told of how he had helped start a church at Baylor in 1995 and he still led worship there almost every Sunday (even when he's touring). That intrigued me, so I checked out this church's website and read a little about it's leaders, including Kyle.
I can usually shrug off questions asking "why" with ease. In fact, such questions generally irritate me, man putting God on the dock whenever it's convienent. But the components of this situation are heartbreaking:
- 33 year old man with a wife and three young kids
- Pastor, life devoted to serving God and elevating Christ
- 800 people watching who loved their pastor of eight years dearly
- 800 people watching who had to witness first hand the horrendous death of their pastor
- a pitiful young woman about to be baptized
But my demand to find answers to this problem yeilded more than I expected, leading me suspect (ahh- hemmm) that God is up to something here. Kyle wrote a book last year called "Understanding God's Will". In it he explores the implications of actually believing Romans 8:28 even in the face of unspeakable tradgedy. "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." He really believed it, and I think I do too.
Below is the end of Kyle's Sermon that he never got to deliver on Sunday. But he wrote it down, and it got read at his funeral.
Live. And Live Well.
BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.
On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.
Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed.
If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old’s nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.
If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well.
At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift.
