If you want things to change (meaning improve, become more productive, families staying strong, young men full of hope and growth, etc.) then you are going to have to do some things differently... (FYI, this is NOT a political statement, but a cultural one). #BuildingLifestylesOfRestorationAndEngagement
I'm at Verge 2012. It's three days for me of the Gospel, and living it out as the Movement of Jesus through being on mission together as a community. I am awestruck by Jesus!
I'll post notes when I type them.
Till then, watch live with me!
http://live.mediasocial.tv/verge/mobile
Thursday night, we and some great friends put on the Celebration of Children Banquet. The theme was Voices of Children. It was Awesome! Hannah Pettefer's Keynote address is above, and Jamarlan, a 5th Grader from Kennedy Elementary is below. The full post of pictures and videos is on http://www.homeworknight.com/2012/02/voices-of-children-banquet-was.html
The city should be different. Children are showing us how!
Today I was at the Connections Count conference of www.fyca.org here in Lake Charles. The keynote speaker, Jody Levinson-Johnson, shared a great presentation about the power of collaboration and partnerships in her field of coordinated care.
I thought about that very same thing in my field, city changing through the power of a Risen Lord.
She ended with this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
I got some insight from God while at Passion2012, and I'm so grateful. Fear was keeping me from being able to make decisions. And from growing and moving forward in several areas.
Don't confuse fear with being careful. Careful is good, it keeps up from wasting valuable resources and discouraging people who follow us. Careful can be used as an excuse to do what we should, but carelessness is not good, and people won't follow you if you are flippant and careless.
You don't overcome fear by waiting for the feeling of fear to go away. It's by taking courage and doing the thing you fear.
How can you do that?
Fear looks so imposing, an obstacle that cannot be overcome. When you see it in real proportion, however, things change. The Truth is that, if Jesus Is Alive, then my fears aren't the rulers of the universe.
I get the courage to do the things I fear by seeing God, in His real size, Lord of All, Lover of my soul, and acting on what I know is true, rather than obeying the voice of fear says such deceptive, depressing, small-living things to me.
Thanks to God that Jesus has overcome the World! Fear is no longer in charge.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Last year some friends, including us, launched HomeworkNight.com, starting with a Walk for Education on MLK Day. Willie King, one of my best friends, is one of the key leaders, and we had not planned on doing the walk, because a couple of reasons. A leader in the city found out about this and told Willie, "You have to the walk, you guys changed the city in one day!"
I'm given to hyperbole too, so I don't know that everything changed because of the Walk and HomeworkNight, but something changed, for sure! So, this Monday, we are Walking for Education!
We just got back from a gathering of 18-25 year olds in Atlanta called #Passion2012. 45,000 young adults in half of the Georgia Dome, singing, reading Scripture, and pointing hearts and trajectories to Jesus!
God at work!
I'll post a few pic's first and come back when I'm slightly more rested, lol.
God knew we we in a spot. Stuck in the destruction caused by sin, and unable to get ourselves out of it. So, in His love, He moved...
He actually moved into our neighborhood. He told us he was coming. For over a thousand years, (about 1,400 to 400 b.c.) God send messages telling us that He was sending One to rescue people from their sin. Here is what God told a guy named Isaiah about it:
John was a follower of Jesus, and here is how he put it (John 1:14, The Message):
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son.
Merry Christmas!
P.S. There will be no weekend services for theCityChurch on Christmas Day. Some of us will be going to the Christmas gathering that another great church in our city, the Waters Edge, is holding at the Rosa Hart Theater on Friday night.
God's movements aren't random. He plans ahead. And He does so in line with His over-the-top love.
Christmas is a week away. We have 4 girls in our home (5 with the Princes-Wife!), so there is much joy all around!
Sometimes, though, Christmas hits us when there is no fun, or joy. Maybe your Christmas is just a reminder of the person who is not there. They died unexpectedly, leaving a hole in your heart. Or, your spouse just walked away...they don't want to be with you anymore. This might be the tightest Christmas you've had, financially. Of the idea of being around all the dysfunction in your family just sucks the air out of your lungs.
God is not caught off-guard by your circumstances, or mine. He is aware. He is prepared. He's not waiting for you to get your act together and make your way to Him. He knew that neither you nor I could make the trip.
So God got up and moved into the neighborhood, wrapped up in humility. A baby, born to be sacrificed because of the extreme love of the Father, to rescue us. God started this process in the beginning. The video below recounts a handful of the times God told us He was sending Jesus. Let's listen...
I don't know about you, but it is so encouraging to me to know that God knows just where I am at, all my weaknesses and insecurities. All my fret about the future. And He moved into my neighborhood, via the ultimate gift that kicked off this Christmas thing, Jesus.
God planned it out, in advance. Now is the time for us to look up and let Him build faith within us.
Jesus said that one of the marks that indicate that someone is a follower of His is that they value and show love for people, including the least of these.
Everyone can agree that when we give to those in need, it's not only a good thing, but it produces in the giver remarkable joy! When you give, you get.
Today, theCityChurch begins a Thanksgiving food drive to raise food for Oak Park Food Pantry and Abraham's Tent. These two organizations feed the hungry in our area. Both exist from the gifts of individuals and organizations. Both have needs for support. That's where you and I come in!
So, if you got a knock on your door, or found a flyer, we are welcoming you to support these two organizations with a donation of food (you can give money as well, if you want).
I've never been really hungry, and never worried where my next meal was coming from. But in recent years, I've become more in touch with what this might be like. God loves every person, and wants His concern for them to be felt. He told the people who follow Him to treat the least of these as they would treat the King Himself!
We are desiring that our city would be different, more like way God intended, with pain and hunger and despair wiped away by His loving hand.
the city should be different
P.S. Here are a couple of videos shot in front of each organization.
The truth is that life here on the earth can be, often is...hard.
God knows. He sees.
More importantly, He has compassion. His compassion isn't like mine or yours. It has enough power to do anything.
Like bring people back from the dead. He did that first with Jesus.
And He is able, willing and ready to bring the Risen life of Jesus to bear on anyone who puts their trust in Him.
Why is that important? Because we don't just want to try to make it through a day, hoping that, somehow, it will be enough. That tomorrow will be better. That it will all just work out.
Pipe dreams about a better tomorrow, while battling (losing the battle) against giving up real hope today, and medicating the pain, they don't bring a Thriving life.
I know that on my own, I'm not alright. I needed a rescue to bring me back from my soul death. And today, I need to walk out this new life that Jesus brings.
