Get up God is moving

My Friends | a letter to you

2010-09-25T23:18:00.008-05:00

I have lots of friends. A lot of people have a lot of friends, in fact.

Still, I think I have them differently.

I have been blessed with a handful of friends that beyond trial and fire will still stand with me, for Christ has bound us tighter than bickering and broken hearts.

We’ve spent years of our lives growing in our separate walks and yet continuing to be quite fond of each other. The Merry Men and Maidens as they are more formally know, will forever be as close as family can be. They sit at the top of this list because they are certainly my first true friends. It is because of the Merry Men that I am the believer and Jesus lover I am today. Encouragement, support, love, grace, brotherhood, family. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think about my dearest friends.

Amongst my time in college I have been encompassed in a growing group of people that are no doubt going to be very special to me as the years go on. I even have the privilege to live with two of them.

In Chicago, in the neighborhood of Woodlawn, there lives another group of people albeit more family than friend. I’d wager these very special people will continue to be something more than, well, just special. From them I have learned and grown so much more than I can ever fully be thankful for. The Sunshine family is one I am privileged to be a part of.

I have a handful of friends that I have been blessed with that reside in the state of Oklahoma, whom, without a doubt, are the most persistent people I know. They are also very quick to show how much they love you. They continue to open their homes and share their lives with me. I never gave Oklahoma much thought until I gained such dear people in my life.

There is one more group of people in Chicago that I have been so very blessed with. The Hamernicks. I owe the Hamernicks more than I can comprehend. They continue to be more than I deserve, and I thank God everyday for allowing me to live life with them. I truly love this family, my other family. There is a special place for each of them in my heart. I look forward to continuing to love them well into the future.

Now there is one person amongst all of these that I am most grateful to have in my life. He is in fact a Hamernick. He is my best friend. Josiah Hamernick may be 6 years my junior, but he is an inspiration, an encourager, a brother, a mentee, a peer, competition, a supporter, and so much more to me. Josiah and I have not been friends for very long, but it seems like we have never not known each other. We have had our differences and even almost what at the time felt like a falling out. We have shared with each other our dreams, our tears, our fears, and our mistakes. He is the kind of friend that I pray everyone gets to have in their life at one time or another. He’s the kind of friend that I fear losing. I dread the day that I’m going to have to say goodbye as he goes off to college, and I will cherish the days that he comes home on break or I get to go visit and disrupt him during class. We couldn’t look any less like siblings and yet we have been mistaken for brothers on multiple accounts. He has taught me so much, and I hope I have shared as much with him. He’s the kind of friend that when you hurt each other you grow closer and stronger because it means you have to make up and forgive one another. I ask Josiah regularly, why he thinks God brought us together the way He did. He usually responds with, “because, we’re supposed to be.” There is so much more that I could write about Josiah, my best friend, but I’m trying to keep this somewhat short. I simply love him.

And so my dear friends, I hope that this little rambling finds a place in your heart. I am so glad and blessed to have each of you as you are. You are gifts that I cannot reason. God has certainly used each of you in unique ways to shape me and simply tell me how much He really does love me.

What does take?

2009-05-09T22:26:00.000-05:00

I would like to understand what it takes. When does God plant in you the seeds that spring into life the thing that produces missionaries, apostles, or just die-hard Believers? Sometimes I feel like I just want to crawl into my made bed and pretend like my responsibilities have passed and are not really that important. Sometimes I forget that I was, at one point, passionate about this. Yet, sometimes I feel like I’m in 6th gear doing 120. The creative juices are flowing. I can’t wait to share with others the work that needs to be done. I’m in rally mode.

I once was tricked. I was tricked into this false sense of God. What I mistook God’s presence as was simply my ability to relax in the comfort provided me by my parents. I can tell you with a little less haze now, that God is not the ability to not worry about your next meal. God is not taking for granted the material possessions in front of you. God is not your ability to purchase that new MacBook. What I thought as God’s closeness was simply my comfort. I can see now that it is through great need and discomfort that there is great faith. I have found that it is now more difficult than ever to maintain decent prayer time, foundational reading time, and a constant grasp on God’s presence in my life. I have to be intentional. I have to be disciplined. How is this a bad thing? It is certainly inconvenient and sometimes, well, difficult.

So I would again ask what it takes?

I have this suspicion that all the answers I am looking for are right in front of me. Those things like hope, proactive faith, fellowship, incredibly inspiring Bible stories; they are all tools that God has provided. It may not be comfort. It may not be easy – no one ever said it was.

Have we convinced ourselves the institutions like mega churches and MTV-esque charitable organizations are justice and the replacement for God’s soldiers? It can’t be that easy, can it?

Church on a pollitical collision

2009-02-14T19:21:00.000-06:00

This post might get me into some trouble, with whom I’m not definite about. I just have a feeling.

It’s Valentine’s Day if you were not aware of it already. On this holiday it has become tradition that we celebrate relationships, intimacy, and good old-fashioned romance. Yes it’s a Hallmark holiday, but at one point it wasn’t. This post actually has not much at all to do with Valentine’s Day except for the fact that it is Valentine’s Day.

Right… So, on with it already.

On my way back to suburbia from class this morning I tuned into Moody radio. For you Chicagoans that’s 90.1 FM. This radio show, “Talking it Over,” was on. If you have never tuned in for this – as I had never done until today – it’s a talk show that focuses on inviting discussion from callers and a guest specialist(s). The host facilitates the discussions. At least this is what I can deduce from my first time listening. Now, the topic of today’s radio show was every Christian’s favorite political agenda, gay rights, or what ever the antithesis of that would be. Ok that’s a little harsh, so how about a quote from the show to sum up the topic.
“There is perhaps no greater issue that challenges the Church today to speak the truth in love than the issue of homosexuality. From television shows to court decisions, it seems everywhere we turn the Church is confronted with this subject. Joe Dallas of Genesis Counseling will teach us how to have a sensitive, balanced and biblical approach to homosexuality.” - www.moodyradio.org/talkingitover.aspx

Now being of solid mind (at least I think so) and a product of Chicago’s liberal culture I have my own opinion on all sorts of things, and my personal opinion on this issue is similar to what is being stated here on the synopsis of the show.

That is, the homosexual community needs to be ministered to just as much as any other community out there, and we need to do so in absolute love.

That of course sounds good until we need to start applying truth in our ministering efforts. How do you tell an entire culture that your culture is based around sin and still sound loving? How do you tell a whole community that demands equality - something that is so Biblical - “The things your equality represent are biblically wrong.”

This radio show, as is in its regular program, brought in callers that offered their two cents, and each sounded, well… sound. The thing is after listening to these people discuss the depravity of the homosexual and the Bible’s stark black and white stand on homosexuality, I felt angry. I was literally fighting myself. If these people are preaching truth, truth that I believe in, why am I angry?

I was angry at the way that these people and this specialist were obsessing over the possibility of the passage of bills that allow gay marriage. I was angry that even though this sub title said, “will teach us how to have a sensitive, balanced and biblical approach to homosexuality,” they didn’t teach it. They didn’t tell me how to approach my homosexual neighbor with love. They didn’t tell me how to be sensitive toward the subject. In fact they were quite harsh. One woman called in sharing her experience with her lesbian sister-in-law. The woman had said that she and her husband both shared with the sister that they did not agree with her, but she was careful to add in the point that we still love her of course. I kept hearing people speak similar things, who would say what and quickly follow it up with that validating, “but of course we love them.” Only I wasn’t buying it.

Yes, the bible is black and white on the homosexuality thing, but I kept seeing this image of Jesus in my head that was saying, “love.” And I kept thinking, if all sin is equal then why do we stress this so much. It seems we are faster to reconcile with a murderer than welcome a homosexual into our church.

I don’t know. Am I wrong? Is this not the case? Then why was I getting angry? Am I subconsciously being saturated by our culture telling me, “Equality is justice.” Maybe I’m getting soft.

Or could there possibly be something a little more important for the Church to be focusing on than trying to blend worldly politics with God’s law. I’m listening to this radio show and there at every 4 seconds a child dies of starvation or some curable disease. I’m listening to what seems to me like political jargon and teams of people are scavenging a burnt plane wreck for peoples loved ones. There just seem to be so many other things that are simply more important for the church to be focusing on than driving a bigger wedge between the Church and people who have a different sexual preference.

Ok I’m done. I’ll be lucky if any of that made any sense.

Embark on something new

2009-01-29T16:32:00.006-06:00

In roughly one month's time I will embark on the newest chapter in my life.

A new neighborhood.

A new job.

A new community of people.

A new church.

Certainly that's enough material for God to do some major work in my life. Certainly that's enough material for me to sit down and just pray. And pray I most certainly have. What is ahead of me is simply unknown. I have always been a dreamer and a planner. This time around is going to be different. The plan...

Well there is no real defined plan.

I will move back to Chicago in March to live with a family that I have known for about 3 months time. While living with them I will turn the page to a new job and leave an old one. From Willow Creek Community Church, the example of mega churches, I will transition onto staff at Sunshine Gospel Ministries, a ministry that has dedicated it's long existence to the renewal of the city starting with the margin. Literally, the opposite image of Willow world that started in Palatine with the question, "how do we reach the rich? Someone needs to church the rich."

I will leave the security of the affluence of my family's home for, quite literally, "the hood."

I have never been attached to a congregation before, but I have also never considered before being part of a church so, well, black.

Excitement doesn't even round the edge of how I am feeling about this next big step. I certainly have questions about this whole thing, but you know, I am going to leave the answering up to when and how God would like to take care of them.

Anxious yet calm...

Get Up God is Moving| Hope

2009-01-07T17:41:00.003-06:00

Hope is…

Beauty.

Future.

Reliance.

It’s such a casual word, but like so many words that we toss around it has literally unspeakable, indescribable, context. Hope is grasping at air and relying on the glimmer that something or someone bigger than us is waiting to catch us before we fall too far.

It is my opinion that Hope cannot be defined. It’s just far to abstract for words to bind it to earthly understanding. Hope is set in us. It is deep in our souls. Hope reaches from something so central to what it means to be a creation of God I can only attempt to describe what hope looks like, and at that it may only be of my own imagination.

There is this sense of future, of motion, in the word hope. It is like when we hope we are anticipating something better. That’s another aspect of hope. It’s never about something worse. We hope because there is something better to look forward to, isn’t there? We have an understanding set in us that what is in front of us isn’t right. It isn’t how it can be.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

I wonder if hope is part of the sense of eternity that God has instilled in each of us…
Hope also has this aspect of faith as well. Pastor Ford, this weekend, reminded the congregation that Jesus isn’t just there to guide the blind. We are to put our complete reliance in the power of Christ. I love this aspect of overwhelming reliance.

Psalm 42 is my second favorite Bible passage. The psalmist speaks on the intensity of God’s presence when we place our hope in Him.

Psalm 42:5| Why are you cast down my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again Praise Him, My salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:7| Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves fall over me.

If we put all our hope in Christ we are given a picture of eternity and beauty. Eden.

If we put all our hope in the power of the LORD we can expect to be overtaken by His incredible presence. He protects the weak. He lifts the poor and rejected.

We have every reason in light of the brokenness of the world we live in to put all we are into the hope that Jesus presents humanity.

I pray that you would put your hope in Him. Your (my) Savior and king. Rest in Him. Rely on His awesome power. There you will find strength to overcome, pursue, and run that race set out before us.

youth ministry can be...

2008-12-03T22:46:00.002-06:00

If you are the kind of person that has the patience to do youth ministry you are going to know my joys in the next few sentences. If you are a person who doesn’t you’ll at least appreciate my joy, maybe.

There is usually one thing that gets me really excited every week. That would be youth group night. I know that there are people who literally cringe at the thought of hanging out with teenagers and their slightly younger partners in crime, but I have to thank God so often that He has blessed me with a heart for this kind of thing.

Certainly there are some Wednesday nights that I want to scream into every pillow in my house (including the couch cushions) from the frustration that junior high school boys give off.

There are also times like tonight.

There are times when the kids are not kids anymore. They are like smaller – and sometimes not so smaller – people who are trying to believe and be in love with God as much as we “adult” leaders are, or think we are.

There are times when it is so obvious that in all the chaotic games of chase these young people are looking to love on those around them. Arguments get checked at the door, hugs replace handshakes, and an opportunity to be real lifts young, heavy burdens.

There are times when I can sit back, laugh, and say to God and to myself, “They get it.” There aren’t many things in this human world that can bring me more joy than to witness the young people that have been put under my influence looking like Jesus.

Tonight was one of those nights.

Tonight I am joyous.

Tonight I am thanking God again.

"Is that what they are preaching at that church of yours?"

2008-11-29T11:42:00.005-06:00

I sat down for breakfast this morning when my mom asked me, "Is that what they are preaching at that church of yours?"

There was a hint of disdain in her tone.

When my mom asks that kind of question it's because she has yet again been insulted and hurt by the Christian church. Actually it's typically one family that is responsible for it, but that isn't really important.

Just a little history.

I am the only born again evangelical in my family.

Everyone else, Catholic.

Now it's not really a big deal to me. I don't follow Catholicism because I found more Jesus being done in the evangelical church. They do the Catholic thing because it works for them. At least it works for my parents. They profess pretty much everything that I believe in, with the only difference being the whole "saved by faith/works" thing.

This family of friends are your typical white born again evangelicals. Parents are oober conservative.

Back to the original topic.

It turns out last night that the Mr. of the house had asked my mom who she voted for. My mom is a democrat through and through, so of course Obama was the only candidate for her. He proceeded to ask her why she told him because, "He touched my heart." He followed with, "your heart is going to turn to stone."

It's a cruel comment. I can understand the original question my mom asked over breakfast now.

I know this guy very well and I have a lot of love for their family. I am sure that he didn't intend for his words to be so hurtful. He was probably saying that her heart was going to turn to stone because Obama is full of empty promises and let downs. (not that he is, just that this guy thinks so. He's a staunch conservative.)

When did Christians become so enchanted with this notion that God wants anything to do with our human politics? I guess I have to ask myself do I really think that God doesn't want something to do with our human politics first.

Here is what I am thinking. God decided what is right and wrong.

Right is anything that is of God.

Wrong is anything against God.

Right winged Christians and left winged Christians have taken it upon them selves to decide that one side is right and one side is wrong.

I mean how often have you experienced in any way something to effect of, liberals are heathens and conservatives just want to uphold their morals.

Who decided that liberals aren't moral people?

Who decided conservatives couldn't be heathens?

In this past election for the first time in history a black man became president of the United States.

A lot of right winged Christians, Catholic or Protestant, were upset. They were down right angry. I have even heard it said that this man might be the anti-Christ.

I recall Jesus saying something about not passing judgment.

Now this is not to say that left wing Christians are off the hook either.
I have run into people on the street who preach similar messages about the opposite party.

When did Jesus ever tell us to vote Republican or Democrat?

Jesus told us to be not of this world.

Our human politics. They're worldly.

We are entitled to our opinions yes, but there is something that we are not to be opinionated about.

That is loving.

Got faith, but no love? You're nothing then.

If your political standings are getting in the way of you loving those around you, it's time that you remember that God doesn't have a political agenda.

This isn't me telling you not to vote when you have the opportunity to. This is me saying that maybe we Christians need to reconsider why it is we are voting one way or the other.

Stop putting up walls that Jesus already tore down.

Playing for Change| "If music be the food of love, play on"

2008-11-27T12:50:00.005-06:00

I was web surfing this morning and I stumbled upon this amazing organization called Playing For Change. Their initiative is to insight peace through music and in the process build up music programs around the world for those that might not otherwise have the opportunity.

There are a lot of these organizations out there today that are quite literally doing the work of the church. They aren't even Christian organizations. That speaks big numbers to me. God really will use anyone who is willing to serve His mission.

Be they believers or not.

So then my question to you, oh members of Christs body, is this.

What are you being called to do? Are you listening for Gods call?

I literally found my self on the edge of tears from the shear beauty in what these people are trying to do. It's a simple idea that addresses all people on a level they understand.

Music.

I am going to continue to stand on my Ephesians 2 belief here.

The wall is torn down.

All people.

United.

Reconciled to God and to each other.

You can check out their website that has a video demonstrating what they are doing here.

Frustration

2008-11-25T14:01:00.002-06:00

I started this blog with the intent to encourage because God doesn't call us to sit. He calls us to be active members of his body. There are things to be done.

We are making arrangements for a holy city to come upon this world, you know.

I really wish that I was being encouraged by own words right now. School is getting the best of me. I am lacking inspiration and motivation to get these papers I am working on finished. I'm even writing about things I am passionate about.

That would of course be the big GOD and his bride.

I need some help Father. How about some motivation? Bring it on. All at once even.

You are desired...

2008-11-23T12:48:00.000-06:00

Did you know you are wanted by Him? Our God is a jealous God. He wants all of your passions, your dreams, thoughts, love. There is untold promise in your hearts that God will surely use to His fullest desire for you. You are more than clay in His hands you are His desire. You are perfectly done in His eyes. Continue to seek the Lord in all that you do. If you ever need the encouragement surely He will lift you up. Nothing is too big for our Father. You and I are just starting our journey in God’s plan. You don’t walk alone. You don’t march in God’s battle alone. There are roads and narrow halls that are set before us. But don’t be afraid of the uncertainty. If you place your trust in Him, He will have your hand the whole way. You are God’s desire, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for your story. If you stare at the light long enough you will be able to see it in the dark.

Buzz word...

2008-11-21T00:14:00.000-06:00

Thanks to some outside influences, and maybe some inner ones too, I have adopted a new buzz word for the month. Or as long as it sticks with me. I'm hoping for a life time.

The word is reconciliation.

The concept is not new to me, but the way that I recently had it etched into my being is new and mind/heart altering. There is this idea floating in my head that more than anything else that I need to learn from the Bible I (and we) need to learn the capacities that Jesus speaks in the realm of reconciliation. I know it's not a new idea to other people out there, but it's shaking my life up well enough to warrant an inward self scan - and quite possibly an obsession. So onto the meaty stuff.

Here is why I am labeling reconciliation as my new "buzz word." I have been on a search for a while for a vision of what kind of role I am supposed to be playing in the body - the church. (not a church, the church... yes H Bonham a shout out for you) I found a vision and it kind of rocked me a little more than I was expecting. My heart, my soul, my everything is shouting at my self to get up and restore.

That's the beauty of reconciliation. It has this hint of, "at one time we were whole - good." Often times I feel that we overlook this little fact. Reconciliation finds its way into things like race, but we overlook this idea that in the past this is not the way it was. We are trying to move forward without looking to the past. This is particularly a problem concerning racial issues.

What did it used to look like?

We have lost something.

If it's restoring something then that means we are bringing it back to how it was, but even more than that. We are bringing it back to a state that it was good, whole, not broken.

When was there a time in history when we were not separated by the racial lines that stare us in the face everyday, even in diverse cities like Chicago?

What if we took this idea of repair and said that we are trying to restore the peace, harmony, community that God designed for us in Genesis?

Then what? Would it make sense then?

I think it does.

Reconciliation isn't just about forgiveness. It's about restoring things to the way they were. The way it was when God told us that we were created perfect.

WE| community is a messy process

2008-11-20T23:32:00.000-06:00

I hate awkward situations. I make it worse, probably, being so awkward. Have you ever tried to take two groups of friends and have them hang out together? It almost always makes things awkward. I hate that I always try to do just that. I also hate when you’ve been “placed” in a new group of people who are more than comfortable with everyone currently around.

“Hello I’m the new guy.”
That could easily be translated into, “I’m waiting for someone to stop staring at me like I just walked off a circus wagon.”

Hello, instant target for stares and conversation. At least that’s what it feels like. There are also those other times you just want to go home.

For instance I wanted to try and get involved with Axis. I was thinking it might be a good idea to get involved with a community for people in my own age group. I went after church to this thing called the 247 Lounge where all the Axis folk gather and drink coffee. Now, I normally don’t go out after church after having been awake since 4AM but it was time to make an effort.

When I got there I was late. Not only was I late to the event that day; I was late to joining Axis period. I stood in a room of conversations, silent, and awkwardly drinking my cup of liquid.

Painful to say the least…

I began thinking to myself, “if I really start looking sad and awkward enough I’ll eventually get noticed, and someone will, out of pity, come introduce them self to me.”

Community is messy.

That’s just me though.

Let’s think about the community that Jesus, the guy who knows you better than you know you, who was teaching scripture to geezers 3 times his age at 12 years old. What kind of community did He get himself into?

Prostitutes.

Dept-collecting thieves.

Public enemies.

The poor.

These people are hanging out with the holiest-of-holy, the sinless man, the guy reading their minds, and walks on water.

If you have a bible turn to Luke 19. This is one of my favorite stories of Jesus just busting on the scene to create some great community.

How horribly awkward… It’s sitcom worthy.

On a more serious note…

Community cannot only be awkward. It can be risky.

Risky is messy.

We typically try to avoid risk.

It’s just one more way that community gets the big fat red MESSY stamp but community has this connotation around it that kind of glows gold. It screams safety and big bear hugs.
Why is this so not the truth?

Sure community can be safe and filled with hugs and laughs, but the truth is that there is a muddy trench that you have to crawl through to get there. Those BFF’s don’t come cheap. You need to make sure that they fit the material, right? No, you usually aren’t interviewing for open best friend positions. Best friends kind of just grow, but then what makes a best friend? What lets us get to laughs, bear hugs, and safety? I want to tell you about my friends a little. First I am incredibly blessed to have them in my life. No matter what junk or amazing-ness I am going through, they are there to listen in an instant. I have one friend who lives in Mary Land. He drives 13 hours by him self to Illinois just to celebrate Christmas with us. I have this other friend Tyler. He’s a marine. When he would call home we would all gather at one persons house just to pass the phone around. We would go out of our way even if it meant miles to make it.

Good community should just work, just like best friends. BFF’s are themselves a kind of community.

But there is this truth that sticks to the back of community like gum on your shoe.

People are risky.

We tell them our secrets. We let them into our lives. They are welcome in our house, our room. They eat our food. They get to share in our excitements and in our tears.

When we let people that close to us. It’s risky.

Sharing with our small groups wouldn’t be so hard if we weren’t afraid of giving people a glimpse inside of who we really are.

Guys telling a girl that you like them wouldn’t be so embarrassing, it wouldn’t give you that queasy feeling in your stomach if we didn’t have to lower our guard so much.

We put it all out there. (it’s a big enchilada…)

Our pride. Our secrets.

Our trust. Our faults.

That’s risk.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “breaking down walls?” When you break down the walls in a relationship, in community, you begin to trust that other person or group of people. You trust them with your belongings. You trust them with your confessions.

You break down walls when you begin trusting your community with those things that are personal.

So, what’s personal to you?

Would you share it with me, with us?

What about your facebook friends?

If you aren’t comfortable with me being in your personal life you’re not going to do anything of the sort. At least not willingly.

When that wall comes down, we call that trust.

Trust does not happen overnight. It takes time, and more often than not it’s going to be messy. Like it or not there are people who are going to be betray or test your trust. They are going to mess up and spill the beans.

Can anyone say gossip?

This hurts.

Sometimes to a point that there’s no way you would go back to that so-called friend. Sometimes it’s a kick in the mouth. When community becomes infected with things like betrayal and lies, it can hurt. It can hurt so bad that it’s heart breaking.

You know what happens when your heart breaks?

You cry.

Here’s the irony though.

When you’re crying your community, be it one person or ten, will be there to catch your tears.

Have you ever torn down a wall before? Let me tell you it’s messy.

There is this one other thing that I want to talk about. It’s called reconciliation. Who’s heard of this word before? It’s a typical church kind of word. Reconciliation is all about community. It’s about healing and restoring relationships.

Community. Reconciliation.

When relationships have conflict, they break like a chain breaks. They need to be restored. The links need to be fixed. That’s reconciliation

It’s the entire story of Jesus. It’s the entire story of the Bible. In Genesis we let go of our relationship, our community with God. In Exodus God watches his people, the Israelites, become enslaved and oppressed in Egypt. God hears their cry. (God hears the cry of the oppressed)

So He frees His people. He watched them fall away and become enslaved under Egypt, but God wants to reconcile them, so that they can enter into community with Him once more. Then God shows up as a voice at a mountain called Sinai.

He shows up and actually speaks to all them, and in a more global sense, to all of us. The Exodus is about reconciliation.

And reconciliation is about community, the community that God called humans to enter into originally. That is with Him and All.

Then we fall away again. We forget about the relationship that God reconciled with us. The enslaved thing happens all over again in Babylon. This place called Babylon is the new Egypt. And it’s in Babylon that God hears the cry of the oppressed once more. But this time the reconciliation is going to be different.

This time God is coming to us. He’s done sending Moses to lead an Exodus.

Jesus shows up. Jesus, who is all God and all human, comes with this new thing. You see, before reconciliation was for the Israelites. Jesus shows up and turns the table. He tells us that this new thing is for everyone, the whole world.

The original idea. Him and all living in community.

As a Christian, as a living testament to Jesus we are supposed to take this reconciliation to where?

All.

And this takes us back to Genesis. God says that it is not good for man to be alone.

We can start with those that are around us.

Taking the risk. Breaking down the walls. Fighting the Awkwardness.

There is all this mess. What on earth makes us think that community is so worth the effort? Is it worth it? I’ll answer that for you.

It is.

Trusting, growing, taking the time, gossip, betrayal, awkwardness, fights, chaos, reconciliation; it’s all worth it. There is so much that we benefit from when we enter into really good community. I’m not just telling you. God showed us. God created us so that we would need each other. It is the original plan.

We need people in our lives that are going to be there when we want to celebrate that incredible goal we scored for our team.

We need people in our lives that are going to catch our tears when we just had our heart broken.

Sometimes those people need to kick us back in the God-direction when we have lost our way.

And we need to be in peoples’ lives when a big bear hug makes all the difference in a day.

We need to be in peoples’ lives when they can’t do it on their own. Jesus calls us to be there for the less fortunate. We are called to be servants to the poor and friends to the lonely.

A friend of mine put it like this, “It’s how we learn to love like Jesus, being in messy community but demonstrating love through the mess.”

this is a lesson that I wrote and taught last night to our jr. high and high school ministry.