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Luke recorded these words:
17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
~ Luke 4: 17-19 NIV
David Fitch is blogging about finding the poor in the suburbs. Good stuff.
Engaging the poor in the suburbs isn't as difficult as you might think!
HT: Cooper
I just ran across a good article written by Keith Giles. It focuses on starting a ministry to the poor in your community.
Here's an interesting tidbit:
Don't Attempt To Cure Poverty In Your City- This is a common mistake for those who start off doing compassion ministry. In their zeal to bring justice to the poor they get off target and begin to see their ministry as a grandiose scheme to end poverty forever in their city. The sad thing is that when we do this we stop caring for the actual people who are in need. If our focus can remain on finding a few people and learning how to love them we'll be closer to the heart of Jesus. One of my early mentors, David Ruis, used to communicate it this way: "What do you see and what do you have?" Meaning, start with the people in front of you who have a need. Ask yourself what you have that you could share with them. Befriend people and learn to love them.
Click here to read the rest for yourself.
I've been watching two (new) local churches with a great deal of interest.
One congregation immediately focused on the construction of a brand-new building & the other focused on nice large advertisements in the local newspapers. The former church is dying (if not dead), and the latter is barely holding their own.
Both of them, unfortunately, have bought into the "if we build it they will come" mentality-- a mentality that was prevalent decades ago, but has little or no impact on today's skeptical post-Christian world.
What I'd like to say to them is this:
It's not about attracting anyone. It's about living no-strings-attached mission shaped lives.
You gotta love it!
It unepectedly brought tears to my eyes. Wow.
To learn more about Juan's story or to join the Free Hugs movement, please click here.
HT: Youth Specialties
Tags: Free hugs campaign, hugs
One of Mahatma Gandhi's more famous quotes was supposedly spoken to a group of British journalists as they rode on a train through English-held India. He was asked, "Why is it that you speak so highly of Jesus yet you are not a Christian?" He quickly responded, "I would become a Christian... if I could just find one..." Since reading those words a couple of decades ago, I have been haunted by the cutting truth behind the observant eye of this Hindu world changer. There are many billions through the ages who have dared to glibly call themselves Christians - as there are many today who take on that descriptor. That term means literally "little Christ." If you stop to think about it, it's a pretty audacious thing to call oneself a "Christian" in light of the literal meaning of the term. As I write this I wonder if I have ever met a bona fide Christian in all of my thirty-plus years of seeking to follow Jesus. To say that this is disappointing doesn't begin to capture my feelings about this generation of the Church (more.)
Imagine taking five (5) gallons of free ice water or cold lemonade to the park on a hot summer day. Or attending the Christmas Parade (or other colder community events) with free hot chocolate or freshly brewed coffee and giving it away.
Wouldn't that be a fun way of sharing God's love in a tangible, practical way--no strings attached? Don't you think our community would be blessed (and surprised) by such a thoughtful gesture?
I think so.
The free beverage giveaway is simply another example of how we can make God's love real to our community. Be watching for more information about this....
The latest edition of LTN's Into Action reminded me of the importance of sharing God's love (and being a blessing) in our community. Maybe its time to adopt-a-school or begin an Embrace Teachers movement! Either way, we'd be "transforming the world, with God's love, one heart at a time!" And that's what its all about!
Ok, ok. I'm officially impressed with the Off the Map web site-- particularly the section entitled "Ordinary Attempts." In a nutshell, here's what OA is all about: "Ordinary Attempts are relational acts of kindness…If ordinary people can’t do it using ordinary means, ordinarily it won’t get done." They are ordinary things like:
They've even produced an OA .pdf document that, if used with the right motives and attitudes, can transform the world, with God's love, one person at a time. What a novel idea! ;-)
To download the .pdf document, order hard copies or to read more about OA, please visit the OA web site.
