Karing Kitchen, Christmas, 2008

Dana and her crew did a great job of making this Monday a special night at Karing Kitchen. We had live music, gifts, decorations, gifts, cupcake decorating, gifts, and, of course, Santa, who made his grand entrance just as the singers were belting out "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"!






Some of the "kids" participated eagerly!




















But for some, this old white man was a scary thing!


























And then some of us felt like this by the end of the evening!










Did I mention we had lots of gifts?!?!
Merry Christmas and PEACE to the city!

The Cremation Story

This week, one of my friends from the Karing Kitchen called with a huge problem. He had recently moved to Dallas to stay with some relatives, and his wife died this week. She wanted to be cremated, but the family had no money and no local contacts. They did not want to donate her body to medical research, which would have been free.


We worked on the problem together and found a Dallas funeral home that offered basic, but complete, cremation service at a very reasonable cost. One catch was that the best price was available only if you downloaded the forms off the internet and faxed the completed forms to their office. So, I downloaded the forms, marked where they needed to be signed, arranged for someone to receive the fax and notarize the signature, and sent them on to Dallas. I then had to arrange payment for the service, but that was also easily set up.

So, what at first seemed to be a huge problem (insurmountable for my friend alone or with the help of his immediate family), was all taken care of. Now the family can grieve the loss of Betty Bagwell, and we have been able to express God's love to another neighbor. I look forward to seeing what our LORD will accomplish in this family. Hallelujah! The world is watching.....

Food Insecurity

It's a national crisis in the making - the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth cannot feed its people. Today's report from the advocacy group Food Research and Action Center says:
"In other words, the nation had years of economic growth concentrated on the affluent, at the end of which period several million more people lived in households struggling with hunger. For the worst-off households, the picture was even bleaker: the number of people living in households suffering from "very low food security" (until two years ago USDA called this "food insecurity with hunger") rose from 8.5 million in 2000 to 11.9 million in 2007 – a 40 percent increase in the number living in the hungriest households.

The official 2008 hunger numbers from the Census Bureau and USDA won’t be released until late 2009, but every report from food stamp offices, WIC programs, school meals programs, social service agencies, religious congregations and emergency food providers portrays a rising tide of increasingly desperate need. If the recession is as long and deep as many experts predict, we are likely to see an epidemic of hunger, among children and adults alike, unlike any we have seen for decades."

That's exactly what is happening here in Tyler, too. We have seen a huge increase in need for food assistance over the last two months! We need everyone who is able to open their eyes to the needs around us and take action. The world is watching!

To Kara......

To Kara and your generation of our family,

I greatly appreciate your strong interest in this election, and I understand being disappointed. Don't despair, dear one, if this election did not go as you had hoped. I think you'll find that our country is extremely resilient, and that its good qualities will shine through during the next four years. It seems to me that we may be entering a period of great peril as well as great potential for positive change. As people of faith we will need to stay engaged, and not abandon our culture in retreat.

What I'll ask of you is that you not completely buy into the extreme negativity which will continue to flow from the new President's detractors, but will continue to cautiously weigh the information available and will give him the benefit of the doubt, where possible. Like many Southern families, mine missed out on recognizing the blessings of the monumental change which occurred during the Civil Rights movement and the Kennedy Administration, preferring to disengage and to villainize the key figures of the era. It wasn't until adulthood that I realized that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a national hero, not a Communist bent on destroying the government. His vocal opposition to the Viet Nam war, for example, was an act of ethics not treason!

I'm looking forward to seeing how your generation will impact us all and make us a better nation for the sake of your families! The world is watching!
Peace,
Greg

"Justice is what love looks like in public!"

"Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta, August 16, 1967.

But When Do You Share the Gospel?

I've frequently struggled with how to answer this question from some well-meaning (I hope) person asking about my ministries with the poor. I believe I am sharing the Gospel of Christ with each and every person I encounter throughout the day, especially during my work and conversations with the poor.

What they're really asking, however, is "When do you share the five-step plan of salvation and tell these poor people they must be baptized so they won't go to hell?" My belief and my response is usually similar to "I do not claim to be bringing Jesus into this neighborhood. I've found that God is already hard at work here, and I just want to join Him." Instead, I want to "be" Jesus to the needy, the poor, the oppressed, the humble, the oft-ignored residents of the streets, alleys, and rented shacks of our city, engaging in the kind of incarnational ministry He did. (see John 1:14) I have frequently found more faith among the poor than among my own socio-economic group.

The prophet Larry James shares how he reacts to such inquiries here and here and here.
Enjoy! The world is watching.....

Karing Kitchen update

After 10-1/2 years, Karing Kitchen is still an unpredictable series of ups and downs. That's life in the City, folks!

This week, the main refrigerator in the kitchen went out, spoiling all the food stored there, including the meat for Monday's meal. But our industrious volunteers just took it in stride, went shopping and prepared a wholesome meal for all who arrived. Although, I think everyone was relieved the crowd was smaller due to the holiday and the rainy weather.

Three older white women have been coming regularly the past month or two. They have been pleasant, but a little reserved. Monday, they approached Dana and asked if it would be OK if they made a small monetary donation! They said they enjoyed the meal, but mostly came for the devotional message and to get out and share fellowship time with each other regularly. That's humbling and encouraging!

This week, Kelly & Victor showed back up after being away for several weeks, but Kelly was sporting a broken arm. She explained that she had fallen down their steps, but couldn't look me in the eye when she said it. Rumor has it that they had a fight. We need to monitor that situation as closely as possible!

And finally, Janet's daughter and elementary school aged nieces volunteered to help with the cleanup, probably inspired by the amazing Robinsons. Madelyn, especially, was diligent in serving all evening long and probably has no idea what a great example she was setting. I tell you, the world is watching!

The Greatest Sermon!

The last several weeks at The Gathering we've been working our way through the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7. The discussion has been quite good and the questions have been honest. Jesus is making some folks, including me, a little uncomfortable with his bold preaching! Hallelujah, your kingdom come, LORD!
Here's Shane Claiborne reading it.

All We Are Saying, Is Give Peace a Chance!

This is not a new idea...
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children . . . Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

-Dwight D Eisenhower, April 16, 1953, from "The Chance for Peace" address delivered before the American Society of Newspaper Editors
http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/chance.htm

BOYCOTT BEIJING!

I've decided to boycott the Beijing Olympics. I could try to be spiritual and call it a fast, but actually I'm just so disappointed with the IOC and so upset over China's ongoing human rights travesty and their international meddling and empire-building that I'm just boycotting. SAVE DARFUR!

'54

It has been 54 years since 1954, Willie Mays' first full year in the majors. After returning from the Army he was named Most Valuable Player and led the Giants to the World Series victory.As I celebrate #54 today, I wonder what else 54 brings to mind:

Wikipedia says that "54 is a 19-gonal number. Twice the third power of three, 54 is a Leyland number. 54 can be written as the sum of three squares in three different ways: 7 squared + 2 squared + 1 squared = 6 squared + 2(3 squared) = 2(5 squared) + 2 squared = 54. It is the smallest number with this property."
Also, 54 is the atomic number of xenon.

1954 was the year of the first hydrogen bomb, the first color TV, the first nuclear submarine, the running of the first four-minute mile and the first edition of Sports Illustrated. In 1954, the US Supreme Court issued the landmark desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Dow Jones Industrial average finally surpassed the 1929 high of 381.17.

Wow, that makes me feel REALLY old! Oh well, birthday greetings to the "class of 1954", including Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta, Patty Hearst, Ron Howard, Dennis Quaid, Tony Dorsett, Willie Randolph, Jackie Chan, Jim Belushi, Elvis Costello, Brad Spradlin, Don Edwards, Roger Bellar, and me!

Forgiveness?

Within hours of writing the last post (see below), I received a phone call from a one-time friend who just got out of jail. DD was an intimate and important part of "The Gathering" from its inception, and we had great plans for him. We each invested money, time, encouragement and personal contacts in this "rising star". But instead of shining, he fell, losing his job, all his possessions and our respect along the way.

So, he called Friday night, not asking for anything but our forgiveness, still proclaiming his innocence of the charges filed against him, but confessing and admitting his mistakes and poor choices which headed him in that direction. I don't know if he'll follow up and return to us, eventually, but his return will test our (my) capacity to forgive. The world is watching!

Everything You Do Is Important!

I joined the masses and read "The Shack". I was very skeptical, not because the premise was too radical, but because of the fervent evangelical mindset of some of those recommending it. You see, I've become very jaded in my opinion of the USAmerican Protestant Church, with its emphasis on maintaining the institution, watering down the "Cost of Discipleship", and its emphasis on "good management" (yes, that is too harsh a perspective, and I repent, on my better days, anyway). This book was a quick & easy read, but struck me as being too "preachy" at times in the manner of the "Left Behind" books.

But, here's a paragraph from near the end of The Shack which is beautiful, to me. Here the main character is getting final instructions from the voice of God:
“Everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again.” The Shack, p. 235, by William P. Young

That, my friends, will preach!

Bishop Wright on Colbert

One of my new favorite religious authors, Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright, appeared on the Colbert Report (the "t"'s are silent) on Comedy Central last week. This is a tough gig for anyone trying to make a serious point, but Bishop Wright made a solid attempt at it. He had some valuable things to say to an audience that needs to hear them. I fear that most are more likely to remember Cookie Monster's appearance on the show, however.

When God Speaks (3)

BONUS TIME!
I should be dead! That was my thought (and that's still my thought) as I laid on the ground Memorial Day weekend, 2000. I had just been up in a tree in our backyard, about 20' up, I guess, with my trusty hammer tearing down an aging treehouse. Its condition was questionable enough that I had attempted to keep everyone out of it, and I finally found the time that holiday weekend to climb up and tear it down, so no one would get hurt. I was kneeling on the treehouse floor, I reached and knocked loose an outer board, and the entire structure collapsed. I turned a 1/2 somersault on the way down and landed on my neck.
I found that I could move, and other than having the wind knocked out of me and being unable to breathe right, I seemed OK. I stumbled into the house and let Dana know I had fallen, still not breathing right. She called the ambulance, and they arrived quickly and strapped me to the backboard and hauled me to the ER. After the X-rays, they put a neck brace on me and sent me home with some Celebrex. When I went to see the neurosurgeon that week, he said I had a compression fracture of a Thoracic vertebra and several chipped ones in my neck. He also said there wasn't anything they could do about it until it degenerates further.
I took all this as a gift from God; that every subsequent minute of life was BONUS TIME, to which I was not entitled, but was still being given. So, I determined to go on with my life in a manner that will be a blessing to others and to not hide or deny my leading by the steady hand of the Holy Spirit. Our youngest daughter graduated from her high school and youth group that same week, so we went ahead and made the switch of church congregations we had been postponing. We found a grace-filled group of Christians who took us in and accepted us with our faults and baggage and whose worldview was much closer to our own. I don't think I ever did adequately explain to our dear friends at the previous congregation all the factors that went into our move. Some thought I was angry, some thought I was jealous of not being selected as an elder, and many were just puzzled. After all, we had been members there for 13 years and had raised our kids there! After all, my Dad was still a member there, so we were splitting up the family!
Some asked if we found anything that was really different there. My answer has been that Yes, we felt a breath of fresh air within Glenwood. For one thing, the predominant perspective of the members is that, if someone comes in and claims to be a follower of Christ, then they are accepted as such, until and unless they prove otherwise by their actions. At the previous congregation, no one from the outside was accepted as a fellow Christ-follower unless their history and actions led the members to believe their claim. Neither of these two views were unanimous, but my perception was that they were predominant.
So, that is why I no longer care what others think about me, as long as I'm being led by the Spirit. I refuse to be judged by anyone, even myself. I AM the Dead Man Walking! I AM crucified with Christ. I AM dead to the old way of life. I AM a new creation. I AM redeemed!
Peace to all!

When God Speaks (2)........

AND SOMETIMES HE SAYS "NO"!
Continuing from the March 2 post:
Ten years later, our youngest daughter was about to graduate from high school. Dana and I had been growing more dissatisfied with our church – mostly with the leadership’s reluctance to implement or even allow Spirit-led changes in methods, practices and ministries, and I frequently found myself out on the “edge of orthodoxy” and being increasingly marginalized. My role as a deacon, Bible class teacher and as a frequent participant in the public worship was being reduced continually, and we felt the need to move on and change congregations, but we stayed due to some good friends and to allow our girls to complete their Youth Group experience. Our attitude and our words were increasingly negative. The church was entering the process of selecting additional elders that spring, and several friends wanted to submit my name. It seemed like I would be a controversial nomination, but I was praying for guidance. The weekend we were out in Midland attending the Stream in the Desert worship conference, I got my guidance in the middle of the night, as I clearly understood that I should not allow my name to be introduced into the elder selection process. I did not fully understand why, at that time.
More later....

The Best Show on Television!

Battlestar Galactica has begun its fourth and final season. Even non-science fiction fans can appreciate it, if you dare to watch the SciFi Channel. The show has plenty of action, but also plenty of drama, with well-developed, interesting and complex characters galore, and storylines that constantly explore the boundaries between faith and doubt, parent-child relationships which haunt both, good works being done through really bad individuals, the nature of revelation and worship and prayer and true believers. If you want to get caught up on the history of the first three seasons, try this.

And what a class act to point the story to a definite conclusion, revealing answers and pieces of the puzzle along the way! Enjoy!

Why Do We Have the Gospels?

"Imagining that the point of Christianity was to enable people to go to heaven, most Western Christians supposed that the mechanism by which this happened was the one they found in the writings of Paul . . . and that the four gospels were simply there to give backup information about Jesus, his teaching, his moral example, and his atoning death. This long tradition screened out the possibility that when Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom, he was talking not about a heaven for which he was preparing his followers but about something that was happening in and on this earth.." N.T. Wright

My religious tradition certainly fits this description. We joked that you could tell a good COC'er when their Bible showed signs of overuse at Acts 2. I've even heard it argued that Jesus's teachings didn't apply to us since they were given under the Mosaic Covenant! LORD, help us, or strike us down! N.T. Wright is becoming one of my favorite Christian writers. I'm currently reading his book "Paul in Fresh Perspective." Mike Cope quotes him further here.
Peace to all, He is risen!

Time out for David!

Last Sunday, The Gathering was blessed to get to know David and La'Tice. They arrived on foot: tired, weak, hungry, smelly and homeless. But during "share time", David wanted us to know the gratitude that was on his heart. In spite of his abusive childhood, two prison terms, former dependency on illegal drugs, inability to read or write, and his conversion to Islam, he discovered God's love and had turned his life back to the awesome Creator! This tale of redemption reminded us why it is that we continue to take part in this ministry. God is at work in this world and is looking for people to join Him. Sometimes that looks like a smile or a hug, sometimes that looks like a plateful of sandwiches, sometimes that looks like a ride in our vehicle, and sometimes that looks like something much greater or smaller. But, God (one of my favorite phrases) is truly at work! HALLELUJAH!

When God speaks.............

My experience has been that sometimes God's calling or direction comes through in a very clear, direct and personal way. I have usually been blessed by these special times of clarity during prolonged and intense periods of worship.

On one occasion, in 1990, I was in a time of uncertainty and disquiet about my job. I had survived the downturn in the oil industry, but had been forced to move twice due to office closings and transfers. We had ended up in Tyler, Texas, a beautiful small town that seemed to be a great place to raise a family. As my employer was in the midst of a merger with a larger entity, I was looking at a near-certain transfer later in the year, probably to Houston.

One day while checking the Dallas Classified ads in the Sunday newspaper, I saw an ad for an oil & gas Engineering position. I responded to the ad that week and discovered that it was for a privately-owned independent whose only Operations office was in Tyler! I was a good match for their needs, and I made the switch, even though it meant a significant pay cut, since it seemed to assure me the ability to remain in Tyler.

After three years of essentially running my own small company, without the financial risk of going without a paycheck, my relationship with the absentee owner soured and I planned to branch out on my own. I couldn’t actually make the “leap”, however, as I was trying to reduce the risks. One weekend Dana and I were attending an intensely uplifting worship conference Ken Young was leading in Irving, Texas, and I was perusing the Dallas newspaper classifieds at breakfast. I saw a “blind ad” for an engineer, and I knew immediately that it was for my replacement! The ad listed no company or person's name, and the response address was to a UPS Store box. This was the only day I read those ads, and this was the only day that the ad appeared in the newspaper! This was God saying to me, “Get out of this situation, now!” It took a week of investigating to confirm (I actually saw the newspaper's invoice for running the ad), but it was true that the owner was preparing to fire me as soon as he found a replacement. I quit the job that week and became an independent oilman with lots of ideas, but no income. Talk about significant pay cuts! More later.......

Thank you, LORD, for your steadfast love!

When is enough going to be enough?

The prophet Larry James reports:
"President Bush unveiled his proposed budget, another recording setting development: the largest budget in our nation's history totals $3.1 trillion.

The plan seeks to cut spending on Medicare and Medicaid, boosts military spending and projects the deficit this year and next will hit near-record levels. Pentagon spending would rise 7.5 per cent to $515 billion, the 11th consecutive year of increases."

Seems to me there are moral and spiritual decisions being made along with the obvious fiscal ones in a budget document. If there's one thing history has shown us, it is that the constant escalation of military spending will not bring us (or anyone else) peace! It is time to stop this death spiral! Bring the troops home!