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Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear ? Like you could fall, and no one would hear? I occasionally worry about projection.  Simon and I have often talked about the need for authenticity in ministry. People don't respond to "Thou shalt" as much as they do to "I feel like". Facts and data can be disputed, and these days you can cherry pick data from the Internet to prove any point that you would like to make. But in our culture it is a sin to invalidate someone's personal experience. And so I frequently tell personal stories in my preaching and candidly share about how the passage applies in my own life. And people usually respond pretty positively to this; they often tell me how much they appreciate a preacher who is "real" or "open about his own weaknesses" or (ironically) "not too preachy".  But sometimes, oftentimes, I wonder

I freakin' love chicken wings.  When I was in college, there used to be this bar near our campus that did twenty five cent wings on Thursdays. For five bucks (plus beer money) I could get a great feed that hits all the key nutritional food groups ( salt, fat, acid, and heat . Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, there's an argument to be made that the buffalo wing is the ultimate food that perfects all the core elements of deliciousness). But to top that, a different bar  only a slightly longer drive away did TEN CENT WINGS and dollar PBRs on Monday nights. You could get drinks and eat yourself stupid and still get change for your five-spot.  Twenty years on I am a whole lot more health conscious, but my love for wings hasn't changed. In fact, I've succeeded in passing this affinity onwards genetically. The other day my family almost finished an entire Costco package of chicken wings in one dinner. The kids carried their weight; even my one year old was stacking the