My Friends, Part One - Mark Thompson
For seven years I taught vocational training to probation officers and juvenile hall counselors. I would often begin my presentation on the first day saying that who we are as people is shaped greatly by our upbringing. And, that how we treat those in our charge is often determined by our own upbringing. I have since added to this that our closest friends also have a huge impact on who we eventually become; sometimes our associates shape us more than our families do.
If we associate primarily with people of low morals and poor behavior we risk falling into those same patterns. How many times have we seen “good” kids from loving homes fall into the “wrong” crowd and end up in sad circumstances? I don’t have to look farther than my own family to see this pattern. All three of my siblings were drug and alcohol users in spite of our mother’s loving and stable care. All three of them came to associate with people of low character and bad habits. All three of them died while driving under the influence of alcohol or methamphetamine. When I was teaching, the only one of my siblings (my brother Kevin) had died in a single-car crash while driving drunk. His friend was with him but he survived only to die later in life by overdosing on methamphetamine. In trying to make the point above about how our associations shape us, I told my students about Kevin. Every time, someone would ask, “How is it that you didn’t turn out the same way”? My answer was and still is that it is due to the fact that I chose to become a Christian at age 13 and follow the teachings of the Bible. I have said many times before that if it were not for having Jesus in my life, I would either be sitting on a barstool, living in a prison cell or I’d be dead.
My belief in God is what saved me from an early death and has guaranteed me eternal life in heaven. I believe that He has a plan for me and I want to serve Him as much and as long as I can. This plan included me being the first person in my family to go to college. As I have said, my father had seven brothers. My Dad and several of his brothers did time in jail or prison. They were tough and violent men and I did not want to be like that.
Now, let me get to my main point… Several guys I met in college in the late 1970’s remain my friends to this day, nearly 40 years later. They have impacted my life in such a positive way and stuck by me all these years. In an earlier post I wrote about my best friend, Bill Dobos. Now I want to acquaint you with some of the other “Dudes.” I use the word “dudes” because this is how we refer to our small group, as in, “Dudes Day trips” which we go on every now and then. Our “dudes group” has grown slightly over the years as we have gotten to know the newer ones better, but all of them went to college with us at San Jose Bible College (SJBC).
One of the original dudes is Mark Thompson who is from San Jose. I’ve mentioned him before, but now I want to expound on him and our relationship a bit more. After leaving SJBC, Mark went to college at Pacific Christian College in Fullerton, CA. In 1997, the name of the school was changed to Hope International University. I can only guess that Mark moved to PCC so he could be closer to his all-time favorite band, The Beach Boys. The guy has every album they recorded, I believe, as well as hundreds of bootleg MP3 files. Nonetheless, Mark earned a degree in Marriage and Family Counseling (as well as surfing and In-N-Out cuisine). He then moved to Tucson where he was a youth pastor for a while. Eventually, he moved back to San Jose where we both went to work as Group Counselors in Juvenile Hall. Mark loved the kids with whom we worked but he greatly disliked the politics and bureaucracy of the place. While working there he got permission to interview some of the youngsters and used those interviews in earning his Master’s degree in Counseling. He then went back to being a youth pastor in the Santa Cruz area and a couple of churches in the Portland area of Oregon.
As young bucks in our college days, we had a professor who was a youth pastor at Central Christian Church in San Jose. His name is Don Hinkle and he inspired those of us who wanted to be youth workers. Don had great stories of his experiences and we loved his classes. There was only one problem… we, as young 20-somethings and being so ignorant believed Don was too old to be an effective youth pastor. He was “old” because he was in his mid-thirties at the time and to us this was ancient. Guess what? Mark is now 55 years old and still working full-time as a youth pastor. And he is still highly effective. He admits he has slowed down tremendously and wishes he could be doing some other church ministry but he hasn’t yet found a new calling. However, his love for the kids is great and they love him. He teaches them important life lessons by them, as a group, doing it. Every year he takes a large group to Mexico to minister to the poor, work with kids in an orphanage and they build a house for a family in the week they are there. A talented young man in the group, Conner Firstman made a video of this year’s trip and it can be viewed at the link below. These young men and women get their hands dirty on these trips. How many of us can say we have done something similar?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGZbv57PUgU&list=UUANEz5-DlpvM2OOPdihlO7w&index=1
Once a month, Mark’s youth group goes to downtown Portland to minister to the homeless folks living under a bridge. They give these people “care packages” which include bottled water, food, personal hygiene items and socks as well as other clothing. Mark has done these activities with hundreds of kids over the years. Putting what the Bible teaches into hands-on action has really benefited the youngsters. Many of them have stated these outreaches have changed their lives. Mark’s compassion for people inspires me and causes me to want to follow his example. He was a great support to me last year after Daniel died. When I thanked him for it, he reminded me that I was a great help to him several years ago when his older brother, Warren fell suddenly ill and died soon after. Being a friend of Mark has made me a better person. Now, before I get too mushy and say something silly like, “He completes me” I will lighten the moment by saying that as much as I love him, his taste in music is mostly weird. I love you, dude.
One last thing, if there is anyone reading this who is at a church that’s looking for a counseling pastor or some other type of associate pastor, you would do well to speak to Mark. Make sure you do it before he gets too old or loses ALL of his hair. (=
If we associate primarily with people of low morals and poor behavior we risk falling into those same patterns. How many times have we seen “good” kids from loving homes fall into the “wrong” crowd and end up in sad circumstances? I don’t have to look farther than my own family to see this pattern. All three of my siblings were drug and alcohol users in spite of our mother’s loving and stable care. All three of them came to associate with people of low character and bad habits. All three of them died while driving under the influence of alcohol or methamphetamine. When I was teaching, the only one of my siblings (my brother Kevin) had died in a single-car crash while driving drunk. His friend was with him but he survived only to die later in life by overdosing on methamphetamine. In trying to make the point above about how our associations shape us, I told my students about Kevin. Every time, someone would ask, “How is it that you didn’t turn out the same way”? My answer was and still is that it is due to the fact that I chose to become a Christian at age 13 and follow the teachings of the Bible. I have said many times before that if it were not for having Jesus in my life, I would either be sitting on a barstool, living in a prison cell or I’d be dead.
My belief in God is what saved me from an early death and has guaranteed me eternal life in heaven. I believe that He has a plan for me and I want to serve Him as much and as long as I can. This plan included me being the first person in my family to go to college. As I have said, my father had seven brothers. My Dad and several of his brothers did time in jail or prison. They were tough and violent men and I did not want to be like that.
Now, let me get to my main point… Several guys I met in college in the late 1970’s remain my friends to this day, nearly 40 years later. They have impacted my life in such a positive way and stuck by me all these years. In an earlier post I wrote about my best friend, Bill Dobos. Now I want to acquaint you with some of the other “Dudes.” I use the word “dudes” because this is how we refer to our small group, as in, “Dudes Day trips” which we go on every now and then. Our “dudes group” has grown slightly over the years as we have gotten to know the newer ones better, but all of them went to college with us at San Jose Bible College (SJBC).
One of the original dudes is Mark Thompson who is from San Jose. I’ve mentioned him before, but now I want to expound on him and our relationship a bit more. After leaving SJBC, Mark went to college at Pacific Christian College in Fullerton, CA. In 1997, the name of the school was changed to Hope International University. I can only guess that Mark moved to PCC so he could be closer to his all-time favorite band, The Beach Boys. The guy has every album they recorded, I believe, as well as hundreds of bootleg MP3 files. Nonetheless, Mark earned a degree in Marriage and Family Counseling (as well as surfing and In-N-Out cuisine). He then moved to Tucson where he was a youth pastor for a while. Eventually, he moved back to San Jose where we both went to work as Group Counselors in Juvenile Hall. Mark loved the kids with whom we worked but he greatly disliked the politics and bureaucracy of the place. While working there he got permission to interview some of the youngsters and used those interviews in earning his Master’s degree in Counseling. He then went back to being a youth pastor in the Santa Cruz area and a couple of churches in the Portland area of Oregon.
As young bucks in our college days, we had a professor who was a youth pastor at Central Christian Church in San Jose. His name is Don Hinkle and he inspired those of us who wanted to be youth workers. Don had great stories of his experiences and we loved his classes. There was only one problem… we, as young 20-somethings and being so ignorant believed Don was too old to be an effective youth pastor. He was “old” because he was in his mid-thirties at the time and to us this was ancient. Guess what? Mark is now 55 years old and still working full-time as a youth pastor. And he is still highly effective. He admits he has slowed down tremendously and wishes he could be doing some other church ministry but he hasn’t yet found a new calling. However, his love for the kids is great and they love him. He teaches them important life lessons by them, as a group, doing it. Every year he takes a large group to Mexico to minister to the poor, work with kids in an orphanage and they build a house for a family in the week they are there. A talented young man in the group, Conner Firstman made a video of this year’s trip and it can be viewed at the link below. These young men and women get their hands dirty on these trips. How many of us can say we have done something similar?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGZbv57PUgU&list=UUANEz5-DlpvM2OOPdihlO7w&index=1
Once a month, Mark’s youth group goes to downtown Portland to minister to the homeless folks living under a bridge. They give these people “care packages” which include bottled water, food, personal hygiene items and socks as well as other clothing. Mark has done these activities with hundreds of kids over the years. Putting what the Bible teaches into hands-on action has really benefited the youngsters. Many of them have stated these outreaches have changed their lives. Mark’s compassion for people inspires me and causes me to want to follow his example. He was a great support to me last year after Daniel died. When I thanked him for it, he reminded me that I was a great help to him several years ago when his older brother, Warren fell suddenly ill and died soon after. Being a friend of Mark has made me a better person. Now, before I get too mushy and say something silly like, “He completes me” I will lighten the moment by saying that as much as I love him, his taste in music is mostly weird. I love you, dude.
One last thing, if there is anyone reading this who is at a church that’s looking for a counseling pastor or some other type of associate pastor, you would do well to speak to Mark. Make sure you do it before he gets too old or loses ALL of his hair. (=
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| Rick, Mark and me back in the day. |
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| Dudes houseboat trip - 2009. Left to right, Mark, Rick Hornbeck, Brad Pitt, Rick Criscione, Jeremy Beatley and Bill Dobos |
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| Mr. Fu Manchu |
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| Kissing his fish. It's a tradition. Notice how Mark's eyes are closed but the fish's aren't. Obviously, Mark was more into it than the fish was. |
Comments
Mark is truly someone who understands what Jesus meant when he said, “The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22.39). Mark helped me to better understand Jesus’ words, and what being a ‘human being’ is all about.
On occasion I have taken Mark’s words home with me, long after a “Dudes house boat trip,” and turned them over in my mind and heart. … Mark is an example to me.
Thanks for your words, Stan.