A good deal has happened since my last post. On Friday I spoke to a group of college students in Austin. That evening Kara and I, along with my cousin and her family, saw the largest urban bat colony in North America. They make their home under the Congress Avenue bridge, over the Colorado River, and each night at dusk they stream out in the millions to feed along the river. It was quite a sight.

On Saturday we headed out of Austin to my dad's house in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas. After a radio interview at 9pm, it was off to bed.

The next morning was a busy one, and began with me preaching at the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Garland (another Dallas suburb). Pastor Chuck Hubbard was
extremely gracious and supportive, mentioning caring for creation in his children's sermon. To make it on time to the next event we had to leave right after I delivered the sermon.

The next stop was a presentation to three Adult Education classes at the Arapaho United Methodist Church in Richardson. Pastor Jack Soper introduced me, and said it was an opportunity for him to 'eat crow.' Why? Rev. Soper had talked about the WWJDrive question in a sermon when the campaign started back in late November. At that time he had been critical of the question because he felt that it implied that Jesus was not alive in our hearts as the Resurrected Lord. In other words, "what would Jesus drive if he were here?" Rev. Soper's point to his congregation was that Jesus is here. When we spoke a few days before I came, I assured him that we also believe as he does. We believe Jesus is alive in our hearts! He's with us when we make all of our choices. I explained that the question is intended to help Christians ask, "Jesus, what transportation choices do you want me to make as your follower? How should I love my neighbor in light of the consequences of my driving? How can I reduce pollution that harms others?" Once Rev. Soper understood this, he felt he needed to eat crow. He said it was for a good cause. My talk went well, with about 50 people in attendance, and ended with a lively discussion about how the lack of urban planning has helped to create poor public transportation systems in most of the country.

One of the encouraging things about both presentations is that people from around the Dallas/Forth Worth metroplex came to these churches to hear our message. One woman even went to both, and took 30 copies of the WWJDrive issue of our magazine to hand out to her Sunday School class in Irving!

Till next time,

Jim