road construction…lame

So if you’ve been following my bi hourly updates we are somewhere in New Mexico. Coming up on Gallup. We haven’t really stopped much and were making record time until, we hit the road trip inevitability… road construction. Jacob almost hit a diesel truck because the diesel driver wasn’t paying attention and swerved right in front of us. Luckily Jacob’s reflexes are cat like. I may not have reception in Arizona, so we’ll see if these updates continue.

facing regret

So we’re now 14 and a half hours into the drive. I’m starting to feel the beginning stages of regret as exhaustion is setting in. I’ve been up for 24 hours now, and my eyes look like a strung out collegge. I’ve stayed up for two days plenty of times and never felt this tired, but i think it’s the fact that this is my third week in a row of doing it. Even at 25 I guess it catches up with you eventually. Well either way we are having fun. I’m about to kick off a game of 20 questions soon. Oh and Jacob is currently breaking the law. Which is why we are now only a hour outside of Albuquerque. A destination I wasn’t planning on us getting to until  this evening. We have a deal though, we pay our own tickets. So I don’t say anything.

Did I mention the drive is beautiful?! man it’s so good to be out of the mid-west for a week or so! I mean God bless the mid-west, beauty just isn’t it’s gifting.

Raton?

So Jacob and I are making ridiculous time. Now 12 hours into our journey, we are all the way to Raton New Mexico. Which begs the question, Raton? Really? Not sure what happened with the naming of this town. I mean you get together with the people in the surrounding area and decide to start a community in the form of a town. You and the others in the community mull over a name that will define your town. After much deliberation, all they came up with was Raton???? Spanish for Rat? I would love to know the thought process there.

stay tuned as I continue to log the journey home to Phoenix, Jacob and I are getting deliriously tired. But we are having fun listening to the hundreds of podcasts and sermons I haven’t had the time to listen to during the daily grind…

P.S. listen to the “Ravi Zacharias”

Stalling in Colorado Springs

So after a little research I found a Starbucks, a necessity for our “awake’ness”. Jacob is freak’n out because the altitude is making his facial piercings swell. So we are stalled in the Starbucks parking lot as he changes out the studs in his lip. In my opinion he should take it as a sign the take the metal out of his face.

Side note random thought… Why is it that people who are all “natural” not wanting anything artificial are always the ones with tons of piercings and tattoos? Is having metal and ink embedded in your flesh natural? I don’t have anything wrong with piercings, just a random thought…

keep following the updates!

the getting there

So my buddy Jacob and I left K.C. at 10:30pm last night. On our trek to take the long scenic view way back to Phoenix. The goal was to drive the ugliest part at night. Which was accomplished a few hours ago When the sun started rising over Limon Colorado having braved the Kansas flatness through the night. We ate breakfast in the coldest diner known to man in Limon. No exaggeration my eggs were hot when brought to me, and cold within 5 minutes of plate time. The oddest part of the diner was that for what ever reason a group of 6 krusty looking middle aged truckers were sitting behind us making fun of me. I looked at Jacob with a “are they for real?” look on my face. It was quite interesting. I smiled at them, which only seemed to raise their disdain for me. We left soon after, I waived goodbye, they starred me down. So anyway we’re 9 hours in our trip and I’m typing this to you on my laptop in the car, while using my cell phone as a modem. (God bless you T-mobile and run on sentences!) We plan to crash in Albuquerque NM. But I’ll be trowing you some play by plays between now and then…

peace kids!

Random Rantings Friday (late edition)

Happy 3 days before I go on Vacation day!! So with that jubilation presented I give rantings in random order.

I think I finally made a header I really like. Doesn’t mean I’ll quite making new headers just means I really like the current one. Don’t get comfortable though, constant change is here to stay.

Vick pleads not guilty, though the evidence surrounding his guilt seems insurmountable. However I will say with stars like Paris Hilton serving time and people ready to through the book at Vick. I think it’s safe to say we are transitioning away from celebrities getting star treatment. i.e. the Kobe case. But I doubt it…

So I’ve been fighting getting a cold for the last two weeks. So far I’ve seemed to stave it off. Thanks to an Airborne tablet every 3 hours, and 40 oz of water every hour.

So a documentary called “In the name of Democracy” some how made it to Iranian airwaves. Honestly is a better chance of Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming president of the United States then democracy coming to Iran. One word: Islam. Same reason why Nori Al Maliki and Iraq will never be a Jeffersonian democracy, Islam as a practice doesn’t allow for a community ruled government. It also doesn’t allow for equal rights. Therefore our attempts to establish democracy are futile. There is a solution… I’ll give you a hint it involves a king a white throne…

Weird news, archaeologists find an ancient prosthetic toe on a mummy in Cairo, Egypt. They say it dates back to somewhere around 1000-500 BC. I wonder if they had a special olympics then too.

The new “Red Box” phenomenon at McDonald’s presents a conundrum to me. On one hand I love it. Not so much because of it’s conveniences, but because it’s a brilliant idea that should have been thought of a long time ago. On the other hand it presents yet another way for our culture to waste it’s life in front of a TV screen.

Jared and I have continued our escapades to IHOP (the house of pancakes) most mornings. We don’t always buy food as funds don’t always allow for it, but we have gotten to know the waiters, and waitresses almost personally now. I’m having them all over next month for a BBQ at my house!

As I mentioned before I’m going on vacation next week. I’m driving a car for my uncle from Kansas City to Phoenix, then I plan on doing nothing but maxing and relaxing while there. I plan on driving up to the mountains, and possibly down to Mexico. Either way not sure if I’ll post more or less with all the free time…

My life is good. I mean really good. I have a God who has made it his ambition to lavish me with a life I don’t deserve. I was a man destined to burn for all eternity, but he made me alive when I was dead. His son has become the source of my existence. It’s my pleasure to give him my life. I really love him.

I’ve had my current laptop since December 2003. It’s been a fantastic machine, however, it is on it’s last legs. Actually I’ll rephrase, It’s legs died a long time ago, and it’s currently gasping for air. Right now it is literally held together by a neon green case that I tote around. The screen has developed scratches on it from the keyboard. It turns off at random times and is on it’s second hard drive. Not trying to evoke sympathy, but in case Steve Jobs happens to be reading… care to donate a Mac Book Pro to this simple missionary? Maybe linking his name helps…

I make grammatical errors, I know, working on it. Thank you for the e-mails. The problem isn’t so much knowing grammar but slowing down and actually re-reading what I write before I hit post.

On a final somber note, 4 people died in Phoenix today (Friday) in a helicopter crash. News chopper 3, and ABC 15 News Chopper were following a high speed chase when they collided on live TV while trying to get the same shot. The footage was horrible. I knew a few who worked at channel 3. I’m praying for you guys.

I don’t wanna grow up…

Tonight I was driving the shuttles for the prayer room. Transporting patrons back and forth from the temporary prayer room at FSM to the main parking lot. Most who came aboard my bus had, puzzled looks on their face. Throughout the night people would board my bus with one question, “what is this music?!”. The answer to their question was Lecrae, my favorite Christian rap singer. I didn’t have it playing loud, but I did have it playing. Lecrae has sounder doctrine and brings the message of who Jesus is better than just about any Christian artist I’ve ever heard. He and his affiliates call their genre, “theological rap”, and it’s sick.

Now here’s the question.

I’m 25 years old, own a house, I’m in full time ministry, and a leader in a prayer movement that is worldwide. At what point in life does one grow up and listen to older people music? I mean I’ve been listening to rap and hip-hop my entire life. Is there a point at which my musical taste goes from Lecrae and Corey Red, to Steven Curtis Chapman and Wayne Watson? I had this thought as an older gentlemen got on the bus and heard the faint rap in the background. He gave me the same look I used to get from my high school principal after he caught tepeeing cars at school. It was that “young man, grow up” look. My theory is that if the tribulation doesn’t come in my life time, I will be an 80 year old man sitting in a rocking chair on a porch somewhere. I’ll be listening to Lecrae and drinking iced tea. However maybe that’s a lofty thought, and instead when I hit 30 in five years (whoa weird only 5 years) I’ll suddenly start looking for Sandy Patty albums. Or maybe I’ll have transitioned into a famous Christian rap artist my self. Who knows, maybe I’ll call my group Zdog and the messenjaz. Hmmm… if only…

Montevideo MN - visiting the girlfriend’s hometown

So now for the recap of my trip to visit Carrie’s family and friends…

It’s was late Saturday morning at 6:30am that Carrie and I began the sleepless journey to her home town of Montevideo. I say late Saturday morning because for me it was late. We left shortly after I finished the Nightwatch in the prayer room. The trip started off with my killer “road trip mix” I had arranged on my I-POD. I thought it was brilliant, Carrie rolled her eyes. However that didn’t keep me from rock’n out to Born To Be Wild, “Got your motor runnin, head out on the Highway, Lookin for adventure and what ever comes my way!” We had a great drive, we laughed and talked the whole way. We also took in the glorious flatness of Iowa and South Dakota with every glance out the window. In fact it was so repetitive and flat in fact, I wondered if Lewis and Clark could really be called explorers. I mean really, “Today we came upon a hill. First hill we’ve seen in days.” Anyway, scenery or no scenery the company was all that mattered. Upon arriving at the Blom’s house we were greeted warmly with food. The greatest guacamole I’ve ever had was pleasantly arranged on an occasional table in the living room. Which saying it was the “greatest” is saying alot being from Phoenix because I’ve had my share of good gauc.

Having been awake for about 26 hours at that point, a nap was in order. I went to sleep while waking up periodically to the sound of Carrie regaling her Mom of the story when I mistakenly called a lady at Starbucks, “Sir”. A great story to tell in introducing one to the crazy world that is Zack Hensley. The rest of the evening was spent having dinner with Carrie’s parents Fred and Jerrie. They are two best friends that have been lucky enough to spend their life together. They laugh alot, and it’s obvious that they completely enjoy each other. Carrie’s mom Jerrie could seriously put Martha Stewart to shame. The food and the presentation of it was bar none. It was so amazing I almost left a tip forgetting where I was. Afterward I got to meet Carrie’s friend Anne and her husband Nate. Both were wonderful people with wonderful kids. I especially liked Nate. Sometimes when you meet someone the genuine essence of who they are is presented in their smile, for Nate this was the case. I could tell from watching him that he was a great father and husband, and someone I’d be friends with if I lived in the town Jose Artigas built. (Jose Artigas didn’t build Montevideo, I’m simply referring to a giant statue they have erected in his honor in the middle of the down town strip. Apparently There is a town in Uruguay named Montevideo and they gave them this statue. It’s quite random I know.)

Church On Sunday was great. Although I say great, but having only really experienced the last 5 minutes of the sermon. So the content from which I have to draw my opinion is limited. I missed most of the sermon because apparently staying up for 40 hours, makes one require a solid nights rest. Carrie graciously didn’t wake me up, and we got there late. However seeing the small church world, gave me such a respect for the local church and the way in which men and women of God work out their Salvation. It was sweet to see.

After the service, the foyer introductions began. Everyone knew Carrie, so as they walked out they’d give her a big hug then lean in and whisper, “So where’s the boy?” She would then introduce me. The next reaction was also systematic, “whoa my gosh he’s big!” You could count on it every time. We hung out with her parents some more, then said our good-byes as we needed to get back to K.C. .

Over all it was a fantastic little trip. Carrie and I left the radio off the whole car ride back. We spent the whole time talking. It was a sweet time. Carrie’s family and friends are beautiful people. I was blessed to meet them. However I think one friend got left out. Whitney, one day my friend, one day.

and scene…

House Keeping item: time

So I got back early Monday morning from my trip to Minnesota to visit Carrie’s family. But since the moment I returned I have had zero time for anything. Including blogging. I have been back from the trip effectively 48 hours and every waking hour thus far has been in a meeting of some sort. BUT never fear my play by play from the trip is coming soon!

In the mean time I’m preparing for a vacation. A much needed one. Where I intend to do nothing but read and rest. So I can come back and continue to help build this Prayer Movement thing!

In the meantime, share with me things you think I should write on. I’ve been struggling to find stuff others would be interested in. I have tons of stuff I could talk about but I fear I’d bore my readership to death if I did.

so comment one, comment all!

peace…

Poor John

Well folks I’d like to take this moment and reflect on a man who has stood as one of thefew in the political world who could be trusted to keep his word; John McCain.

It seems, now more than ever, that his presidential bid isn’t just dead in the the water, it’s non-existent. He’s gone from a fleet of charter buses, to a single Hertz rent-a-car. From private planes, to flying economy class. From 30-40 million in campaign funds to a solitary million. His top three most trusted aides have deserted him, all while Father time continues to have his way. In retrospect had McCain pulled a Teddy Roosevelt in ‘04 and ran as an independent against Kerry and Bush, he actually might have had a chance as neither candidates were all that liked. However what could have been wasn’t, and the sun seems be setting on this honorable war hero and politician. He survived being a P.O.W. in Hanoi, political controversies, and the backlash of calling his peers out on finance reform. Having seemed invincible during his decades as a high profile senator, McCain’s immortality seems to be bleeding to death. It would be a sad sight, but I fear in 4 years McCain will more likely be reclining back at inside a local VFW, than in the oval office.

At the end of the day McCain is the man this country needs to move forward. Unfortunately because of the bad leadership of the last 8 years Americans are looking for a young idealist to change the status quo. People prefer the savvy of Obama, and Romney, over the steadfastness of McCain.

So John, I raise my glass to you. I don’t drink, but if ever you’re in Kansas City, I’d love to take you out Diet Dr. Pepper. As long as you are on the ballot, you’ve got my vote.