The flight was without incident and we had little turbulence. I met several new friends including Allen Ford from Memphis, TN. Allen works for Ford and his job moved his family from Chicago, to Dallas, and then to Memphis. We met while “exercising” in one of the galley-ways.

He couldn’t help but notice that we had a large group of fifty people on board and shared his curiosity to learn more. Allen’s response was similar to those in Ireland who found it amazing that a group of people would spend their holidays helping others who they haven’t met. I suppose it does sound odd, especially when each person has to cover their own flight and food costs.

However, I find it a great way to demonstrate unconditional love to others. It is also a great way to demonstrate the same grace that we have all received. It is that special grace that no one can earn or deserve. In fact, there is nothing like being the recipient of such an amazing gift.

We arrived in Ireland a little after 7:30 am and immediately pitched our luggage into a temporary location so we could begin construction. My first duty was climbing high up in the rafters and balancing on the ceiling beams while building a floor for storage. Being located in an attic, it was very hot and extremely dirty – Not to mention dangerous as there was a thirty foot drop if my foot slipped off the side of the 2X6s we were balancing on.

I also met author Denise Kennedy who wrote the book, “I Wish I Were…” We had some great laughs as she showed me around the nearby segment of town where we bought some Pepsi for one of the volunteers that was having withdrawals. Denise was a good storyteller and shared a few anecdotes about her last visit to Chicago.

Marty Rizzo also shared a few of his personal experiences as a beauty consultant/Hair stylist. Marty has been pulled into court several times as an expert beauty technician to support both the plaintiff and defendants. He has worked side by side with numerous experts in the motion picture industry including Maurice Stein who won an Oscar for make up artistry with Planet of the Apes.

I’d love to share more, but since we’ve been awake for 33 hours straight, I’ll save more for another entry. Goodnight.

Monday begins the shooting of my latest documentary, Green Fire. It will be an exciting time of interviewing people from various walks of life who have descended upon St. Marks Church in Dublin, Ireland. Various missionaries and ministries will converge on this small historical church to help prepare for what most are sensing to be the preparation of a great revival that will spread throughout all of Europe.

I find it remarkable that this little church would get so much attention, unless it is a strategic church that will be able to influence thousands with the same faith and hope that these teams bring with them. In fact, I feel like I’m bringing some of that faith and hope in shooting the documentary. After all, why would someone have a passion to document something that is mild or unimportant?

The preparation for the shoot seems to be all about faith. It’s as if faith is the actual substance of the things I’m hoping for. Put another way, it is the evidence of things not yet seen. The mere fact that several separate and unique groups are preparing for this two-week event proves that it is important.

The only thing that these volunteers from several different countries have in common, is their faith that this set of projects will indeed make a difference for those in the community, which will spread throughout Europe. They are all putting their faith into a future that no one has any certainty about. However, common sense suggests that it is quite odd for these groups to be coming together for such a time as this, unless something indeed is going to happen.

It’s been some time since I’ve shot a documentary. My first one was titled the Chileda Institute and featured a family that taught skills to children with developmental disabilities that helped each individual successfully adapt to community living. The project was picked up by CBS and launched my initial career that saw numerous releases on ABC, WGN, PBS, The Family Channel (Now ABC Family), and hundreds of syndicated stations and networks.

Based on the faith that everyone is bringing to the table for these projects, it seems to be somewhat poetic that I’m shooting my first documentary in years. I’m getting the sense that this experience will not only be life changing, but it will somehow launch me in a different direction – But not into documentary filmmaking, as some might think.

I get this uncanny sense that a miracle awaits me and that my life will shift to a new course heading. Oh, my personality and core values won’t change. I’ll still have the same passion to bring hope to the hopeless and awareness of wholesome and moral values to those who are thirsty for the truth. But, something will be engaged that alters the course of my life into a new and fulfilling direction.

The unique thing about this event in Ireland is that just about everyone I’ve talked to has a similar sense that something big will be happening in the lives of those participating. It is a hope that can only be explained by the faith that each individual brings to the projects.

This hope is not presumption, as each person clearly has no idea what will happen, nor are they trying to manipulate anything. Yet, each one is confident beyond their knowledge that this event will become a significant milestone. And, so it shall, even though I have no clue how or what it will look like.

If you’re interested in learning how things develop, plan on reading my blog over the next two weeks as I try to describe the series of unfolding events. I will attempt to blog daily, but can’t guarantee connectivity or how long my iPad battery will last (if I can’t figure out how to recharge it). So, the next time you read something from me, I’ll be engulfed in this documentary/short term mission project with a hope of watching each milestone unfold.

I recently read an interesting article about the Stanford Psychiatrist’s findings and the direct correlation between the increased anger within our society and the Internet. The findings went further in depth, discussing the shortness of patience in our culture that’s become epidemic. In an attempt to test the validity of these findings, I reflected back on a few experiences I had.

When I was learning how to play the drum kit in Jr. High, I had an instructor who would constantly ask, “What will turn you into a great drummer?” At which I typically replied, “Practice.” I was too young to understand why that response was never sufficient for Mr. Wolf, who would correct me by saying, “Perfect practice develops perfect.”

His perfectionistic rants were always about us drummers spending more and more time with our sets. He wanted us to become so familiar with the position of each drum that when certain things happened musically, we would respond without thinking – Hitting the right drum in the right spot, to get the right sound at the right time. He wanted it to be second nature for us.

God stated something similar, “Meditate on my word both day and night.” The shear repetition of thinking over the scriptures and understanding how it fits into our life develops Godly perfection. This isn’t the type of perfection that puts us above others, but rather is the type that helps us to know what to say in the hour we need it, always showing grace to those around us.

During the Fourth of July festivities, I chatted with a woman whose husband had become very short tempered over the past year. His patience for others had greatly diminished and his sense of entitlement had risen higher than his wife and daughter could keep up with. His family and friends had all noted his increased narcissism in all areas of life.

When I asked about how things were going, she suggested that he talked in short Twitter type bytes. He also shared his web personification with the full expectation that people would see him as he determined, rather than who he really was.

I asked how much time he spent on the Internet and wasn’t surprised that the response was hours on a daily basis. It was clear to me that the continual instant gratification generated by the Internet had taken it’s toll on his life.

I then asked how often he read and meditated on the word of God. The response was sketchy at best, but I surmised it was less than an hour a month. It was no wonder that his life reflected what he fed himself.

Years ago, Pastor Schmidgall shared a story about a man down south who had problems with his two dogs fighting. One day a neighbor came by while the dogs were battling and asked, “Which one will win?” The man simply replied, “Whichever one I feed.”

Reflecting on my past experiences helped me to quickly understand why the Stanford Psychiatrist was able to draw the conclusions made, as we all become what we focus on or practice doing.

As for this dog, I’m going to feed on the wholesome and moral things in life:

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

Copyright 2011 By CJ Powers