Corpulent Christians and the "Mighty Works" of God

      In leading Christian volunteers over many years, I’ve experienced blessings and frustrations. The blessings come when you see a loving self-sacrifice that reflects a devotion to Christ and to those in need. The frustration arrives when the volunteers don’t, when you are met with weak excuses from the self-satisfied, those who imagine they are fine Christians as they attend worship each weak, but will plead their family and personal needs and any other reason for not getting dirty in a world of hurt. They profess and protest a life of repentance but their works (lack of) deny their words. Always ready for food and fun, they cannot be found in the daily grind of Christian service. For them, service is defined by what is done for them, not by what is done by them. 

        Urban ministry is the most neglected today by the churches. We make a few moves from the outside, offering crumbs here and there, but the cities of the world, especially the mega cities, have largely been forsaken by the Laodecean church (Revelation 3.14-22). True, some good and great things are being done, yet by only a few. Of course, there are many poor Christians, those who themselves are in need, who live and work in their own communities throughout the world. Many are sacrificing their lives in vast swaths of poverty that are decimated by disease and despair. Yet, when we think of what could be done we can almost despair ourselves.

        When we see the common video’s of corpulant Christians “praising God” in their multi-million dollar complexes, with their elaborate bands and over-produced “spiritual” entertainments, we can be forgiven for wondering if there is any faith left on the earth (Luke 18.8). Gluttons for blessing, they are strangers to sacrifice. 

“Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24.12 NCV

        I was reminded of our ministry, how it meets with abuse, the aching need around us, and what will be the end of it all when I read these verses today. 

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon. ’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! ’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.” Mat.11.18.ESV

        The “mighty works” of God in, as, and through Jesus Christ are meant to lead us into a life of repentant humility, love, and self-sacrificing service, becoming good-hearted disciples in His Kingdom. His tender mercies have washed over our lives hour by hour, day after day, year in and year out. With patience born of divine love He has ministered to our every need, even suffering death on a cross for the forgiveness of our many sins and making a way for His very life to be ours as His Spirit abides in our hearts.

        However, what we often see and hear in response to his grace are the self-righteous finding fault with how Jesus leads them and demonizing his servants, all the while presuming upon his grace as something owed or earned by them. Few today use the gifts He has purchased for them with His blood to serve others with the mercy He has served them. Self-indulging and self-satisfied, the believe they are are spiritually “rich and increased with goods, needing nothing”, though Jesus himself says their unmercifully works reveal that they are “poor, pitiable, blind, and naked”. Living lavishly for themselves they daily rob God and His poor of the blessings he gave them to share with the needy. Most miserable creatures under heaven, they look and act the part of the blessed.

        Christ is coming soon, bringing his final “mighty work” of judgment on the rejecters of His mercy and grace. He will deliver those who have put all their trust in Him and destroy all who have spitefully clung to their sins with an obstinate disobedience that denied His suffering and death for them. Those who have continued wounding others with their ill-diguisged selfishness, either by action or neglect, will know the wrath of God they have longed denied or ignored.

        All sin is personal, relational. Sins of commission and ommission always hurt someone. Sin is against persons, a violation of love, mercy, and justice; sin is always against man and God. Therefore, God will always address sin in a most personal way. His cross was personal; His judgment will be personal. 

        The door of mercy is about to close on our world. Is it well with our souls today? How are you living and serving Christ in His Kingdom now? Are you ready for the judgment to come? Are you a tree bearing the fruits of His righteousness or are you living in vanity as you trust your own? 

“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7.18-20

        I’ll close with this oft repeated and oft neglected passage from Revelation. It is Christ’s view of the Church at the end of the word, his call for it to repent, and his promise to those who do. You may be very familiar with the words, however, don’t confuse that with the experience. Nothing will do for us today if we fall short of the repentance and spiritual revival Christ is calling for. 

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation:

“I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.

Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” Revelation 3.14-22

Feed Yourself: Urban Apartment and Balcony Gardens

I live in an apartment, in the city, and I want a small garden. A simple Google search does the trick. But here are some links to save you time. 

Urban Organic Gardner

Easy Balcony Gardening

50 Recycled Container Ideas

Cardboard Box Container Gardening (I really like this idea)

Growing Potatoes in a Container

Apartment Gardening-Pinterest 

Google Images-Apartment Gardening

ApartmentGardening.Org

Apartment Gardening-Tumblr

Growing Vegetables in Containers - basics (.pdf) 

Hydroponics: Soil-less gardening

How do you start a community garden?

I’ve been thinking about community gardens since a conversation yesterday down at the Salvation Army in Louisvile. 

I believe urban farming would be a practical way to provide food and work for the homeless. It has been done and is being done. This is not the only reason for having a community garden, but one of many benefits to those living in the city. Urban gardens are good for the enviroment, good for the economy, good for giving us a way out of our self-centeredness through helping others. It’s just GOOD. 

Would you like to start a community garden or help with one? Here are some links to get you on your way. 

Adventists In Step With Life  A link-heavy resource for anyone interested in urban-community gardening

What’s it all about? City Farms

50 Recycled Container Ideas

Start a Community Garden

Top Ten Cities For Urban Gardening in America

Google Map List of Louisville Urban Gardens

Brightside: Community Garden in Louisville, Ky

Seatle’s P-Patch Gardens, the top rated program in America (40 yrs. in the growing)

Ameican Community Gardening Association

Let’s Move! Community Garden Checklist

A New Job at the Salvation Army

My application for part-time work as a cook for the Salvation Army in downtown Louisville has been accepted. I'm waiting on a call about when to start. When applying I was asked if I would work full-time if they offered and I said yes. 

They, soon to be "we", feed on average a hundred and eighty veterans, men, women, and children each evening. The veterans who live on site are served first, then the single women and women with children. Last are the men. Some are homeless, others on low-income. The SA provides a limited number of beds each night.

On Monday evenings I am helping with a Celebrate Recovery meeting for those with "hurts, habits, and hangups". I don't care much for the jingoisms of recovery programs. It seems to help some. I didn't recover from drug addiction in a formal 12 Step program, but I did know the spiritual principles behind them and those helped me. God helped me. I've been clean since 1995. Of course, the problems underlying my addictions are still a problem, sometimes more than others. It seems my self-centered nature knows no bounds. 

But living by the spiritual principles that Jesus teaches in his Sermon on the Mount keeps me relatively sane. I remain very far from the ideal. Each day I am reminded, with great mercy from God, how dependent I am on him for the simplest things of life. I cannot live at all without his mercy for my shortcomings and his forgiveness for my sins. 

Over the past few months I've been spending all of my study time with the Sermon on the Mount. I've prepared Keynote slides for all the verses to use in teaching. I'll be preaching in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky this Sabbath from the Sermon on the Mount. I spoke last Sabbath in Kings Mountain, Kentucky at the Grove Ridge Seventh-day Adventist Church, once for the morning service and again in the afternoon. May 1lth, I'll be at the Lexington, Kentucky Seventh-day Adventist Church for evening vespers. I'll be introducing the Sermon on the Mount as the gospel of the kingdom. I have a few other appointments scheduled through the rest of this year for Lawrenceburg, Danville, and Somerset, all in Kentucky. 

The job at the SA only pays $7.39 an hour. Even with full-time and Sharon's work (my wife), it will be a hard go. I have bills and debt I am behind on. The public speaking I do is gratis so far. I'm putting together material for weekend and weeklong retreats in spiritual formation. Some work will be on YouTube. 

I recently had a serendipitous meeting with the CEO of Hassans Consults who expressed an interest in me for consultant work, asking for my resume, but I'm not expecting much. We met at Barnes and Noble when I offered some help when I overheard them wrestling with a few issues. I showed them how certain mind mapping software would benefit them, not only for brainstorming ideas, but in creating a workflow for administrative and management structures. I was asked if I could meet them again next Tuesday. 

" 

A Good and Sufficient Man?

Feeding the poor and homeless everyday will be a good thing, not merely for my own soul, but simply because the need is there. That it only pays $7.39 an hour will be a hardship. I will be one of the poor I am trying to help. But I already am. Were it not for the kindness of a friend we could not afford to live in the simple two-bedroom apartment we have now. I’m behind on my car payments and have to sell a few things to keep up. I’ve resisted selling off my books. I suppose the computer or iPad would be the last to go if it comes to that, though we could get something for the birds. We wouldn’t sell our dog.

Am I poor? In what since? In material things, pretty much. I haven’t worked full-time for almost a year. I have creditors calling everyday. 

HumanResources called today. Tomorrow I go downtown (Louisville) to fill out the paperwork for a job as assistant cook for the Salvation Army. I believe God is leading me down this path and I don’t mind kitchen work. I like it. But I wonder what it means for my life that I’ve moved from pastoring to this? Is God humbling me or leading me to a higher plain in life? Or is it both? 

Is it a waste of “talents” and the time I’ve put into my education to spend the rest of my days feeding the homeless? Am I running from responsibility by taking the less demanding job? Or should I be proud of myself in taking a work I wouldn’t have taken unless God had directly led me there? 

I admit to being tempted with pride, that strange feeling of superiority that comes to some when they take a position they know others with the same education or background would not. But I’ve always been a contra kind of guy, the black sheep in the herd. It’s more natural for me to resist authority and expectations. I was expelled from two schools. Failed out of another. I’ve refused to ask for help and then resented it when none was offered. That is pride too. Pride has always been my downfall. 

Of course, Jesus said the first would be last and the last first, which adds irony to being proud of a humble place. But is it a humble place? What makes for a humble location in life? Who is humble?

Humility is a thing of the heart, a hidden quality that is known for it’s unobtrusive nature. It is seen best when it is hidden most. Self-conscious humility is a self-contradiction. 

Before you lurch toward correcting me, I know I’m in for hard work. I don’t mean the kitchen work. As I said, I like it. I mean caring for the poor. Poverty is romanticized by the world, by the ignorant, by those who have never felt the pain and distress of poverty themselves. I’ve been homeless. I am a recovering drug addict. There is a mean and ugly side to poverty, just as there is with wealth, that knows nothing of basic human dignity. I know how hard it is to help the helpless who still live in denial and its consequent immorality, rich or poor. 

I’ve lived in the “projects”. At other times I would have been described as white, trailer-trash. Harsh, but true in my case. I fit the stereo-type. I owned it. I’ve drawn food stamps for several years and for three received a monthly “crazy check” for drug-related depression. I spent the money on drugs and bootlegging. Married three times, a poor husband and poorer father to two neglected children. The immorality of it all…I won’t elaborate. 

I’ve also been tempted to fear God has rejected me, that through faults, sins, and mistakes I’ve disqualified myself for the spiritual care of souls. Why did he ever call me to it all? I know he did not make a mistake. Have I walked away because it was too hard? Will I ever pastor again? Should I? The temptation and the questions raise the whole idea of what it means to be a spiritual leader, guide, counselor, director, or servant. Still, a rose by any other name is still a rose. 

I don’t miss pastoral work as it has come to be and as others often see it, being paid to perform rather than to live a holy life. I’ve met very few, pastors themselves or members, who understand that the pastor’s greatest work is to be a holy man or woman. We talk about it and that’s about as far as it goes. True holiness in Christ is rare among pastors, therefore, it is rare in the church herself. I don’t miss the false expectations and deceit, mine and others, that was so much a part of the job. I won’t “do” church. 

The time I spent in college working in campus kitchens, doing grill work, washing dishes, and prepping food was something I enjoyed. As I said, I like kitchen work, whatever it is. But when I thought of it as a job for life I felt I would be neglecting God’s call to teach His word. Or when I worked for years painting houses I was always wanting to minister full time. I felt there was more to come.

Is this the “more” or am I going backward? Have I simply slipped into a better way of caring for souls? It is probably not “either-or”. The true and good life is in God’s calling, in discipleship as I exercise the gifts he had given me by his grace. If I choose to be chosen by Him, that is enough. 

I don’t know that I can pastor again, not as it is defined today. I tried, but the feeling of shame was oppressing. I know that sounds condescending. Perhaps it is. Still, the level of dishonesty and willful neglect among professing Christians often felt like hell on earth to me. Then there are my own sins. Of course, I’m guilty of the same hypocrisy I complain of and pastoring just made me feel worse.

I was angry. Maybe I still am. Though rare, there is a good anger. When I see the comfortable refusing to sacrifice their time to connect with the suffering I burn inside. Occasionally the fire leaks out. I know what it feels like to be despised and neglected for years on end. 

I’m still preaching on the weekends. My studies are concentrating more and more on discipleship. I study and meditate over the Sermon on the Mount most everyday. I hope I’ll have something to say now. I am helping with a 12 step program. I am still a spiritual director, caring for souls, mine and theirs, by the grace of Christ. Who am? What am I? I am a disciple of Christ. 

I know by now that when God is leading the path is seldom one the natural heart finds familiar. Part of the good life of the kingdom of heaven is being a stranger in a strange land. There should be a certain sense of foolishness and ignorance about it. And a loneliness that only Christ can salve. If there is no accusation from others we are probably on the wrong track. I don’t mean there are no true fools. I’ve been that and can be now. I’m speaking of being a fool for Christ, a fool for seeing my only hope in taking up my cross and following Jesus everyday. I want to embrace Christ on the cross, to join him there. Isn’t that what it means to “come up higher”? But “who is sufficient for these things”? His grace is perfected in weakness; He alone can make me a sufficient man.