Hey people of God,
I've been really struggling with a couple of scriptures lately in relation to my own heart and The Church of America. The first is hidden in Ezekiel sixteen. God is confronting Israel for her unfaithfulness and towards the end of the chapter reveals why Sodom was destroyed. In verse 49 God says, “This was this sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and the needy” (Somehow I had always assumed Sodom was judged for something else). If you have ever carefully listened to commentary by anyone from outside the United States, especially citizens of third world countries, this scripture could be word for word what they say about us. We're arrogant, gluttonous, and unconcerned with our poor. I've heard several marvel at how the richest country in the world could have any homeless or hungry at all.
In juxtaposition to this troubling scripture is the one we've talked about before in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14. God is speaking with Solomon and gives him the remedy for his nation when and if it starts to crumble. This time God says, “When I shut up the heavens so there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” After a closer look at these verses it is apparent that when a nation starts to crumble it is a commentary on the state of the believers there. God said when you start to see craziness happen in your nation Solomon, my people (believers in the only True God) need to humble themselves, repent, and pray.
Why do I mention any of this? I mention it because if there is any truth in either of these scriptures our nation is crumbling because the believers here are not what they should be. That means me. That means you. And I sense it in myself. I sense the grief of the Holy Spirit as I daily choose almost everything over My God. I am a product of church culture, and outwardly the picture of what committed Christianity in America looks like. I pray daily. I fast. I read my Bible. I attend church weekly. But as I sit before God and look at men and women of God from other nations or other eras, I am embarrassed to stand along with them. They face(d) death for the sake of Our Savior and I am concerned with how to afford more things to make my life more pleasurable and enjoyable. A friend of mine will be going back to his home country (A Muslim nation) within the next few months and will risk losing his wife, his father, his mother, and brothers and friends because he has given his life to Christ. My sacrifice for my Lord pales in comparison to that. I remember watching an interview of Bono by Bill Hybels. Bono had been doing a lot of work for the AIDS epidemic in Africa and began looking for help in his mission. He mentioned how disgusted he was with The American Church because the one organization that had this kind of work written right into its mandate from God wasn't doing anything but building its programs and facilities with barely a slight nod to foreign issues.
Here is the problem: I cannot tell what is wrong with me. Even though I sense it I cannot see it. I can see that I am the one in need of prayer but I have no clue what I would look like, or what The Church of America would look like if we were truly pleasing to God. I guess I am asking anyone who hears me to join with me as I pray and ask God to reveal to me what needs to happen next to us, as His Bride, for us to come out of this backslidden state we've fallen into so that ours is not the next nation to be destroyed by fire because the believers within were concerned with everything else but pleasing God and who were not living up to the declarations we religiously vocalized during our quick gatherings each Sunday. Heavenly Father, please deliver us from that kind of Christianity! You're the only One who can.
Sorry so glum...
N8
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
July Newsletter
Hey people of God,
I've been thinking about our role in seeing God's justice happen to the poor and oppressed. What role does God expect us to play as His agents in the world? How much does he hold us accountable for when the cries of the oppressed are not answered? Are we the Church, part of the oppressors? Probably I should back up.
As I have mentioned before, Kalamazoo is in the middle of the worse increase of violence in its history. Last week another young man was shot and killed in our neighborhood which makes six deaths by gun violence in the last few months. Because Vanguard is a street ministry we have direct contact with the friends and family of those affected by the deaths and have taken many heart-breaking prayer requests over the last several months. But last week Friday was a different evening for us for many reasons. First of all, many of the young people were really upset that their friend had just been killed and we took many prayer requests that asked God for his presence in the lives of the young man's family as they grieved his loss. But as we moved through the neighborhood, we began to hear the cry of those living in the heart of the violence. And this is where I again began to consider our role as ministers of peace and justice.
It began with a lady who had lived in the neighborhood for around 18 years. She had gotten divorced years ago and had moved back into the neighborhood she had grown up in. But as the conflict between the north and south sides of Kalamazoo increased, the level of violence increased right outside her doorstep. As more homeowners moved out and rental properties increased she began to see the social capital of her neighborhood decrease. She was trembling as she told us about the gunshots every single night. She was trembling as she told us about witnessing her neighbor lady being beaten by her boyfriend in the street and calling 911 to get help for the lady. She was near tears as she related that because she had tried to help she was getting threats as someone who was a tattletale. She was near tears as she told us about her friend who was walking home one morning and was followed by a young man who was trying to have sex with her. Her friend had to run into an abandoned house and yell for help. And this has become part of her every day life! She doesn't want to leave the neighborhood but there is a problem: no one is hearing her cry.
Home after home that we went to that evening said the same thing: no one is helping us. The police are receiving the blunt of the blame but there is limited funding and the job is bigger than they can handle. The people who we talked to from the city felt hopeless and actually admitted that they had lost control of certain parts of the city, with no tangible plan to regain it. We even heard, on several occasions, anger directed at the churches of the neighborhood. Residents wanted to know how we could drive into the neighborhood to do Sunday mornings, spend two hours fellowshipping and high-fiving each other, and then drive out and call that good enough. One of the ladies even said to us, “We'll take any suggestions you have, but do something. Help us, PLEASE!”
And so now I am in the middle of going to God to ask him what (besides prayers of intercession which I have had to increase sharply) should I be doing for those who are crying out? Will it be good enough on judgment day to say I prayed for them occasionally? Will God be looking at me when another family loses a son because they couldn't afford to move out and instead of helping I was trying to figure out how to adjust my budget so I could afford a more expensive vehicle? Am I accountable in God's eyes when I know that part of the city's slow moving may be because no one from outside of that neighborhood is filling up the city commission meetings and demanding that justice is served? What would it look like if the many successful men and women that fill up the churches of that neighborhood Sunday mornings took action to see justice happen to those crying out for it? Is my inaction an indictment against myself in the eyes of heaven? After a quick glance over history it seems like power, influence, and wealth are very rarely given up voluntarily. Will God have to give my power, wealth, and influence to someone who will use it for the reason God gave it to me? (Because believe it or not, compared with what we see in the neighborhoods, the majority of us have much more of all three than all of those living in the hood.)
Unfortunately I don't have any answers yet. You are just part of my ramblings as I press myself and my Maker to see where I fit in the conversation. I would ask you to join me because if we are God's agent to help see justice find the poor then our inaction is an action that will be judged. And I don't want that and neither do you.
I love you guys!
N8
P.S. - Thanks for putting up with a little of my madness. It helps to think out loud sometimes.
I've been thinking about our role in seeing God's justice happen to the poor and oppressed. What role does God expect us to play as His agents in the world? How much does he hold us accountable for when the cries of the oppressed are not answered? Are we the Church, part of the oppressors? Probably I should back up.
As I have mentioned before, Kalamazoo is in the middle of the worse increase of violence in its history. Last week another young man was shot and killed in our neighborhood which makes six deaths by gun violence in the last few months. Because Vanguard is a street ministry we have direct contact with the friends and family of those affected by the deaths and have taken many heart-breaking prayer requests over the last several months. But last week Friday was a different evening for us for many reasons. First of all, many of the young people were really upset that their friend had just been killed and we took many prayer requests that asked God for his presence in the lives of the young man's family as they grieved his loss. But as we moved through the neighborhood, we began to hear the cry of those living in the heart of the violence. And this is where I again began to consider our role as ministers of peace and justice.
It began with a lady who had lived in the neighborhood for around 18 years. She had gotten divorced years ago and had moved back into the neighborhood she had grown up in. But as the conflict between the north and south sides of Kalamazoo increased, the level of violence increased right outside her doorstep. As more homeowners moved out and rental properties increased she began to see the social capital of her neighborhood decrease. She was trembling as she told us about the gunshots every single night. She was trembling as she told us about witnessing her neighbor lady being beaten by her boyfriend in the street and calling 911 to get help for the lady. She was near tears as she related that because she had tried to help she was getting threats as someone who was a tattletale. She was near tears as she told us about her friend who was walking home one morning and was followed by a young man who was trying to have sex with her. Her friend had to run into an abandoned house and yell for help. And this has become part of her every day life! She doesn't want to leave the neighborhood but there is a problem: no one is hearing her cry.
Home after home that we went to that evening said the same thing: no one is helping us. The police are receiving the blunt of the blame but there is limited funding and the job is bigger than they can handle. The people who we talked to from the city felt hopeless and actually admitted that they had lost control of certain parts of the city, with no tangible plan to regain it. We even heard, on several occasions, anger directed at the churches of the neighborhood. Residents wanted to know how we could drive into the neighborhood to do Sunday mornings, spend two hours fellowshipping and high-fiving each other, and then drive out and call that good enough. One of the ladies even said to us, “We'll take any suggestions you have, but do something. Help us, PLEASE!”
And so now I am in the middle of going to God to ask him what (besides prayers of intercession which I have had to increase sharply) should I be doing for those who are crying out? Will it be good enough on judgment day to say I prayed for them occasionally? Will God be looking at me when another family loses a son because they couldn't afford to move out and instead of helping I was trying to figure out how to adjust my budget so I could afford a more expensive vehicle? Am I accountable in God's eyes when I know that part of the city's slow moving may be because no one from outside of that neighborhood is filling up the city commission meetings and demanding that justice is served? What would it look like if the many successful men and women that fill up the churches of that neighborhood Sunday mornings took action to see justice happen to those crying out for it? Is my inaction an indictment against myself in the eyes of heaven? After a quick glance over history it seems like power, influence, and wealth are very rarely given up voluntarily. Will God have to give my power, wealth, and influence to someone who will use it for the reason God gave it to me? (Because believe it or not, compared with what we see in the neighborhoods, the majority of us have much more of all three than all of those living in the hood.)
Unfortunately I don't have any answers yet. You are just part of my ramblings as I press myself and my Maker to see where I fit in the conversation. I would ask you to join me because if we are God's agent to help see justice find the poor then our inaction is an action that will be judged. And I don't want that and neither do you.
I love you guys!
N8
P.S. - Thanks for putting up with a little of my madness. It helps to think out loud sometimes.
Friday, May 25, 2007
May Newsletter
Hey wonderful People of God!
I've been pondering John 3 in conjunction with our work in the streets and a conversation I had with Dan, the leader of Vanguard on the east side of Kalamazoo. (How's that for an opening sentence?) It all started when Dan and I began talking about how completely odd it looked for Christians not to have friends who were sinners. As our conversation progressed the Holy Spirit jumped into it and we started to ponder what being the light of the world looked like. Our conclusion led us to consider that much of Christian activity looks similar to turning a lamp on in the middle of a lighted room and getting excited about its light production. Wouldn't that be odd? Yet that's kind of what much of our Christianity looks like. We gather in our small groups and have a wonderful time fellowshipping in community with other believers. On Sundays we gather together and enjoy each other's light along with the presence of Our Maker. During the week we get to the business of life, brushing through our work or home responsibilities having very little contact with sinners only to come back to our small groups or churches again. This is good but not best. Before we move on let's look at John 3.
You remember the scene. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night confused about what's happening. He questions Jesus about several things and they have a wonderful discussion about what it looks like to enter the kingdom of God. But as I was considering my conversation with Dan I began to see why Nicodemus was so confused. It had to do with Jesus' company. You know that in Jesus' day fellowshipping with people over dinner was a big deal. For a serious Jewish person to agree to have dinner with you was actually implying that they were entering into friendship with you. Extending dinner invitations and accepting them was huge especially because the rigorous class system that was enforced forbid mingling with those who were considered sinners according to the law. Therefore it was no wonder why the people muttered, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner” (Luke 19:7). Jesus was breaking strict religious rules by eating with prostitutes, tax collectors, beggars, etc. Nicodemus didn't understand how this lawbreaker could be used by God. Yet there was no question God was with this lawbreaker. The signs were indisputable. You can hear Nicodemus' confusion in verse 2, “We know you have to be from God because no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” And in his actions Jesus was showing us where our lights need to be if they are going to truly shine. He didn't forsake the assembly of the brethren, (Hebrews 10:25) but he did spend a large amount of time with those known to be sinners, giving us a pattern to follow after. Now to us.
What kind of time are you spending with those known sinners? When is the last time you went out to dinner with “that person.” Your light doesn't shine like it should when it's in a lighted room. It's at its most useful and brightest when it's in darkness. I take a man out for lunch that we met during one of our street ministry events. He knows I'm a pastor, but he knows I love him or I wouldn't be seen with him. After a few such lunches it was obvious that he had a serious lust problem and was in the habit of dating married women. He was confused about the problems going on in his life and just wanted to sit with someone whom he respected as someone who was trying to serve God as well. I never had to condemn him for his actions. All I had to do was talk about the blessing, in my own life, of obeying God's will and word. Within a few months he told me about how he told a woman who approached him how he was changing and didn't want to disrespect his Jesus by sleeping with her. Wow! And it wasn't just me. There were others who scorned the cultural taboo and invited him into friendship with themselves and life was imparted to him, with the result being he is now a home leader in an organization for recovering addicts.
Listen friends, pregnant teenagers don't have to hear from you that they messed up. They know it full well and need your company over a cheeseburger that, without saying a word, reminds them they are accepted by the Holy and only true God. Adulterers don't need a Bible lesson. They need your time. Fornicators and drunks don't need lectures. They need your presence and your life in their own to give them evidence that there is a life that is available if they'll “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). They need to sit across the table from humanity so beautiful and transformed that they long to have the same. This doesn't happen if we keep pot-lucking with each other or going out to movies, dinner, or drinks with only other Christians. Jesus' rolodex included a large number of sinners and so should ours. This is my challenge to myself and to you on this day.
Think about it.
I love you guys!
N8
I've been pondering John 3 in conjunction with our work in the streets and a conversation I had with Dan, the leader of Vanguard on the east side of Kalamazoo. (How's that for an opening sentence?) It all started when Dan and I began talking about how completely odd it looked for Christians not to have friends who were sinners. As our conversation progressed the Holy Spirit jumped into it and we started to ponder what being the light of the world looked like. Our conclusion led us to consider that much of Christian activity looks similar to turning a lamp on in the middle of a lighted room and getting excited about its light production. Wouldn't that be odd? Yet that's kind of what much of our Christianity looks like. We gather in our small groups and have a wonderful time fellowshipping in community with other believers. On Sundays we gather together and enjoy each other's light along with the presence of Our Maker. During the week we get to the business of life, brushing through our work or home responsibilities having very little contact with sinners only to come back to our small groups or churches again. This is good but not best. Before we move on let's look at John 3.
You remember the scene. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night confused about what's happening. He questions Jesus about several things and they have a wonderful discussion about what it looks like to enter the kingdom of God. But as I was considering my conversation with Dan I began to see why Nicodemus was so confused. It had to do with Jesus' company. You know that in Jesus' day fellowshipping with people over dinner was a big deal. For a serious Jewish person to agree to have dinner with you was actually implying that they were entering into friendship with you. Extending dinner invitations and accepting them was huge especially because the rigorous class system that was enforced forbid mingling with those who were considered sinners according to the law. Therefore it was no wonder why the people muttered, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner” (Luke 19:7). Jesus was breaking strict religious rules by eating with prostitutes, tax collectors, beggars, etc. Nicodemus didn't understand how this lawbreaker could be used by God. Yet there was no question God was with this lawbreaker. The signs were indisputable. You can hear Nicodemus' confusion in verse 2, “We know you have to be from God because no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” And in his actions Jesus was showing us where our lights need to be if they are going to truly shine. He didn't forsake the assembly of the brethren, (Hebrews 10:25) but he did spend a large amount of time with those known to be sinners, giving us a pattern to follow after. Now to us.
What kind of time are you spending with those known sinners? When is the last time you went out to dinner with “that person.” Your light doesn't shine like it should when it's in a lighted room. It's at its most useful and brightest when it's in darkness. I take a man out for lunch that we met during one of our street ministry events. He knows I'm a pastor, but he knows I love him or I wouldn't be seen with him. After a few such lunches it was obvious that he had a serious lust problem and was in the habit of dating married women. He was confused about the problems going on in his life and just wanted to sit with someone whom he respected as someone who was trying to serve God as well. I never had to condemn him for his actions. All I had to do was talk about the blessing, in my own life, of obeying God's will and word. Within a few months he told me about how he told a woman who approached him how he was changing and didn't want to disrespect his Jesus by sleeping with her. Wow! And it wasn't just me. There were others who scorned the cultural taboo and invited him into friendship with themselves and life was imparted to him, with the result being he is now a home leader in an organization for recovering addicts.
Listen friends, pregnant teenagers don't have to hear from you that they messed up. They know it full well and need your company over a cheeseburger that, without saying a word, reminds them they are accepted by the Holy and only true God. Adulterers don't need a Bible lesson. They need your time. Fornicators and drunks don't need lectures. They need your presence and your life in their own to give them evidence that there is a life that is available if they'll “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). They need to sit across the table from humanity so beautiful and transformed that they long to have the same. This doesn't happen if we keep pot-lucking with each other or going out to movies, dinner, or drinks with only other Christians. Jesus' rolodex included a large number of sinners and so should ours. This is my challenge to myself and to you on this day.
Think about it.
I love you guys!
N8
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
April Newsletter
Hey beautiful people,
We need your prayers! Vanguard is in the middle of some very difficult times and we need everyone who knows how to pray, to pray for our city and the neighborhoods we are working in. Let me explain.
Gang activity in Kalamazoo, historically, hasn’t been too intense. Sure we have had our share of murders, shootings, and drug activity, but overall the situation has not been as violent and chaotic as a lot of other cities. But over the past two years the hostility between the young men of the south side of Kalamazoo and the young men of the north side of Kalamazoo has intensified. Last year there were 357 calls to the police department for shots fired. There were 22 homicides with a gun in the last seven years. From January through March of 2007 there has already been 85 calls to the police for shots fired, several homicides, and we’re not even to the summer yet. I personally believe that the enemy started setting us up for this moment generations ago, and here is how:
Within the inner city neighborhoods there is an enormous void of fathers. There are boyfriends and uncles but fathers are few and far between. Vanguard did interviews at the Boys-n-Girls Club a few months ago and, of the 40-or-so kids we interviewed, ONE had a father in the home. ONE! Many of them only had a picture of him and had never met him in person. What am I saying? We have two whole neighborhoods (The north and south sides of Kalamazoo) full of fatherless young men. One thing I have learned about manhood is that it is conferred upon you by another man. When my sons want to know if they’re becoming strong, they don’t test it out on my wife. Yes they wrestle around with her sometimes but when they really want to test themselves out they come after me. They love hearing from their mom about how well they did during their football games, but regardless of what she says they ask me if they did good. My affirmation brings them into the belief that they have what it takes to become a man because another man of significance in their lives has told them so. This cannot be done by a woman. Can you see the connection?
Two whole neighborhoods, full of fatherless young men, are trying to prove to themselves and to each other that they are men and have what it takes to be a man because there is no one to confer that manhood upon them. Throw a match like murder (which happened to a 14 year old young man last week) into an explosive situation like that and chaos is just down the road. The neighbors are almost hopeless. We were ministering in the neighborhood the boy was shot in, the day after his death. I have personally, never seen so much despair and hopelessness as I did on the faces of the mothers there. They are stuck in one of the only neighborhoods they can afford to be in and losing hope in the ability of the authorities in place to keep them or their families safe. Where does their help come from?
The only answer is Our God working through the church. We have to be on our knees in prayer. But one thing about us that is different from them is that we are in different economic and social categories than they are. We are not touched with the feeling of their infirmities as Jesus was with ours. I minister in the neighborhood and get to see first hand what this does to the people living there. When I go to pray I feel the compassion of the Father for the young mothers who are worried sick for their sons. When I pray I see the tenseness in the faces of the teenage boys who shouldn’t have to worry about if they will see tomorrow. This encourages me to pray with a certain urgency which is missing from the prayers of those who are not privileged to minister in the areas I am. My request is this: when you get some time sit down in a chair and allow God to show you what it looks like to live in a situation like this. What does it look like to come home and see bullet holes through your living room window? What emotions go through you as you hear a commotion outside your kitchen window and find that your neighbor boy was just shot in the head at only 14 and you have two sons around that same age? What kind of frustrations would you feel as a single mother if you came home exhausted from work, to a home falling apart at the seams, with bills that exceed your income, and no father to share the burden of raising kids in this neighborhood? If you will take a minute to let God show you his heart in this matter your prayers cannot be the same for the people He cares about so much. And the urgency in your prayers will move His heart and He will not be slow in coming to the aid of people who don’t have any other advocate. We really need your help and your prayers!
I love you guys!
N8
We need your prayers! Vanguard is in the middle of some very difficult times and we need everyone who knows how to pray, to pray for our city and the neighborhoods we are working in. Let me explain.
Gang activity in Kalamazoo, historically, hasn’t been too intense. Sure we have had our share of murders, shootings, and drug activity, but overall the situation has not been as violent and chaotic as a lot of other cities. But over the past two years the hostility between the young men of the south side of Kalamazoo and the young men of the north side of Kalamazoo has intensified. Last year there were 357 calls to the police department for shots fired. There were 22 homicides with a gun in the last seven years. From January through March of 2007 there has already been 85 calls to the police for shots fired, several homicides, and we’re not even to the summer yet. I personally believe that the enemy started setting us up for this moment generations ago, and here is how:
Within the inner city neighborhoods there is an enormous void of fathers. There are boyfriends and uncles but fathers are few and far between. Vanguard did interviews at the Boys-n-Girls Club a few months ago and, of the 40-or-so kids we interviewed, ONE had a father in the home. ONE! Many of them only had a picture of him and had never met him in person. What am I saying? We have two whole neighborhoods (The north and south sides of Kalamazoo) full of fatherless young men. One thing I have learned about manhood is that it is conferred upon you by another man. When my sons want to know if they’re becoming strong, they don’t test it out on my wife. Yes they wrestle around with her sometimes but when they really want to test themselves out they come after me. They love hearing from their mom about how well they did during their football games, but regardless of what she says they ask me if they did good. My affirmation brings them into the belief that they have what it takes to become a man because another man of significance in their lives has told them so. This cannot be done by a woman. Can you see the connection?
Two whole neighborhoods, full of fatherless young men, are trying to prove to themselves and to each other that they are men and have what it takes to be a man because there is no one to confer that manhood upon them. Throw a match like murder (which happened to a 14 year old young man last week) into an explosive situation like that and chaos is just down the road. The neighbors are almost hopeless. We were ministering in the neighborhood the boy was shot in, the day after his death. I have personally, never seen so much despair and hopelessness as I did on the faces of the mothers there. They are stuck in one of the only neighborhoods they can afford to be in and losing hope in the ability of the authorities in place to keep them or their families safe. Where does their help come from?
The only answer is Our God working through the church. We have to be on our knees in prayer. But one thing about us that is different from them is that we are in different economic and social categories than they are. We are not touched with the feeling of their infirmities as Jesus was with ours. I minister in the neighborhood and get to see first hand what this does to the people living there. When I go to pray I feel the compassion of the Father for the young mothers who are worried sick for their sons. When I pray I see the tenseness in the faces of the teenage boys who shouldn’t have to worry about if they will see tomorrow. This encourages me to pray with a certain urgency which is missing from the prayers of those who are not privileged to minister in the areas I am. My request is this: when you get some time sit down in a chair and allow God to show you what it looks like to live in a situation like this. What does it look like to come home and see bullet holes through your living room window? What emotions go through you as you hear a commotion outside your kitchen window and find that your neighbor boy was just shot in the head at only 14 and you have two sons around that same age? What kind of frustrations would you feel as a single mother if you came home exhausted from work, to a home falling apart at the seams, with bills that exceed your income, and no father to share the burden of raising kids in this neighborhood? If you will take a minute to let God show you his heart in this matter your prayers cannot be the same for the people He cares about so much. And the urgency in your prayers will move His heart and He will not be slow in coming to the aid of people who don’t have any other advocate. We really need your help and your prayers!
I love you guys!
N8
Monday, March 05, 2007
March Newsletter
Hey beautiful people,
We could be great. America could be great again. The church in America could be great again. One major obstacle stands in our way: how to be blessed but not introverted. We must learn how to live in Genesis 12 and be blessed to be a blessing. Where is all of this coming from? I’m glad you asked.
Vanguard, as you may or may not know, has been in the process of forming a tax-exempt community development organization called Urban Alliance (UA). We finally got all the paper work approved by the IRS and are faced with the new task of raising money for the ministry ideas we have been planning. Our first step has to be the acquisition of a building. Part of UA’s mission statement has to do with the work of restoring people and facilities within inner city neighborhoods. With this in mind we have been in negotiations for some abandoned facilities that we can fix up to start bringing hope back to the hood. To do this we need to raise around $80,000. As I began to think about how to do this the Lord began to speak to me about my finances.
The first thing I was confronted with was the fact that I was already blessed beyond imagination. The home that I live in, the car that I drive, the food I consume, all make me extremely wealthy in the eyes of much of the world. Yet in my mind I have been tempted into wanting more. Part of this is I watch too much TV. The media in America in conjunction with advertisement agencies have made sure I know exactly what I don’t have. My desires have effectively been adversely affected (say that ten times fast) and I don’t know that my needs are not actually needs. But as I began to come to terms with this I realized that the money we need to fix up one building is actually very simple to get. The problem is, the people who could give (like myself) who have so much more than they need, don’t realize that they have the money because (just like myself) we spend most of the money we get on ourselves. I looked at my checkbook and, besides tithing and minimal offerings, the rest of my expenditures are spent on myself and my family. And because I haven’t realized how blessed I am, I am considering other bigger ways to spend more money on myself and make more money so I can afford to spend more on myself. This isn’t blessed and being a blessing. This is more like blessed and continuing to bless myself. I repent Lord!
If I could find 100 people to give up $15.38 a week for one year, I could pay for and renovate the building with cash. When I look at my bills, what I pay to watch TV every night is more than that. What I pay to make sure I have more than just Cheerios as a choice in the morning is more than that. What I pay to make sure I have instant, speedy access to the world-wide web is more than that. All I’m saying is if I were a little less short sighted, I could join in with others to make a huge impact in the neighborhood I am ministering in. But if I continue consuming all God gave me on myself this will continue to only be a dream. How can this continue? It can’t. Not if we’re going to avoid the judgment that comes on a nation when they continue considering only themselves and ignoring the widow, the orphan and the downtrodden (And we haven’t even touched on what our resources, if they were put in God’s hands, could do in other countries).
This isn’t meant to be a letter of condemnation but I hope it does challenge us to consider the amazing resources we’ve been afforded in this nation and how to creatively use them to further God’s kingdom in the earth. I am certainly not against being blessed, but I do question the consumer culture I am a part of and how it has even affected the mission of the church. I do wonder what it would look like to spend more of our time and resources on pleasing and serving others than serving and pleasing ourselves. I have even begun to believe that this won’t even cause us to have to live a lesser lifestyle than we desire because if we seek God’s kingdom first, and further his kingdom first, all these other things will be added as well! (Matthew 6:33, 2 Corinthians 9:10)
Let’s spur each other on to great deeds and begin thinking about what needs to happen to us corporately and individually to become the spotless bride of Christ that Our Savior deserves!
I love you guys!
N8
We could be great. America could be great again. The church in America could be great again. One major obstacle stands in our way: how to be blessed but not introverted. We must learn how to live in Genesis 12 and be blessed to be a blessing. Where is all of this coming from? I’m glad you asked.
Vanguard, as you may or may not know, has been in the process of forming a tax-exempt community development organization called Urban Alliance (UA). We finally got all the paper work approved by the IRS and are faced with the new task of raising money for the ministry ideas we have been planning. Our first step has to be the acquisition of a building. Part of UA’s mission statement has to do with the work of restoring people and facilities within inner city neighborhoods. With this in mind we have been in negotiations for some abandoned facilities that we can fix up to start bringing hope back to the hood. To do this we need to raise around $80,000. As I began to think about how to do this the Lord began to speak to me about my finances.
The first thing I was confronted with was the fact that I was already blessed beyond imagination. The home that I live in, the car that I drive, the food I consume, all make me extremely wealthy in the eyes of much of the world. Yet in my mind I have been tempted into wanting more. Part of this is I watch too much TV. The media in America in conjunction with advertisement agencies have made sure I know exactly what I don’t have. My desires have effectively been adversely affected (say that ten times fast) and I don’t know that my needs are not actually needs. But as I began to come to terms with this I realized that the money we need to fix up one building is actually very simple to get. The problem is, the people who could give (like myself) who have so much more than they need, don’t realize that they have the money because (just like myself) we spend most of the money we get on ourselves. I looked at my checkbook and, besides tithing and minimal offerings, the rest of my expenditures are spent on myself and my family. And because I haven’t realized how blessed I am, I am considering other bigger ways to spend more money on myself and make more money so I can afford to spend more on myself. This isn’t blessed and being a blessing. This is more like blessed and continuing to bless myself. I repent Lord!
If I could find 100 people to give up $15.38 a week for one year, I could pay for and renovate the building with cash. When I look at my bills, what I pay to watch TV every night is more than that. What I pay to make sure I have more than just Cheerios as a choice in the morning is more than that. What I pay to make sure I have instant, speedy access to the world-wide web is more than that. All I’m saying is if I were a little less short sighted, I could join in with others to make a huge impact in the neighborhood I am ministering in. But if I continue consuming all God gave me on myself this will continue to only be a dream. How can this continue? It can’t. Not if we’re going to avoid the judgment that comes on a nation when they continue considering only themselves and ignoring the widow, the orphan and the downtrodden (And we haven’t even touched on what our resources, if they were put in God’s hands, could do in other countries).
This isn’t meant to be a letter of condemnation but I hope it does challenge us to consider the amazing resources we’ve been afforded in this nation and how to creatively use them to further God’s kingdom in the earth. I am certainly not against being blessed, but I do question the consumer culture I am a part of and how it has even affected the mission of the church. I do wonder what it would look like to spend more of our time and resources on pleasing and serving others than serving and pleasing ourselves. I have even begun to believe that this won’t even cause us to have to live a lesser lifestyle than we desire because if we seek God’s kingdom first, and further his kingdom first, all these other things will be added as well! (Matthew 6:33, 2 Corinthians 9:10)
Let’s spur each other on to great deeds and begin thinking about what needs to happen to us corporately and individually to become the spotless bride of Christ that Our Savior deserves!
I love you guys!
N8
Thursday, January 18, 2007
January Newsletter
Hey people:
Happy New Year! It seems weird to write 2007 on everything. Seems like just yesterday we were worried about Y2K and now we're almost a decade away from that. Anyway...
I've been thinking about proximity. It has come up in my prayer time and my discussions and as I began to think about it I saw its value to the church in America. Webster's Dictionary defines proximate as: very near, or close. Proximity then is the state of being proximate. In our case the church should begin to consider what this means for us and how it can be used as a tool of love. Here's what I mean.
Vanguard Street Ministries was born almost eight years ago. As we went into the streets we met a lot of people and began to see a pattern in many of them. The pattern? They loved Jesus but hated the church. Many of them had been judged, criticized, and hurt by some body of believers at some time and (although many of them could acknowledge their need for Christian fellowship) could not force themselves back into the walls of a building. We needed to help bridge the gap, which was part of our calling. As the years went by we saw many other Christian organizations and ministries reaching out to the people we were with but we saw a fundamental error in many of their attempts. They were doing what they thought was best and not necessarily meeting the actual needs of the people. As I sat back to think about this I could see it had to do with proximity. The hearts of those from the church were in the right place but they weren't close enough to the people to hear their real needs. A couple examples:
George is an admitted alcoholic who lives two blocks from the church Vanguard has its offices in. We met him one night as he was having a beer on his porch and he decided to come to the church the next Sunday. But I have seen ministries trying to reach George by bringing gift baskets or tracts or other tested evangelical strategies and they aren't working. Because we're always in the neighborhood and around George we have become friends. As the friendship has grown we have realized that although he doesn't mind the efforts of those ministries, his deepest need at this time is fellowship. So our ministry to him is going to sit with him or just having a BBQ night in his lawn. His need for friendship is his biggest need. The reason we know about it is because of our proximity to the people who we're ministering to.
I talked with my friend Alan at the mission the other day and he was telling me how much he appreciated us there. We are at the mission every Wednesday to do devotions or games and have become friends with many of the people there. As we talked Alan mentioned how impossible it would be for someone to go hungry in Kalamazoo. He mentioned the different soup kitchens and luncheons available for homeless people and pointed out that a person could eat four or five times a day in Kalamazoo if they wanted to. Yet when most ministries or bodies of believers (please hear me that their hearts are in the right spot or they wouldn't even be reaching out) think about serving the homeless most of their minds go to supplying food or clothing, neither of which are hard to get for the homeless of Kalamazoo. The reason Vanguard has become endeared to these people is because we bring things that minister to their real needs. We bring pillows, because sometimes sleeping at the mission would be easier with a nice pillow. We bring new socks and underwear because these are luxuries for homeless people. We bring miniature snacks that they can carry in their pockets as they walk around during the day. But the reason we know what to bring is because of our closeness to them. Our proximity allows us to love them better. This is my challenge to you: get close enough to the people you're ministering to, to actually know what their real needs are, and then love them however the Spirit shows you.
Please hear me: The efforts of the ministries we see in the streets are admirable. But sometimes even though the thoughts are honorable, the ministry is ineffective because the people in the ministries aren't close enough to know the real needs of the people they are ministering to.
My challenge to you and to me for 2007? Be with the people. Jesus was. They called him a drunk and a friend of sinners. The Pharisees had to go to the homes of known sinners to check on him because he was with them a lot. For us to resemble Him and reverse the hatred of the church we're going to have to get our hands dirty. But sometimes it's fun to roll in the mud. Try it sometime!
I love you guys,
Merry 2007
N8
Happy New Year! It seems weird to write 2007 on everything. Seems like just yesterday we were worried about Y2K and now we're almost a decade away from that. Anyway...
I've been thinking about proximity. It has come up in my prayer time and my discussions and as I began to think about it I saw its value to the church in America. Webster's Dictionary defines proximate as: very near, or close. Proximity then is the state of being proximate. In our case the church should begin to consider what this means for us and how it can be used as a tool of love. Here's what I mean.
Vanguard Street Ministries was born almost eight years ago. As we went into the streets we met a lot of people and began to see a pattern in many of them. The pattern? They loved Jesus but hated the church. Many of them had been judged, criticized, and hurt by some body of believers at some time and (although many of them could acknowledge their need for Christian fellowship) could not force themselves back into the walls of a building. We needed to help bridge the gap, which was part of our calling. As the years went by we saw many other Christian organizations and ministries reaching out to the people we were with but we saw a fundamental error in many of their attempts. They were doing what they thought was best and not necessarily meeting the actual needs of the people. As I sat back to think about this I could see it had to do with proximity. The hearts of those from the church were in the right place but they weren't close enough to the people to hear their real needs. A couple examples:
George is an admitted alcoholic who lives two blocks from the church Vanguard has its offices in. We met him one night as he was having a beer on his porch and he decided to come to the church the next Sunday. But I have seen ministries trying to reach George by bringing gift baskets or tracts or other tested evangelical strategies and they aren't working. Because we're always in the neighborhood and around George we have become friends. As the friendship has grown we have realized that although he doesn't mind the efforts of those ministries, his deepest need at this time is fellowship. So our ministry to him is going to sit with him or just having a BBQ night in his lawn. His need for friendship is his biggest need. The reason we know about it is because of our proximity to the people who we're ministering to.
I talked with my friend Alan at the mission the other day and he was telling me how much he appreciated us there. We are at the mission every Wednesday to do devotions or games and have become friends with many of the people there. As we talked Alan mentioned how impossible it would be for someone to go hungry in Kalamazoo. He mentioned the different soup kitchens and luncheons available for homeless people and pointed out that a person could eat four or five times a day in Kalamazoo if they wanted to. Yet when most ministries or bodies of believers (please hear me that their hearts are in the right spot or they wouldn't even be reaching out) think about serving the homeless most of their minds go to supplying food or clothing, neither of which are hard to get for the homeless of Kalamazoo. The reason Vanguard has become endeared to these people is because we bring things that minister to their real needs. We bring pillows, because sometimes sleeping at the mission would be easier with a nice pillow. We bring new socks and underwear because these are luxuries for homeless people. We bring miniature snacks that they can carry in their pockets as they walk around during the day. But the reason we know what to bring is because of our closeness to them. Our proximity allows us to love them better. This is my challenge to you: get close enough to the people you're ministering to, to actually know what their real needs are, and then love them however the Spirit shows you.
Please hear me: The efforts of the ministries we see in the streets are admirable. But sometimes even though the thoughts are honorable, the ministry is ineffective because the people in the ministries aren't close enough to know the real needs of the people they are ministering to.
My challenge to you and to me for 2007? Be with the people. Jesus was. They called him a drunk and a friend of sinners. The Pharisees had to go to the homes of known sinners to check on him because he was with them a lot. For us to resemble Him and reverse the hatred of the church we're going to have to get our hands dirty. But sometimes it's fun to roll in the mud. Try it sometime!
I love you guys,
Merry 2007
N8
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)