Feeding the Homeless

"There are thousands of people dying for a piece of bread. There are thousands upon thousands who die for a little bit of love, for a little bit of acknowledgment."

Mother Teresa

Last night was our monthly trek downtown with the college kids to Horizon Urban Ministries where we serve and minister to the homeless. This was our fourth time down and each time gets better and better, and I think as a group we are continually growing. There's not as much apprehension, even though you never know what will happen or who you'll meet or what they'll say.

We are more eager to get out and have conversations with people rather than simply serve them. All in all, we're becoming involved in their lives. Getting to know them by name, their stories, their families, their likes and dislikes--after all, they're not just homeless, they're people too.

(L-R: Coy, Bryan, Pastor Joe, Jace)

Our ministry has expanded over the last few months. We originally started off fixing a meal and inviting people in the park to come. Now, our time downtown includes preparing a meal, decorating: set-up tables/drinks/cutlery, going out to the park praying for and inviting people to come for dinner, foot washing and handing out new socks (homeless people love clean socks), praying for them, worship, and we even have a chiropractor come down and do adjustments for people!

This was probably my last trip downtown for at least a couple of months. I'd like to continue going after Joey is born, but we'll have to see how that will pan out. I wanted to take some pictures to show you guys, they're not the best (due to lighting and I didn't want to just snap pictures of unsuspecting people).


I'll miss going down seeing the people and serving them. Coming home last night what it felt like, for me, was when Jesus sent his disciples to go get lunch and he ended up talking with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). When the disciples returned Jesus said,

"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."

That phrase kept going through my mind and even though I was tired and a little bit hungry, I felt satisfied.

The Burden of Revival & Healing of a Nation

I've been doing a bible study with a group of women at church called Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit by Beth Moore. We just finished week 2 of the study, which has been a look through Galatians building a foundation of understanding how the Holy Spirit works in our lives and studying the context for which those famous verses are based.

In the study the other day Beth spoke on something that connected with me in relation to TheCall and all that is happening here in recent months and weeks. This is what she said (talking about the "natural man" or man of flesh),

"We should not be surprised at the depravity that surrounds us. I am somewhat puzzled by a common attitude in today's church. We believe that abortion clinics, godless school districts, pornographers and the like are the hindrances to revival in our land."

At this point I went, 'Oh, boy. I know where she's going with this.'

She then posed the question: Who does the burden of revival and the healing of a nation fall upon (2 Chron. 7:14)? It falls upon the people of God.

"...and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves
and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

She continues, "God expects unredeemed people to sin. Revival has nothing to do with unsaved people. If God's people would humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, then this nation would be healed in spite of every bar, every gambling hill, every gang, and every crack house."

It's up to us. We do not battle against flesh and blood, "but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12), and this type of battle will only be won in repentance and prayer.

“As California goes, so goes the nation.”

Click here for an extended, more thorough version of this post.

Beginning on September 24^th many Christians and churches across California entered a season of 40 days of prayer and fasting. Why? Because these are desperate times.

The Issue

On March 7, 2000, 61% of Californians voted that marriage is defined as between one man and one woman. However May 15, 2008 four activist judges overturned this vote deeming it in violation of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. No one thought that this election year God would be moving the Church to take a stand for the truth in such a way. Now, Prop 8 is on the ballot. Prop 8 seeks to amend the California Constitution to include the phrase, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

The Heart & Focus of TheCall

During these 40 days, Christians are joining with TheCall in prayer and fasting for the Church and the nation.

Ramifications of a no vote on Prop 8

There is much at stake on the November ballot. The redefinition of marriage will not only affect California, as TheCall so poignantly puts it “As California goes, so goes the nation.” The redefining of marriage will have sweeping consequences. We have already seen this in countries and states that have redefined marriage. Pastors have been imprisoned for preaching their biblical views on homosexuality, Christian adoption agencies have shut their doors rather than compromise their beliefs, parents have been denied the right for parental notification to opt their child out when homosexual viewpoints are being taught in school, and the list goes on. This will not only affect California, but the whole country.

Here are five consequences is the vote fails, as noted by WhatisProp8.com:

1. Children in public schools will have to be taught that same-sex marriage is just as good as traditional marriage.

2. Churches may be sued over their tax exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings open to the public.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools with married student housing may be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if counter to church doctrine, or risk lawsuits over tax exemptions and related benefits.

5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages may be sued for hate speech and risk government fines.

What the Church Needs to Know to Respond

• First, the Church needs to boldly speak the truth.
• Second, the Church must boldly speak the truth in love.
• Third, the Church must repent of its own sin.
• Fourth, the Church must have a correct understanding of sin.

Ways to Get Involved

There are many ways to get involved even if you are not part of the Church in California. You can join us in prayer, repentance, and fasting. You can speak the truth on the biblical perspective of marriage in a loving, Christ-like manner. You can educate others on the issue and its ramifications. You can encourage others to pray, get involved, or vote.

Resources

• TheCall – www.thecall.com

• I Protect Marriage – www.iprotectmarriage.com

• What is Prop 8? - http://whatisprop8.com

• Protect Marriage – www.protectmarriage.com

• Exodus International – www.exodus-international.org

• Responding to Pro-Gay Theology (Joe Dallas) – www.leaderu.com/jhs/dallas.html

• How Then Should We Respond? Developing an Effective Answer to the Gay Rights Movement (Joe Dallas) - www.joedallas.com/resources/How Should We Then Respond-Article.pdf

Picture by Slack12

"If the great Luther, with his stirring message of justification by faith, had with Paul moved on from Romans 5 to Romans 6 with its amazing declarations concerning the now justified sinner's position of identification with his crucified Lord, would not a stifled Protestantism be on a higher ground today? Might it not be free from its ulcerous fleshiness?"
F. J. Huegel, The Cross of Christ

Do We Know the Poor?

an excerpt from Mother Teresa's Heart of Joy: The Transforming Power of Self-Giving

A few weeks before my trip to the United States, someone came to our house by night and said, "There is a Hindu family with eight children, and they have gone several days without eating." I took a bit of rice and went immediately to their assistance. The mother took the rice from my hands, distributed it into two equal servings, and went out immediately.

When she came back I asked, "Where have you been? What have you been doing?" "They are hungry too," she answered. Right next to them lives a Muslim family with the same number of children. The Hindu mother knew they had been out of food for several days. She did what Jesus does: she broke bread. She broke her love and shared it with her neighbors.

I cannot describe to you the faces of those youngsters. When I went it, I knew they were suffering. I could see their little faces. I could see their eyes shining because of hunger. When I left, their eyes were shining with joy because both the mother and children were able to share their love with others. What impressed me most in that instance was that the woman knew. Do we know our poor people? Do we know the poor in our house, in our family? Perhaps they are not hungry for a piece of bread. Perhaps our children, husband, wife, are not hungry, or naked, or dispossessed, but are you sure there is no one there who feels unwanted, deprived of affectation? Where is your elderly father or mother?

One day I visited a house where our sisters shelter the aged. This is one of the nicest houses in England, filled with beautiful and precious things, yet there was not one smile on the faces of those people. All of them were looking toward the door. I asked the sister in charge, "Why are they like that? Why can you not see a smile on their faces?" (I am accustomed to seeing smiles on people's faces. I think a smile generates a smile, just as love generates love.)

The sister answered, "The same thing happens every day. They are always waiting for someone to come and visit them. Loneliness eats them up, and day after day they do not stop looking. Nobody comes." Abandonment is an awful poverty.
On one of our nightly walks through London, I discovered a teenage boy, with long, well-groomed hair. He was sitting, thinking. I said to him, "You shouldn't be here at this time. You should be with your parents. This is not a proper place for you to be at this time and on such a cold night." He stared at me and said, "My mother doesn't want me because I have long hair."

There was no other reason. A young man, a mere teenager, rejected by his own people, by his own mother! I reflected for an instant. "Maybe his mother is concerned about the hungry people in India, in Africa, or in the third world. Maybe she desires to meet the needs of all except her son. She doesn't know that poverty, hunger, exists in her own house. It is she who provokes such hunger."

That's why I ask: "Do we know our poor people? Do we know how poor we ourselves are?"

A nation that destroys the life of an unborn child, who has been created for living and loving, who has been created in the image of God, is in a tremendous poverty. For a child to be destroyed because of selfishness of those who fear they may not be able to feed one more child, fear they may not be able to educate one more child and so decide that the child has to die--that's poverty.

*

Sunday night we took our college ministry downtown to work alongside Horizon Urban Ministries to serve the homeless. We split off into three different teams:

Kitchen Crew cooked up a homemade dinner with dessert.

Prayer Walkers went to nearby Balboa Park to pray as they walked (hence the name) and invite people they met to come for a meal.

Table Crew decorated the tables, set-up dinnerware, and served the meal when the time came. (This was my crew.)

I'm always nervous in doing new things. Once it came time to serve I wasn't quite sure what to do. I knew what to do, but how should I interact with these people? What could I talk with them about? For a few minutes I wandered around the perimeter of the room, trying to figure out how I'd dive in.

I've seemed to adopt a policy to 1-2-3-Jump! Except if I give myself a 1-2-3, then I end up giving myself another countdown, so I've got to just jump. Like diving into a cold pool--you've just got to do it.

It was fun. I enjoyed myself and serving these people. I did spill water on a man and told him that's why I've never been a waitress. For all my hesitation you know what, it was easy.

On the ride home we were sharing our experiences, for myself I felt I was personal, but not "Hey, how are you doing? Let's talk" personal. I can really see areas the Lord is pushing me to grow toward--mostly making relationships with people.

When I came home I was prompted to pick up a book I had bought recently on Mother Teresa (Heart of Joy: The Transforming Power of Self-Giving) and it continued to open my eyes to the needs of these people and some of my own reactions. I wanted to share it, because I think you'd enjoy it (and partly so I don't leave what we did Sunday as a memory).

Here are some excerpts that spoke to me:

- There are thousands of people dying for a piece of bread. There are thousands upon thousands who die for a little bit of love, for a little bit of acknowledgment.

- I am convinced that the greatest of all sorrows is to feel alone, to feel unwanted, deprived of all affection. It consists in not having anyone, in having gotten to the point of forgetting what human contact is, what human love is, what it means to be wanted, to be loved, to have a family.

- Our poor do not need compassion or condescendence; what they need is love and aid. But we have to be aware that the poor are worthy of love, that they are great. This will lead us to love them and serve them.

- St. John says, "If anyone says 'My love if fixed on God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar" (1 Jn 4:20). Therefore, both you and I, let us turn our eyes to our families, since charity begins at home. Do we really understand the poverty of Christ, the poverty of our poor, of our home, of our communities? Sometimes it is hard for me to smile at my sisters. It is easier to smile at those outside than to smile at our own.

- We have thousands of lepers. They are wonderful, they are admirable, even though their flesh is disfigured. Every year we offer the lepers a Christmas party. Last Christmas I told them that they have a gift from God, that God has a special love for them, that they are very acceptable to God, that what they have is not a sin. An old man, who was completely disfigured, tried to get close to me. He said, "Say it again. That has been good for me. I have always heard that no one loves us. It is wonderful to know that God does love us. Say it again."

*

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is here, but what is its purpose? It's the seventh Wednesday before Easter Sunday and the first day in the season of Lent preparing for the Holy Week and Resurrection. The practice of putting ashes on the forehead comes "as a sign of humility before God, a symbol of mourning and sorrow at the death that sin brings into the world. It not only prefigures the mourning at the death of Jesus, but also places the worshiper in a position to realize the consequences of sin" (CRI/Voice, The Season of Lent).

Ash Wednesday is just the beginning of a long journey to the Cross and before the cross there is nothing to do but be humbled. It's the beginning of inward reflection as we look into the face of Christ. It's the beginning of repentance as we see the sorrow our own sin is before God and others. It's the continuation of hope, for where there is humility, Christ, and repentance there is always hope.

2 Corinthians 7:9-11

I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

The Beginning of Lent

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Growing up Baptist, I never really understood why some denominations put ashes on their forehead on this particular day or what Lent was. The idea of giving something up for Lent seemed foolish to me. Not because I didn't see value in fasting from something, but it seemed people always decided to give up soda or chocolate and then be eating or drinking. Lent seemed to be more about what was being given up then drawing closer to Jesus. Seeing others "practice" Lent never turned me away from the idea, but there just seemed so little authenticity in what I saw.

As I've growing older church liturgy and old traditions seem to attract and invite me to gaze their way. Over the years, Lent has become less ambiguous and more of a mystery in the same way it is to view the sweetness in the life of one who looks passionately into their Savior's eyes. There's a depth and mystery there that propels you more toward Christ. Where am I at? I've seen this mystery in others and cannot help but be thirsty for that passion in my own life as well. I'm excited, but also nervous. My thoughts at times feel overwhelming, 'What if I forget? What if lose heart or patience in the waiting? What if I can't endure? What if...? What if...? What if...? What if I fail?'

The last 'What if...' plagues me the most. What am I doing this for? Myself? Others? To mark my spiritual checklist? For the glory of God? My honest answer? I don't know. What I hope for is purification. I want to be purified. Not condemned, not striving. Just open and made whole before my Lord. I want to trust Him with my whole heart, to strive for nothing but intimacy with Him. Even striving toward intimacy, I want to "cease striving."

What spurred this? Two weekends ago, I was talking with my pastor's wife, Tricia, at a Jesus Ministry conference at our church. We covered a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time, spanning from struggles with food to reading the Bible. The latter is what I'll focus on more, yet the former is also involved. I was sharing with Tricia lately I've found myself reading the Bible, but not really receiving from it in a relational way from the Lord. What I mean is sometimes I get in the habit of reading my Bible as studying the Bible rather than it being a time of interacting with the Lord. I feel those are two distinct things, although I might not be communicating them well. I told her I was looking forward to working part-time (which I've now started...yeah!) hoping that having more time would change that.

She encouraged me to think of using Lent (I really don't like the word "using" there, but it works) as a time to focus on each of these things: food and Scripture reading in my relationship with the Lord. One thing she encouraged me to do for my Scripture reading was to take a break during Lent from studying the Bible (like you'd study a subject in school) except for what was needed for the ministries I'm in and to meditate on Scripture in the tradition of lectio divina.

Tomorrow I start. There's nothing particularly magical about Ash Wednesday, other than it's 40 days before Easter. But it's a beginning, a place to start.

Easter Videos

Here are some videos from Easter Sunday at our church. We have a traditional of each person bringing flowers to put on the cross during worship before the message. It's always such a beautiful sight to see the transformation of this plain, wooden, barren, chicken wire cross becoming this beautiful, colorful, and fragrant cross. It's a wonder to behold, and what makes it even more awesome is seeing the transformation and knowing that is what God is doing in our hearts and lives as believers. He is taking what we once were plain, barren, and ugly and transforming us into a fragrant work of beauty!

Enjoy!


(Oh, they're not the best videos since they were filmed on my digital camera.)







This video is of a lady at our church named Phyllis. She's such a sweet lady, but is just aging. For the past few months she's been coming to church in a wheel, but still sometimes you'll see her pulling herself up to stand and worship her King. It's a beautiful sight to see.

What I love about this video is that there is Phyllis putting flowers on the cross, but also one of our elders is standing in front helping a little girl put her flowers on. It's a beautiful picture of the old and young both coming to honor Jesus. It's a wonderful testimony to Him.

Easter Pictures

Your kingdom come...

Something really awesome happened at church today. But before I get there, I need to back track in our church history.

A little over ten years ago, God really struck the heart of our pastor with His glory. Not simply just with the "to God be the glory" or "do everything for the glory of God," but with a passion that God's utmost passion is His own glory, thus our utmost passion should be God's glory. Since that time that vision of God's glory has driven our church. Our vision statement is

"Spreading a passion for God's glory for our homes to all peoples of the earth."

Part of spreading a passion for God's glory was to be a sending church, to have a missions focus, because isn't that really what God's kingdom is about? So, our church adopted an unreached people group named the Meitei's in a region in northern India called Manipur. That was ten years ago, since that time numerous teams have traveled to Manipur. This past fall we were blessed to no longer be able to call the Meitei's an unreached people group! They now have an established church that is sending natives to be missionaries to those that are still lost among their people. It's amazing!

Since our vision still stands to spread a passion for God's glory, our pastor and elders have been praying about what people group to adopt next. I was so excited when Pastor Joe started speaking this morning. He hadn't given a real hint that this was what was going to happen, but I leaned over to Joe and whispered, "We're getting a new people group!"

So, without further ado...New Hope Church has adopted TWO unreached people groups: the Oromo people of Ethopia and a people group in Turkmenistan. The Oromo , who make up about 40% of the country's population, live in S Ethiopia and are predominantly Muslim. There's more I'd love to say about them, because we had a pastor from Ethopia (a native) who in his years of ministry has planted more than a 1,000 churches in Ethopia. However, this area where the Oromo live have been off limits to an extent, because the Oromo are Muslim and have serverly perscuted the Ethopian Christians who have come to witness. Yet, when a group of Americans came on a missions trip the people came in hoards to see what they brought. Some even thanked them for bringing the Good News. It's interesting to see how God has blesses us to be Americans. He has opened a door for us to witness and be a part of His kingdom work by allowing us into this region when the natives can't even get in!

God has so blessed our church in being able to be involved in His missions work. We have families, individuals, and teams in our church who serve the Lord in Belize, Ukraine, Lithiunia, Jordan, Sudan, India, Azerbaijan, Ethopia, Uganda, and other countries in Central Asia.

I need to go to bed, but here are some verses that I wanted to leave you with:

Revelation 7:9-12

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count,

from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues,

standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,

"Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever Amen."