{"id":397,"date":"2010-06-13T11:54:48","date_gmt":"2010-06-13T17:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/?p=397"},"modified":"2010-06-13T11:54:48","modified_gmt":"2010-06-13T17:54:48","slug":"paul-potts-aijalon-mahli-gomes-and-the-month-of-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/paul-potts-aijalon-mahli-gomes-and-the-month-of-june\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Potts, Aijalon Mahli Gomes and the month of June"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe calendar <\/strong>tells me that June has rolled around again, and that reminds me of something: This is not only the anniversary month for the RoadTurn blog, but today is the very day, three years ago, when the first post was made. Trust me; it seems longer. For old times sake, though, here is that post:<\/p>\n

Simon called him, “A breath of fresh air…” And so it is that Paul’s resolute determination and desire have brought hope renewed to fans around the globe. From Hong Kong to San Francisco, the common people have a hero. Our prayer: Paul, don’t let us down. Don’t change. Don’t sell out. Don’t forget your roots and your promises to us. Stay with your wife. Keep your senses. We need you. We trust you. We love you.<\/p>\n

This blog is meant to be a tribute to the spirit of Paul…a palpable energy that resonates with all things honest and true. It is late, now, but tomorrow morning I hope to begin writing about this spirit, the man who has shown it to us all, and the effect it is having on those who have been touched by it. Tomorrow, I will describe the story of a man who was at the point of despair, but “accidentally” saw the video of Paul’s first appearance at the recent contest and was himself revitalized with hope. <\/p>\n

I invite you to share your own stories here…to add them all to the Paul Potts story…and to play your own part in this enormous adventure. May God bless and keep you until then.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, let’s face it<\/strong>… I was new to blogging, naive and perhaps overly enthusiastic. Nothing has changed. I’m still like that–perhaps a bit more experienced, hopefully a little bit more savvy–but I still have the dream, and I still long to see myself and others live the dream. I know it is possible. Paul Potts is witness to that.<\/p>\n

I quit for a bit<\/strong>, for a few months. I trashed almost all of the early posts, and thought that I would give up blogging completely. Life is tough sometimes. I tend to get too many balls in the air… then inevitably they begin to fall. Sometime my faith is solid–my faith in God, in you, in me–but other times it is not. I see human frailty in myself, I see it in you, and I am tempted to doubt that there is any chance for humanity. We are greedy, weak, foolish and fearful. All of us. Don’t tell me you are not. Both of us know better. We live a sham. All of us. We pretend to be what we are not. We think that we must please others if we are to survive. The Father can change that. He will change that, when we begin to worry about pleasing Him, not them.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Aijalon Mahli Gomes<\/strong>, imprisoned by North Korea for the grave crime of Christianity, knows this better than any of us. He has certainly had time to reflect. He has undoubtedly seen what humankind, drunk with power and full of self righteousness and fear, can become. I pray that he will survive to tell us what he has learned, and I hope that he can find the courage to speak openly about his ordeal. May the Father keep him sane and simple.<\/p>\n

And what about Paul Potts?<\/strong> He and Julie Ann are doing well: A new home, a new life, living the dream. Paul hasn’t become the spokesmen for the disenfranchised and almost-out-of-hope masses that I wanted him to be–but, hey, that’s not his dream… it’s mine.<\/p>\n

May Adonai <\/strong>bless and keep you always. May He cover you in Love. May He lift you up and draw you to Himself.<\/p>\n

Don<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The calendar tells me that June has rolled around again, and that reminds me of something: This is not only the anniversary month for the RoadTurn blog, but today is the very day, three years ago, when the first post was made. Trust me; it seems longer. For old times sake, though, here is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19,106,134,143,196,240,306],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadturn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}