Sunday, October 28, 2007

a pumpkin portrait...

of my daughter at her request...

food for thought...

While I was in Atlanta, I had the privilege to hear Craig Groeschel speak. His message was extremely powerful and inspiring. There were a few major items that I took away from his message that I thought I would share and hopefully start some conversation.

1.) What if we believed that what happened in the Bible could still happen today? The healings, the miracles, the massive spreading of the Gospel, the transformation?

2.) When we hit a wall, it often times causes a revelation that we wouldn’t see otherwise.

3.) Limited resources + increasing passion = exponential innovation

4.) Sometimes, in order to be effective, you have to break some rules.

5.) How would you live your life differently if you knew you had 30 days to live?

6.) If we are going to reach the unreached, we are going to have to do things that have not been done before.

Thoughts?

Be sure to check out Craig's church here.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Martin Luther King, Jr.…


I had the opportunity to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site today. I spent most of my time at the Visitor’s Center and the King Center. The Visitor’s Center chronicles Dr. King’s life along with segregation, integration and the civil rights movement. I must tell you; there were a number of times that I was moved to tears at the hatred that dominated so much of the United States during these times. It just appalled me to no end to see how something like this could have gone on for so long with a group of people (God’s creation) being treated as less than human. It is just despicable. Walking through the streets of Atlanta, I was thrilled to see the fruits of Dr. King's labor. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think race relations will ever be perfect, at least until Jesus’ return, but I think we have made major strides in the last thirty years. I was overwhelmed at the influence that Dr. King had and the change that he and those inspired by his life brought about. He is an excellent example of a man who was given a vision from God and carried it out faithfully to the end.

I also visited the King Center and saw Dr. and Mrs. King’s resting place in the middle of a large reflecting pond. The King Center offers displays on Dr. King, Mrs. King, Rosa Parks and Mahatma Ghandi. It focuses on nonviolent social change. Having taught this past year on Matthew 5:38-42, specifically on nonviolent resistance, this was extremely powerful. This inspires me to study more closely Jesus’ teachings and follow them as if he really meant what he said.

The streets of Atlanta…

picture courtesy of Emerging Grace

So, I’m in Atlanta for a meeting, conference and expo and I had a chance to do some exploring today (which is rare these days when I travel for a meeting). On my way back from Olympic Park, a guy approached me on the street to ask where I was going. I told him that I was on my way back to my car by the MLK, Jr. historic site. After saying that he was surprised that I was walking that far, he shared with me that he was homeless. His name is Eric. We introduced ourselves and after explaining why I had traveled all the way from Pennsylvania, I asked him to share his story with me. It turns out that he has only been on the streets two-and-a-half months. He told me that he found his wife sleeping with another man and turned to alcohol. Eric was arrested for DUI and has been living on the streets ever since.

This is the second divine ordained encounter (if you will) with a homeless person in the past week. All of this following my conviction after reading Todd’s blog.

I want to share a few things that I learned from Eric:

Eric believes in God. When he found out I work with churches and preach on the side, he asked me to pray for him. In fact, he is confident that God is using this situation to strengthen him and teach him what it means to appreciate things after having everything stripped away. Eric appreciates what he has and where he is. He thanks God that he is alive, has a new pair of boots, and has only been on the streets for two-and-a-half months (a lot shorter than most of his other friends).

Eric told me that he appreciated that I talked to him. He said most people won’t even look at him. He said that in most cases if he approaches someone to ask them for something or talk, the police tell him to move along so he doesn’t harass anyone.

Eric wants to work. He said he has filled out a number of applications, but most employers will not consider him if he lists a shelter as his home. A friend of his uses a P.O. Box number to have a better chance. He asked the owner of a restaurant if he could help them clean in exchange for food and they called the police on him. He asked someone for money and they began to curse him out.

What hurts Eric the most is when people dehumanize him (by not looking at him, acknowledging him, or seeing any value in him). You could see it lift his spirits when I told him that the two of us are no different. For whatever reason God has placed us in the current situations we find ourselves.

Eric has been on my heart and mind ever since. I have been praying for him. After he left, I wondered if I would remain so faithful despite losing every material thing that I have. I wondered why I live in comfort with no real need when so many others do not. God has been working in my heart on the issue of homelessness lately. I pray that God continues to give me compassion and love for the least of these, so that I do not grow desensitized to their plight. I pray that I do not take what I have for granted, but continue to give out of the abundance that God has blessed me with. I pray for Eric for safety, encouragement, strength, faith and that God will bring him out of this current situation at just the right time to bring glory to His name. And if Eric does not find his way off the streets, I pray that God will continue to use him as an inspiration to those like myself who so often look past the poverty and injustice right under our noses.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

props for my pops...

My Dad has had a concern for the people of Darfur on his heart for the past few years. He lives in a development in Northern Virginia where they have an annual Christmas decorating competition for their homes. It has been amazing to see the time and money people put into this competition. Last year, someone in his development actually paid someone to design and install their.

Well, he recently put together a proposal for his idea: "Dark for Darfur", shown to the left. His idea is to have people calculate how much they would normally spend decorating their house with lights and instead of putting up the lights, donate that money to the Save Darfur Coalition funding the crucial awareness and advocacy programs that play a critical role in building the political pressure needed to end the crisis in Darfur. Unfortunately, this is not a political issue, it is a humanity issue. Yet through Save Darfur, it is our hope that the word gets out so that we will not longer stand quietly while a brother or sister is subjected to atrocities and genocide. Save Darfur enthusiastically accepted his proposal, so this year will be the kick-off of the campaign. Each person that commits to going Dark for Darfur with a donation will receive a yard sign bearing the logo above so you can let your neighbors know why your house is dark. I think this is an excellent way of raising awareness and taking a stand for our brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe. I encourage you to check it out at the website (which has just launched recently). Oh, and if you are too attached to the tradition and look of the lights, make a donation and go Dark for Darfur, one night, one night a week, whatever works for you.


Friday, October 12, 2007

interesting interview...

I stumbled upon this interview in Christianity Today. I think these types of dialogues can help us as followers of Jesus understand modern Judaism better. Although tone is really hard to read in text, I sensed some judgemental tone in Kendall. Maybe that's just me, you can "judge" for yourself. HA!

The following quote bothered me a bit though:

Kendall: Christianity is basically about a person, Jesus of Nazareth—who was, we believe, the God-man. And it isn't as much what he taught about loving one another and all of the things people say they admire about Jesus. The heart of Christianity is the person of Jesus, who he was and what he did more than what he said, although we accept what he said as true.

What do you think of this statement? So as to not bias your responses, I won't elaborate on my thoughts until I get some responses.

Introducing Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED

It's VERY rare that I plug a product, but Hallmark just recently joined the (PRODUCT) RED team and I love this commercial.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

breaking the silence...

The blog has been silent for a bit...sorry about that.

I have been listening to two great teaching series lately and I highly recommend them both. Check out Mars Hill and The Village Church current teachings by clicking on the links. They are both podcasts so you need iTunes to listen.