Last weekend, we did our Justice Project. The point of the Justice Project was to find an injustice in our community, and act on it. This could be something we do, or something that we assist empowering our neighbors to do, since we will soon be gone. We settled on cleaning up the park down the street from our apartment. Several weeks ago, we decided on painting over the graffiti, and giving the park a fresher look, fixing two broken …
I met Jesse last fall. He was in the Disciple program at the New Orleans Mission where Katie, Braxton, and I help serve dinner once a week (sometimes more, depending on what Loretta needs). As the weeks went by, we began to develop a relationship with Jesse, and he was one of the people I looked forward to seeing every week. I can’t remember how far back it was, but I remember going in one day, and he wasn’t there. …
One night last week while Meredith and I were cooking dinner, she asked if I minded if Jake sat in the kitchen to read out of the Bible to us. Honestly, I wasn’t so hot about the idea, usually when we are cooking dinner, or doing dishes, we put music on. I like music. So this, was different, and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. Of course, I said yes. Jake came in, sat down, and started reading. I …
We just finished a book called Living in Color, by Randy Woodley. Woodley is a Cherokee Indian, who does ministry primarily among Native Americans. I enjoyed much of what he had to say, and enjoyed reading something written from a new perspective. As Irvin said last night at our CityWide, we often times allow ourselves to see the color and cultural issues that the church faces as being in just black and white. Anyway, the concept I enjoyed most from …
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Over the weekend, I got to go to Pensacola Beach with the staff of Rachel Sims Baptist Mission (my main service site), and their sister center Carver Baptist Center for the 4th …
I think toilet humor is funny. I like Nickelback and Jason Mraz make great music. I think Dane Cook is a silly B. But I just don’t know about all that anymore. I’m currently reading a fascinating book called ‘Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus’ by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. It’s all about understanding the Gospel message through the eyes and ears of a first century Jew, and I’ve already taken a lot away from it. I came …
I read ‘spiritual’ books about Jesus, or Jesusy things. I tell myself that this is the same thing as being in the Word and spending time building my relationship with Him. It is not. Tweet
There are several places in the Bible where we like to reference when we talk about how we should live our lives. Here’s one I’d never heard until a few days ago. O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against …
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NASB) I don’t know how familiar …
The director of the mission I volunteer at has a property next door where his mother lives. I’ve met her a few times, and truthfully, those weren’t very pleasant experiences for me. So I’d kind of written her off. God showed me. A little while ago, I was asked to take her some of her mail that gets delivered to the center. I was not to excited about it. I walked over and she was out on her porch, I …
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am …
On Friday night for our team night, we went out to Audubon Park and played some Frisbee and soccer. It was awesome. The guys beat the girls at soccer 10 to 9. It was an intense game. Then, we trotted off to the labyrinth not knowing what Katie had in store for us. She and the girls lit some candles and set them out around the labyrinth, and we all sat in the middle. Katie told us that we were …
What is she? Change. To me anyway. Though to herself, I am sure she is constant and true. Family is no longer just blood. No, Now they are those who do the Will of my Father. A neighbor isn’t just next door, It is anyone who opens their door, Or anyone to whom I open my door. Time isn’t necessarily kept, but Wondered about. Or maybe… Lost in translation. A meal isn’t just eaten for satiation, It is time for …
This last week, I got the chance to go home and see two of my best friends get married. It was an incredible experience, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it. On Tuesday night, I showed up to the bachelor party without anyone knowing I was coming, and it was great to sit around and talk with old friends for a few hours. Wednesday went by in a blur, I had to get some clothes for …
After a binge, Otis would usually lock himself in the town jail until he was sober. He had a key to the front door of the courthouse and the cell keys were hung on a nail near the cells (presumably, to accommodate Otis). The lack of crime in Mayberry, and the laid-back attitude of the Sheriff’s department easily accommodated Otis’s drinking habit. (Courtesy of wikipedia) While I was home, I had the opportunity to go to the new third service …
I like that kids song. It makes me smile. Also though, I forget that sometimes. The other day, there was this big thunder storm. There was cool lightening, rolling thunder, and the rain came down in droves. It was awesome (In the most awe-inspiring, God meant way possible). And it did remind of how powerful God is. That is probably my favorite thing about thunder storms. To me they display the mightiness (That’s right, I said mightiness) of God that …
No one is good not even one. The front pages of papers of children raped by rapist Iraqi torture chambers and we the blame claim we’re blameless Wrong, all And swelling up inside of us, there’s this pride in us this arrogance And our only line of defense is the sense that “I’m not as half as bad as this friend of mine so I must be fine”, We mean well don’t we? Yet I’ve never seen good intentions set …
“You can’t be filled with more of the Holy Spirit, you get that when you accept your salvation. But you can make more room for it. The supreme question of the moment is ‘what do I need to move out of the way to make more room for the Spirit?’” We had a Bible study about the spirit, and it was really cool. That is a paraphrase of what hit home the most for me. “And when they had prayed, …
It’s a simple realization really, but I don’t think about it often…or ever if I’m honest with myself. When we got back from spring break, the water from our kitchen sink was coming out at a really low pressure, and less and less would be coming out, at one point it was no better than a trickle. So, those of you who know me, know that I went straight into ‘this sucks mode’ and mildly complained about the situation…a lot. …
