Preparation for Worship

This morning, before I dressed to go to church, I decided to take Charlie for a brisk walk around the Garfield Park lagoon. It was a beautiful morning.

Sunday mornings are always interesting because the park is just waking up from Saturday night revelry. This morning was no exception. There was the usual garbage, two men sleeping on a bench with their pants undone and their hands... Well, you get the picture.

But the really sad sight for me was a very, very, thin, sickly-looking woman getting help from a friend to shoot heroin in her arm. Her friend looked concerned but seemed resigned to help the woman get the fix she needed. She was handing her tissues and looking at her with obvious compassion, a tragic mixture of love and hopelessness.

A quick shower and I was off to worship at River City Community Church. The worship was Spirit-filled and very moving especially in light of what I had just seen. Pastor Dan Hill asked the question, "What did it cost Jesus to love us?"

Jesus faced the fury of hell on the cross, felt nails plunged into his body, cried out as he was abandoned by the Father. It's extreme grace for extreme circumstances, so that captives can be set free, captives like the woman in the park, and me.

NT Wright on Women in Ministry

Here is a link to a very thoughtful speech given by NT Wright regarding the passages of Scripture that are often used to restrict women from leadership in the church.

"I believe we have seriously misread the relevant passages in the New Testament, no doubt not least through a long process of assumption, tradition, and all kinds of post-biblical and sub-biblical attitudes that have crept in to Christianity. Just as I think we need radically to change our traditional pictures of the afterlife, away from the mediaeval models and back to the biblical ones, so we need radically to change our traditional pictures both of what men and women are and how they relate to one another within the church and indeed of what the Bible says on this subject. I do wonder, sometimes, if those who present radical challenges to Christianity have been all the more eager to make out that the Bible says certain things about women, as an excuse for claiming that Christianity in general is a wicked thing and we ought to abandon it. Of course, there have been plenty of Christians who have given outsiders plenty of chances to make that sort of comment. But perhaps in our generation we have an opportunity to take a large step back in the right direction." -- NT Wright

I'm going to George, IA

I'm driving to George, Iowa, today to visit my mother and to speak at the Kiwanis on Thursday, so will not be blogging for a few days. I'm driving 8 hours each way so I'll have lots of time to think and pray in the car.

Older Donors and Brain Shifts

I always thought the fact that many of our major donors are older had something to do with the amount of their disposable income. It turns out it could have more to do with changes in their brains. Check out this article in Science News by Bruce Bower entitled, Older but Mellower: Aging brain shifts gears to emotional advantage.

Advancing age heralds a growth in emotional stability accompanied by a neural transition to increased control over negative emotions and greater accessibility of positive emotions...

In contrast, people under age 50 experience negative emotions more easily than they do positive ones.

This gradual reorganization of the brain's emotion system may result from older folk responding to accumulating personal experiences by increasingly looking for meaning in life...

Carl Ellis - "Imagine the Kingdom"

Here's a great message from Carl Ellis entitled "Imagine the Kingdom". Both Ellis and Keller are teaching a vertical and horizontal understanding of the gospel that is grounded in Scripture.

When our grandchildren ask...

"When our grandchildren ask us where we were when the voiceless and the vulnerable of our era needed leaders of compassion and purpose, I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time."

--Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission

Class and Community's Struggles

Dawn Turner Trice is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune that I read everyday because she speaks to many of the issues I am concerned about. A few days ago she wrote a column titled, "Community's Woes May Not Be Matter Of Class". She pointed out that in the Austin neighborhood to the west of Garfield Park, 41.4% of the residents are middle class, with household incomes of more than $40,000. That is surprising considering the median income in East Garfield Park is $24,216. It seems that although more than a third of the residents are middle class there are enough residents whose income is very low that it brings the median income down. I noticed that Austin's median income is $33,663, which is still pretty low, but not as low as East Garfield Park's.

I think most significantly her point is that in even the most impoverished communities in Chicago, there is a significant portion of the residents who are not poor. This confirms Breakthrough's philosophy of ministry which involves bringing community residents in East Garfield Park together to support one another and to provide role models for the kids.

Answers to Prayer

On Monday I asked you to pray for God's guidance in raising a million dollars for our Breakthrough Ministry Center renovation project. Since then some very interesting things have happened. This week we had about five different individuals and foundations COME TO US and say they wanted to donate money toward the project, to the tune of nearly $250,000!! I don't get very many comments on this blog, but I know you are out there because I see you on statcounter, and I know you are praying because your prayers are being answered. THANKS!!

And Jesus says to the storm, "PEACE, BE STILL"!

But we see Jesus (sleeping in the boat)

My friend Debbie led me to Hebrews 2:8-9 today. It was especially meaningful for me in light of my recent thoughts about Jesus sleeping in the boat while I am anxious and trying to row harder, bail out water, etc.

"In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus."

Oooo that's good isn't it? Jesus can sleep in the boat because he knows everything is under control. At the present I don't see that everything is in God's control, so I must focus on Jesus, absorbing his peace in the middle of the storm.

The Mouse Chase

OK, I know this is trite.... but I have a mouse in my apartment. I saw him night before last running along my bedroom wall. I really wish Franklin, my niece's cat, was still here. (I shipped Franklin off to Jordan in May) I have set traps and he eats the cheese and peanut butter off the traps without springing them. Charlie, my dog, sniffs him out and whines and scratches and barks. It's crazy I tell you! I finally broke down and called my landlord to bring in an exterminator, one of the many benefits of renting!

Going Home

Going home is a lifelong journey. There are always parts of ourselves that wander off in dissipation or get stuck in resentment. Before we know it we are lost in lustful fantasies or angry ruminations. Our night dreams and daydreams often remind us of our lostness.

Spiritual disciplines such as praying, fasting and caring are ways to help us return home. As we walk home we often realise how long the way is. But let us not be discouraged. Jesus walks with us and speaks to us on the road. When we listen carefully we discover that we are already home while on the way.

- Henri Nouwen

City's most vulnerable populations live in food deserts

The Chicago Tribune has been running several articles in response to a study that shows the shortage of food choices in the city's African American communities. It is easier to get to fast food restaurants than to grocery stores that supply healthy foods at affordable costs. Neighborhood corner stores are more accessible for those without cars, but the prices are higher and the food less fresh. Food shortages lead to higher health risks.

How to raise a million dollars

Wow! It is really crunch time. We have a challenge from the Kresge foundation. If we raise $1.1 million by March 2007, they will contribute $400,000 and we will have what we need for our building renovation project. Simple, right? So how do we raise a million dollars?!

Step one: PRAY!! Isaiah 58 says that if we share our food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter, we will call and the Lord will answer. And if spend ourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, the Lord will guide us and satisfy our needs. Will you join me in calling on the Lord for God's guidance?

We need this building bad. The men in our shelter will be forced out of their present facility in August. Meanwhile, Jesus is sleeping in the boat!

Jesus sleeping in the boat

Last Sunday (7/09/06) I was out in Plainfield and attended Calvary Church in Naperville. I loved the sermon, cried through much of it. Some headlines for me... Jesus purposefully fell asleep in the boat knowing there would be a storm. He didn't internalize the anxiety of others. Our natural tendency is to try to row faster and bail out. Jesus has authority to intervene powerfully on our behalf when asked to. God is for us. God cares about our situation. God desires to comfort us.

It was packed full. Here's the link.

Violence rising in our neighborhood

Yesterday's Chicago Tribune reported that our police district has recorded more murders (19) and nonfatal shootings (73) in the frist half of the year, than any other district in the city. We border the Eisenhower expressway which makes it accessible for drug purchases from the suburbs, we have high numbers of reentries from prison and jobs are not available. Again, the need for our employment center and shelter for men in East Garfield Park is verified.

Working for justice is not an option

If you are neutral toward injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

~Bishop Desmond Tutu

5.8% of Illinois residents living in deep poverty

The front page of the Chicago Tribune today reported that Illinois, despite having the fifth-largest economy in the nation, has the highest poverty rate in the Midwest. Illinois leads the region with nearly 724,000 residents in the category of deep poverty: deep poverty means a family of four is living on $9,675 or less per year.

The state's surge in poverty, as documented in the bipartisan Heartland Alliance's 2006 Report on Illinois Poverty, can be traced to a combination of factors: the loss of more than 225,000 manufacturing jobs in the last 15 years, soaring housing costs and cuts in social services due to the state budget crisis of the past several years.

Jay and I caught a fish on the 4th

The worst part was the cleaning. I needed a sharper knife. And if Jesus hadn't cooked fish for the disciples after his resurrection I don't know if I could have hit him over the head with a hammer. But we had fun and Jay learned what the inside of animals looks like and a little about the food chain.

Listening to Sean Dietrich

Sean Dietrich left a comment with a link to his site where we can download his music. I'm liking it alot!!

Hear the Voice

I'm enjoying listening to the Voice. The lyrics come from the Psalms. You can buy it here.

Tribune columnist comments on Barak Obama's speech

Dawn Turner Trice had this to say in today's Chicago Tribune

"Too often it seems talk about religion evolves into a mini-sermon rather than a discussion. One person comes off as having all of the answers and knowing the only path to the truth and the light. In the end, very little ground is gained."

Shortly after I read her editorial I read this in Brian McLaren's book Generous Orthodoxy in his chapter on "Why I Am Incarnational" (p. 290)

"Having acknowledged and accepted the coexistence of other faiths, Christians should actually talk with people of other faiths, engaging in gentle and respectful dialogue."

From Wendell Berry

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy."

The Next Billy Graham?

I told a group of friends today that I thought Rob Bell is speaking so prophetically to postmoderns that he could be the next "Billy Graham". Anita Lustrea replied that Cathleen Falsani, a religion writer for the Chicago Suntimes, actually said the same thing in a recent Sun Times article.

A Visit to the Oriental Institute

I joined the Naphtali tribe (my bus mates from the Israel tour) for lunch today at Manny's Deli and then a tour of the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago. I hadn't heard of this museum before. We saw artifacts from some of the archeological digs that we visited in Israel as well as from Persia, Babylon and Ninevah.

I have been struck lately by how much there is to learn through history and archeology about the contexts of the stories of Scripture and how little I know about those fields of study. It seems so much of the teaching of the church and Christian institutions has been about privatized faith, me and Jesus, my personal walk with God, etc., that we have missed a whole lot of other information that would give us knowledge about God and help us to be able to have meaningful conversations with people at whatever place they are in their journey toward God.

In DC, a Catholic woman I met commented that her niece and her husband had gotten so into evangelical Christianity that they could no longer talk to the rest of the family. They had nothing to say. It seems we tend to develop insider cliches and a club language that isolates us from others, when there is so much in nature and history that points to God.

Rob Bell made the observation that all of life is sacred and masterfully described the mystery of creation and nature. Bob Dylan sang, we've "gotta serve somebody". Obery Hendricks urged us at Pentecost 2006, to "treat the needs of people as sacred."

Rob Bell's message at Logan Auditorium

It was such a treat to hear Rob Bell, from Mar's Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, last night in our very own community of Logan Square. He was brilliant!

A friend of mine told me yesterday that she thinks there is a dearth of good speakers right now who are interesting to listen to and can speak prophetically to our culture. Rob Bell is speaking to the postmodern generation using meta-narrative (starting with Genesis and making strong personal application), a unique style (he used a gigantic white board to illustrate every point), humor, and unbelievable integration of history, physics, biology, and Hebrew word study. If you get a chance to hear him, don't miss it. Churches using the old school of preaching are going to be left behind if we don't learn to speak this new language.

We marched in the pouring rain

Pictured below are my friends, Jerry Stromberg and Max Kuecker, marching with me to the capital. I took the pictures during an unusual break in the downpour of rain. Below them is Mary Nelson, founder and former ED of Bethel New Life. I got to hang out with her as we visited the offices of Senators Barak Obama and Dick Durbin and Congressman Danny Davis.



When I stepped out of my cab at George Washington University it was pouring. I went in to get my key and learned I would have to walk about five blocks to get to the dorm I was staying in. As I stood under an awning trying to decide what to do a woman handed me a simple raincoat that the university had been handing out to parents there for parent weekend. I gratefully accepted and lived in it for the next three days. It rained hard nearly the entire time I was there.

Pentecost 2006 was rich with speakers and workshops that raised my consciousness about poverty and what it is going to take to combat its societal causes. Speakers included Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, and Brian McLaren. We marched in the pouring rain to the capital to meet with our senators and congress representatives to ask them to support legislation that would ensure health care for children, raise the minimum wage and promote aid to countries plagued with extreme poverty.

We heard a very thoughtful address from Barak Obama dealing with the complex issues of religion and politics. Although his father was a Muslim, Obama confessed to have made a commitment to follow Christ while doing community organizing work in Chicago. Here's a quote.

"Perhaps it was out of this intimate knowledge of hardship, the grounding of faith in struggle, that the church offered me a second insight: that faith doesn't mean that you don't have doubts. You need to come to church precisely because you are of this world, not apart from it; you need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away - because you are human and need an ally in your difficult journey."

"It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."

Obama went on to describe the importance of the separation of church and state. "Even if we did have only Christians within our borders, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy?"

"Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality. It involves the compromise, the art of the possible," Obama said. To illustrate he used the Biblical narrative of Abraham.

"It's fair to say that if any of us saw a twenty-first century Abraham raising the knife on the roof of his apartment building, we would, at the very least, call the police and expect the Department of Children and Family Services to take Isaac away from Abraham. We would do so because we do not hear what Abraham hears, do not see what Abraham sees, true as those experiences may be. So the best we can do is act in accordance with those things that are possible for all of us to know, be it common laws or basic reason."

You can read Obama's entire speech at this link.

The Chicago Tribune covered his speech in Thursday's paper on the 2nd page.

Pentecost 2006

I'm leaving in the morning to go to Washington DC to attend Pentecost 2006.

Habits of Highly Effective Justice Workers

Here's a link to a great article by Rodolpho Carrasco, executive director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, California.

"Should we protest the system or invest in a life? Yes."

Rob Bell is coming here

I'm looking forward to hearing Rob Bell from Mars Hill on June 30th at 8:00 PM at Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago,IL.

"It's a giant thing that God is doing—and not just the forgiveness of individuals. It is the reconciliation of all things." --Rob Bell

You've gotta see this video!

Starfish Studios showed this video of the Global Night Commute at our film screening on Saturday night. It was very moving.

Listening to...

Jami Smith, Your Love is Deep



Your love is deep
Your love is high
Your love is long
Your love is wide

Deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled

Who shall separate us
Who shall separate us from Your love
Nothing can separate us
Nothing can separate us from Your love

Gentrification with Justice

Here is a link to a pdf of an article by Bob Lupton from the PCA "By Faith Online" magazine. His thoughts are summarized in a sidebar.

DIVERSITY IS A GIFT.
Communities that are economically and racially mixed can be the richest of environments for families as well as singles and older adults. Diverse community is God's plan, the final destination toward which all the righteous are heading--the city of our God where people of every tribe, nation, and tongue will take up eternal residence.

COMMUNITY DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN.
This is especially true in a diverse community. Relationships must be built. Focused and sustained effort must be invested in getting to know neighbors, organizing community activities, modeling neighborliness, and communicating good news. Love of neighbor must be practical and visible over time.

INDIGENOUS NEIGHBORS ARE A TREASURE.
It is easy to ignore seniors, easy to push on past less communicative neighbors, and easy to exclude those who don't show up at community functions. But the rich history of the neighborhood is embedded in the lives and family albums of long-term residents. The effort to extract and honor this history is well worth the time and effort. And everyone, no matter how unlikely, has some valuable talent to contribute to the life of the community.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY IS ESSENTIAL.
A community will not be healthy unless it has ample neighbors with discretionary income to attract and sustain businesses. The gentry are essential. However, justice demands that we ensure that the poor are embraced and included as beneficiaries in a healthy community.

GOD'S SHALOM MUST BE WORKED AT.
The roles of peacemakers, communicators, gatherers, organizers and connectors are some of the most vital talents needed for the establishment of "peace and prosperity" and a prevailing sense of well-being that God desires for His creation. Shalom is not merely the absence of crime on the street, it is the prevailing presence of peace and goodness in the relationships of God's diverse family. It is achieved only by intentional effort.

Why White People Are Afraid

Thanks to my friend, Michelle Hill, for pointing me to this article
which was printed in the June 11th Chicago Sun Times. Here's a quote...

Virtually every white person I know, including white people fighting for racial justice and including myself, carries some level of racism in our minds and hearts and bodies. In our heads, we can pretend to eliminate it, but most of us know it is there. And because we are all supposed to be appropriately anti-racist, we carry that lingering racism with a new kind of fear: What if non-white people look at us and can see it? What if they can see through us? What if they can look past our anti-racist vocabulary and sense that we still don't really know how to treat them as equals? What if they know about us what we don't dare know about ourselves? What if they can see what we can't even voice?

Rob Bell's message at Willow Creek

Thirty-three year old Wheaton College graduate, Rob Bell, and his wife Kristen, along with a group of friends, started a church called Mars Hill in Grandville Michigan five years ago. The church has grown to an attendance of 10,000. Tonight I listened to a message he delivered at a Wednesday night service at Willow Creek in 2003 entitled, "Jesus and Domitian". If you have 40 minutes, check out his video message at this link. Go to the bottom of the Service Elements section and select Watch" next to "Message".

Breakthrough kids create and star in their own films

I'm listening to Sufjan Stevens

My nephew, Stephen Monkemeier, is interning at Breakthrough this summer and introduced me to Sufjan Stevens

Teri's graduation

I returned from Israel on June 8th and left the next day for Columbus to attend my daughter Teri's graduation from Ohio State University. This is a picture of me with Teri and my other daughter, Monica, and her children, Jayden and Naomi.

View of the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Shalom from Jerusalem

We have been touring Jerusalem for the last two days. We had a worship service Sunday morning on the Temple Mount, some steps on the south side of the walls that at one time led up to the temple. We walked down the road that was near the area where Jesus would have traveled on Palm Sunday for the triumphal entry. We saw the garden tomb, next to Golgatha, where Jesus was crucified.I will never read the Bible in the same way since being here. I can now picture so many of the places from the time of Moses to the Apostle Paul. This trip is demystifying Scripture for me, making it real, rooted, grounded in this land.

More from Tiberias

We rode a boat on the Sea of Galilee this morning. This is where Jesus walked on water and where he slept in the middle of a storm and then calmed the waters with his words. We visited Korazin and Capernaum. Later in the day some in our group were baptized in the Jordan River.

I'm sitting beside the Sea of Gallilee

Today we drove along the Dead Sea and the Jordan River, to Tiberias on the Sea of Gallilee. I took advantage of the opportunity to take a camel ride on the way.

We met all together in a theater at Bet She'an where the bodies of Saul and his sons were hung by the Philistines. There are extensive archeological digs there spanning many centuries.

We climbed to the top of a cliff that gave us a panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee and then drove to our hotel, right at the edge of the sea.

It is awesome to see the places mentioned in Scripture. I think this trip will forever influence my reading of Scripture because I will be able to imagine the actual geographical scenes. It is amazing how close everything is. At it's widest point Israel is just 85 miles wide. It is similar in size to the state of New Jersey. Most of the events of the life of Jesus took place within just a few miles of where I am right now.

The Dead Sea Scroll Caves at Qumran

Muslim Beduin shepherds found remnants of scrolls of the Bible which had been written more than 2000 years ago in clay pots in this cave in August of 1952.


The tour of 600 people are divided into the twelve tribes of Israel. Each tribe travels together in a tour bus with several Moody staff and teachers and a local tour guide. Anita Lustria, who hosts the radio show Mid-day Connection and her husband Mike Murphy who is on staff at Christs’ Church of OakBrook are in my tribe.

This is me with some leaders from Moody who are on the trip. Mark Elfstrand, from the WMBI morning show, Dr. Winfred Neely, President Michael Easley, and Executive Vice President and COO, Ed Cannon.

Going to Masada today

I'm at the Dead Sea tonight

Clouds over the Mediterranean Sea


It's been a long day. I slept about an hour on the plane and then we put in a full day.



Here is my friend Christine at Joppa, the port Jonah left when he tried to sail for Tarshish instead of Ninevah, and where Peter saw the vision of the sheets and was visited by Cornelius on the roof of Simon the Tanner's home. The home was right in the vicinity of this little old village.



The most moving thing for me today was to visit the Judean wilderness where Jesus went after his baptism, where he fasted for forty days and was tempted by Satan. It was sooooo hot. I can't imagine fasting for that long in such a barren wilderness. Jesus was not playing! This is Bryan and Denise McNeil at the wilderness site. Bryan teaches philosophy at Moody.



I swam in the hotel pool that is filled with water from the Dead Sea. It’s amazing, like lying on a floater without the floater, or on a sea of nearly congealed jello.

Off to the Holy Lands

I'm going to the Holy Lands tomorrow with the tour group (600 people!) from Moody. If I can get internet access I hope to blog with pictures and a travelogue. If not, I will not be able to post until June 8th. I haven't been to the Middle East so I am very excited. I'm viewing it as a pilgrimage. Imagine... Jesus' feet actually touched the earth there! WOW!!

Should a ministry be run like a business?

I just ordered Jim Collins' new , book Good to Great and the Social Sectors. I like the title of his first chapter, "Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer".

We must reject the idea -- well-intentioned, but dead wrong -- that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become more like a business.

In business, money is both an input (a resource for achieving greatness) and an output (a measure of greatness). In the social sectors, money is only an input, and not a measure of greatness.

Irving’s Ice cream

Irving was on a mission. His mind was disabled with mental illness, but he was convinced if he lived frugally and saved nearly all of his disability checks he could amass enough wealth to eradicate the national debt when he died. So he bought government bonds every month, used recycled paper towels and ate at our homeless center every day.

I invited Irving and another of Breakthrough’s homeless service center guests to my house for Thanksgiving dinner a number of years ago. I prepared a wonderful feast with all of the holiday delights. Irving was a diabetic so I knew he wouldn’t be enjoying pie and ice cream with the rest of us. I found a package of six sugar-free ice cream sandwiches for him. At the end of the meal his eyes lit up as he savored what for him was a rare treat. As he left I gave him the other ice cream sandwiches to take home and he gratefully accepted.

The next day Irving was at my door. He handed over the ice cream. “Here, take these,” he growled, “they make me want to have them all the time.”

As I reflect on Irving’s ice cream I am inspired by his willingness to sacrifice his pleasures for his cause. However misguided he was in his mission, he was committed to it and willing to give up momentary pleasures to reach his goal. When he died in 2000 he left Breakthrough $500,000, convinced that the way to eradicate the national debt is to provide employment opportunities for the unemployed.

Irving’s ice cream has become a symbol for me. What am I willing to sacrifice to advance the kingdom of Christ? What’s your mission? Is ice cream getting in the way?

You can read Irving's story and see his picture at this link

Gently corrected

I told my lamb story (see my 4/21 post) to the staff yesterday and was told how condescending that story would be to our guests, that I am somehow a rescuer and that our homeless guests would follow me around like a lost little lamb who has found his mother. Yuk! That's not what I meant, but I can sure see how it would come across like that. I have so much to learn and feel like such an insensitive schmuck sometimes!

I actually have thought of myself more like the lamb in the story. I know how much I have needed the kindness and support of others and that is why I relate to the urgency of expressing Christ's compassion toward people who have been marginalized. But I recognize how important it is to communicate the recipriocity of our relationships. I have always received more than I have given from the people who come to Breakthrough. So many of our staff and participants have challenged my faith, corrected me and helped me to grow. When I have lead devotions at our homeless centers I am blown away by the deep faith most of them have. They have cried out to God for help and God has met them.

We are all in need of a breakthrough, especially me. I am so glad to have people around me who set me straight.

Mothers Day Angst

I delivered the message at Catching Life Christian Church today. As I prepared I was very aware of the fact that many, if not most, in the congregation would be experiencing some pain this day, pain over the loss of their mothers through death or distance, pain over disappointing relationships with their mothers, pain over strained relationships with children, fractured families, and so on.

I told them about the book I read to my girls when they were little by P. D. Eastman, entitled, Are You My Mother? Just before the little bird cracks out of his shell, his mother leaves in search of food. Not knowing who his mother is, the bird begins to search for her. He comes upon a kitten, a hen, a dog and a cow and asks each of them, “Are you my mother?” He even thinks a huge excavator is his mother, runs excitedly up to it and shouts, “Here I am mother” only to be disappointed again. Finally he finds his real mother, tells her all about his adventures and declares, “You are a bird. You are my mother”.

This mother search is a familiar one for many of us, and especially for those whose families have been broken or marred by abuse and neglect. Many go through life in search of arms that will hold, comfort and nurture. Adults who have not “found their mothers” can get into troubled relationships while trying to extract love from excavators that leave them cold and uncared for.

The Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s well had been in a series of damaging relationships. She finally gave up on marriage all together and lived with a man. Certainly filled with shame and disappointment, she came to draw water in the middle of the day to avoid the village gossipers. There she met Jesus. He spoke to her of living water that would spring up inside her innermost being and give her the joy and fulfillment she was searching for.

Psalms 68:8 tells us that God sets the lonely in families.

In Psalm 27:10, David declares, “When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up”. The phrase, “take me up” means “to receive, to gather, to be brought into association with others”.

Jesus is the one who meets our deepest longings, but he does so by bringing us into association with others, the church, Christ's body.

The image of Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 comes to mind. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."

A similar image is found in the first eleven verses of Psalm 91. It speaks of finding protection, safety, shelter and rest in the shelter of the Most High. "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." In that place we are protected from the terror of night, the pestilence that stalks in the darkness and the plague that destroys at midday.

Who is under those wings? Anyone who wants to be, the willing. Jesus sadly longs for those who are not willing to be gathered in.

I ended with the story of the statue that stood outside a church in England that was destroyed during World War II. When they tried to reassemble the statue after the war they were able to piece everything together except for the arms. Rather than creating new arms for the Jesus statue, they placed a sign under it that read, "Jesus has no arms but ours".

And so the church is Christ's arms today, welcoming in the bruised and broken, the forsaken and the lonely, drawing us all closer to the heart of Christ where we find our mother.

Eugene Peterson on Spiritual Formation

I just listened to a great message by Eugene Peterson entitled, "Why Spiritual Formation Is Not An Option".

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life". The Jesus way, wedded to the Jesus truth produces the Jesus life. We can't proclaim the Jesus truth and do it in any old way we like. Jesus as the way may be the most frequently evaded metaphor in the Christian life. Jesus as the truth gets far more attention in our circles of teaching and worship. A major concern... involves attentivenesss and guidance into the Jesus way. The Jesus way is always and everywhere incarnational, which in plain language means local and ordinary, place and time. Everything we say and do as Christians takes place in the neighborhood and with personal relationships, work place, familiy. It is not enough to speak the truth of Jesus or motivate people to do Jesus things. We have to both speak the truth and motivate the actions in the Jesus way, the way Jesus did it, the way Jesus said it... Is the Christian life LIVED?

People are fed up with leaders and friends who talk learnedly and officially about God, but show little evidence of being interested in God. And people are fed up with leaders and friends who are full of advice and instruction, telling us how we should behave, but show little evidence of being interested in us. Their ideas about the truth of God don't seem to be connected to any relationship with God. Their ideas about how we should behave don't seem to have much to do with any concern about us.

Lord, help me to live the Jesus way, locally and ordinarily to the glory of God.

Seeing social action as worship - Isaiah 58

Since I have been in ministry with homeless people through Breakthrough I have been drawn again and again to Isaiah 58, especially verses 6-12...

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

8 "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

There is so much packed in those verses, such as, putting faith into action, not pointing fingers, stopping oppressive practices and, of course, offering food and shelter.

The "then" part of the "if-then" clauses is not so much that others are blessed, but that our lives are changed when we care for the hungry, the naked, and those in need of shelter. Our light shines forth, God guides and strengthens us, satisfies our needs, we are like a well-watered garden, etc. Cool stuff!

But the chapter is not about social action. If you read the verses that proceed it, it is really about worship, seeking God, knowing God's ways, wanting God to come near. Ah-hah... social action as worship! We care for the practical physical needs of oppressed people out of our love and worship of God and wanting to be near God! WOW! It's as much an act of worship as the courses we sing on Sundays!

Breakthrough's kids reading scores are rising

When we started tracking the reading scores of the kids in Breakthrough's Nettie Bailey Student Achievement after school program two years ago, only 26% of them were reading at or above their grade level. The scores have now risen to 57%. Educational excellence will open many doors for their future. We really can make a difference. We are looking for more caring tutors.

The increasing need for services for homeless men

Mark Brown of the Chicago Sun Times reported today that the New Ritz Hotel at 1007 S. State will be closing soon, displacing the 110 men who have been paying $15/night or $210/month to live there. These men will not have many options for housing. The city is in the process of reducing the number of emergency shelter beds, opting to focus on developing permanent affordable housing instead. My concern is that the shelters and flop houses are closing before there are enough affordable units to take their place and that there are not enough supportive service dollars being allocated to ensure the ongoing success of the formerly homeless residents who are housed.

This makes our work at Breakthrough with men especially important right now. We are rehabbing a facility which will provide interim housing for thirty men while they are getting the counseling and employment training they need to get back on their feet.

We can sit and howl at the darkness or we can get up and do something about it. We still need to raise a million dollars for the building. It's an opportunity to step up to the challenge.

More on money and Chicago schools

The Chicago Reporter has a couple of great articles about the difficulties Chicago schools face. The cover story article compares Lincoln Park High School which has 10 science labs with Farragut which has one.

The schools in communities where residents are poor have to spend so much on things like tutoring and remedial programs, as well as preschool, special education, transportation and free lunch, that they have little left for much else. The article compares these schools to schools in Western Springs and Northbrook where there is money to spend on well-educated teachers, access to technology and programming in the fine arts, sports and extracurricular activities.

The second article tells the story of Mary McLeod Bethune elementary school at 3030 W. Arthington in East Garfield Park, my neighborhood, where the unemployment rate is 23% and the median household income is $24,216.

Principal Charlotte Stoxstell said she is stuck trying to choose between spending time and money on children’s emotional needs and pouring her energy and resources into academics. Those conflicting spending demands were apparent on Feb. 14, 2006, when Stoxstell discovered a fifth-grader who was not wearing the school uniform. The girl’s mother failed to get the uniform ready because an uncle was killed the night before in the alley behind her house.

The principal spent much of the rest of the day with the girl, a sister and her brother, making sure they had some time to talk with the school’s social worker. “It is not the first time this has happened,” Stoxstell said. “One mother told me she sent her kids to school so she would have time to make funeral arrangements. But how is a child supposed to learn after something so traumatic happens?”

Then, at the end of the day, a teacher mentioned to Stoxstell that the girl’s cousins---the children of the man killed---were also Bethune students and also were at school that day.

On the next day, Stoxstell focused on making sure that the murdered man’s children met with a social worker. Only this took some extra calling around because it wasn’t the day Bethune’s social worker was scheduled to be there. The social worker is assigned to three schools and spends two days a week at Bethune.

Bethune is one of the worst performing schools in the system with just 19 percent of the students performing at or above grade level in reading, math and science on state standardized tests.

It hurts to be excluded

In April a T4G "Together for the Gospel" conference was held in Louisville. 2000 Christian leaders attended who have a legitimate heart to see the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world. But the question is, what kind of gospel? Women were excluded. Sixty of them happened to register before the exclusion of women was pronounced and they were asked to give up their registrations so men could take their places. The message... women are excluded from carrying the gospel. This is not the true gospel. Check out Psalms 68:11 in the New American Standard Version, "The Lord gives the command; The women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host."

Why women live longer than men

Disadvantaged kids get sick more often

So says a new study highlighted in the Chicago Trib this morning.

Children having three main social disadvantages--poverty, low parental education and single-parent household--were four times more likely than children with none of these risk factors to be in poor, fair or good health, as opposed to very good or excellent health.

Franklin, My Foster Cat

My niece, Annamarie Monkemeier, and her husband, Matt Wickman, are in Jordan studying Arabic. I get to keep their cool cat, Franklin, until they find a home for me to ship him to. Franklin, and my Papillon, Charlie, are finally becoming friends who tolerate taking turns on my lap. Just want you to know Franklin is doing fine, A & M, although I think in his heart of hearts he really misses you! He's looking forward to your first Skype call. Love you!!

I'm going to Pentecost 2006

I've got my tickets to attend Pentecost 2006 and would love to see you there.

Pentecost 2006: Building a Covenant for a New America
Hosted by Sojourners and Call to Renewal
June 26-28, 2006 - Washington, D.C.

Join hundreds of grassroots and faith-based anti-poverty leaders for three days of putting faith into action through workshops, Hill visits, inspiring speeches, and music, with the goal of building the political will to overcome poverty!

Click here to register before May 31st and receive a $25 discount.

Global Night Commute

Thanks to James Dalton for giving me the "heads up" about the Global Night Commute this Saturday night in Grant Park. If you had the opportunity to catch Oprah yesterday, she had a special on the holocaust that is happening in Uganda, Congo, Sudan and other African countries. Part of the program was the Invisible Children guys. Check out Oprah's web site for a recap of yesterdays show. And also go to the Invisible Children web site to sign up for the Night Commute this Sat. night. We now have over 1, 200 people signed up to sleep in Grant Park. Over all of the country we have 41,481 Americans are closing their eyes to open the worlds’ to an unseen war. Go to this link to watch the whole movie online.

School of Urban Mission

I have been enjoying a podcast from the UK called the School of Urban Mission. You don't have to be into podcasting to download the mp3 files and listen to them. I have been recommending the October 20, 2005 download especially for its great insight into the gnostic practice, common in the west, of separating sacred from secular.

I Will Trust You

I am listening to the song, I Will Trust You, by Chris Lizotte, on the new Sweetly Broken cd from the Vineyard...

"In my weakeness would you come, help me stand up, help me run, to the shadow of your wings and the comfort that it brings. And I'll wait, and be still. And I'll know you are God."

The Lamb Story

I grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa. As a teenager, it was my daily chore to milk the family cow by hand. One bitter cold morning, before dawn, I made my way out to the big red barn to milk the cow before school. As I neared the door of the barn, I stumbled over something that felt like a rock. I reached down to see what it was and was surprised to find the frozen body of a little baby lamb. Our buck had managed to get through a fence to the female sheep at the wrong time of the year, and now in the dead cold of winter our sheep were giving birth to babies. Unable to survive the bitter cold, they were dying.

I knelt down to pick up the dead body to carry it to the growing pile of dead little lambs that would be carried out by a truck the next day. As I lifted the stiff, cold lamb I was surprised to feel something on my thumb. It was a warm breath from the nostril of the lamb! I gasped! He was alive!

I rushed him into the house and put him in a cardboard box on a heat register in a washroom off the kitchen. I warmed towels on the heat vent and wrapped him in them and held him on my lap. I rubbed his frozen body and warmed him with the towels for nearly an hour, but there was no response.

Discouraged, I placed him back into the box and went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. As I sipped the water I heard a resounding “baaa” from the washroom. I rushed back to the lamb to find him standing up in the box, very much alive!

I fed him milk from a pop bottle and he followed me around for months as if I was his mother.

I tell that story because it reminds me of the men and women who come to Breakthrough many of whom have been frozen out by society and left to die, without hope. Often they have given up on themselves as well and come to our centers nearly lifeless, barely surviving. Yet in every human being created by God there is that little breath of the image of God waiting to be nurtured to life. When they enter an environment of warm love and support we often see them miraculously come to life, almost as dramatically as that little lamb.

Me and Friskie

Someone shot a hole in my window today

When I got home from work today I noticed a hole in my window curtain. Sure enough it was a bullet that went through two panes of glass and my curtain and is lodged in my dining room wall. I noticed kids out yesterday handing out "Cease Fire" posters. I need to get one of those! Thankfully I was not home and my animals, my dog, Charlie, and my foster cat, Franklin, are fine. I guess its just one of the hazards of living in East Garfield Park!

Indifference

Thanks to Allan and his great "a personal revolution" blog for introducing me to a speech by Elle Wiesel given at the Seventh White House Millennium Evening, Washington, 12 April 1999. I have to quote Allan's comment because he says what I want to say but can't seem to find the words...

"As I fight against my own indifference and as I groan at our collective embrace of apathy I also plead with God to awaken us to the extreme suffering in our world, that each of us would find our place in bringing His redemption to the least of these…. And not just temporarily where we feel we have done our bit or because our curiosity seeks to be satisfied but authentically, consistently, sincerely… *deep sigh*."

I couldn't say it better Allan!

You can read Elle Wiesel's entire speech at this link to the pbs web site. Here are some highlights...

“What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means ‘no difference’. A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one’s sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?

Of course, indifference can be tempting- more than that, seductive, it is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, and our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person’s pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbors are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. Indifference is always the friend of the enemy.

In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, have done something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor—never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees—not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century’s wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.”

"Turning A Corner": a new Chicago-based film about the sex trade

The film Turning A Corner will be screened on Tuesday, April 25th at 6 pm at the Chicago Temple, located at 77 W. Washington, in the main sanctuary. There will be a short Q&A following the film.

Turning A Corner is a one-hour documentary highlighting the voices of women involved in the sex trade and their efforts to raise public awareness and promote needed policy reforms. Created in a media activism workshop to address the issues in the women's lives, the film tells their stories of survival and triumph over homelessness, violence and discrimination and gives rare insights into Chicago's sex industry.

Justice and Love

Here is a link to a video message from Dr. Stephen Long, entitled, "A Vocation for all Vocations: How the Virtues of Justice and Love Understood in the Christian Tradition must Transform Everything, from Work to Rest." Here is the audio link. He presented at a conference on Film, Faith and Justice at Seattle Pacific University on April 7th.

He says that justice informed by love requires a different kind of politics. It requires not a negative freedom, to be free from one another, but to be free for one another, bound together in charity, living together under a notion of a common good, a truth, seized by a beauty which only comes from the glory of God. Our faith requires that we have a place for others.

Our task is not so much to get a plaque of the ten commandments into public places as it is to live the commandments and to create a group of people who can embody their way of life in the world in such a way that they are not compelled to use force and coersion and power to get their way. Then we will have a justice transformed by faith and hope and love and we will recognize that it will require all aspects of our life. It will require that we make room for others who are different from us. The blood that is shed cries out. Our task as Christians is not to engage in propaganda, but to live our lives in such a way that our lives would not makes snese if the God we profess is not true.

Recycling Offers Hope for the Poor

I was inspired by this Associated Press video about homeless kids in Jakarta, Indonesia who are making paper from weeds. They're geniuses!

Kite Surfing

While in Michigan this weekend I went to the Warren Dunes and watched a guy kite surf. I didn't know the sport existed. This guy made it look simple. The water had to be cold and it was windy, but he made it look easy jumping high into the air and guiding himself up wind. It was awesome.

Happy Resurrection Day!

I just got back from a two day personal retreat. It was long overdue. Thanks to some friends who loaned me their beautiful home in Michigan, I was able to be totally alone without even my computer!! I read, slept, journaled and listened to God.

A friend who is a landscape designer explained that during a drought, plants need to be soaked rather than lightly watered so their roots go down deep to draw up moisture. I knew I needed a soaker. I feel refreshed. Easter and springtime bring new life. The drab of drought and winter is over.

Who will roll the stone from the tombs of my life so I can make the dead things smell better? No need! The power of God that raised Jesus raises me!! Praise God for the resurrection!!

Pimping the Gospel

Here's an link to a blog entry from "Out of Ur" that articulates a tendency I see in the Christian church to shortcut communication of the gospel. Jonathan Yarboro, a church planter from Boone, North Carolina, calls it "Pimping Jesus: Consumerism and the Red-light Gospel".

It is easy to get people to make quick decisions for Christ when they think it will get them special privileges at the shelter or extra size meal portions when they are hungry. It may take a while for a person who is addicted or who has been beaten down to trust us enough to listen to what we have to say about Jesus, so we must first show the love of Christ by our deeds.

As we communicate we need to understand what the listeners are really hearing. Words spoken in a vacuum will be meaningless if the listeners are not also seeing consistency in our deeds. A person who was regularly abused by his or her father, may have a difficult time experiencing God as a loving heavenly father until they first experience a human father figure that they can relate to. We need to model the life and teaching of Jesus, love and listen, and when we know they understand, call them to a lifetime commitment to follow Jesus.

"While we’ve been pimping out the gospel, the real Jesus is weeping because he wants a lifelong relationship that includes joy, forgiveness, brokenness, hardship, and intimacy."

James Meeks for governor supported by the white church

Here is a link to in interesting article in Christianity Today about James Meeks and his possible bid for the governors race in Illinois. He is receiving strong support from white evangelicals because of his stance on abortion and gay rights.

I am grateful for the voice of reason in the article from my friend and colleague Helene Slessarev-Jamir.

Functional Athiesm

“A shadow common among leaders is 'functional atheism', the belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us. This is the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen—a conviction held even by people who talk a good game about God. This shadow causes pathology on every level of our lives. It leads us to impose our will on others, stressing our relationships, sometimes to the point of breaking. It often eventuates in burnout, depression, and despair, as we learn that the world will not bend to our will and we become embittered about that fact. Functional atheism is the shadow that drives collective frenzy.”

--Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

Tax Cuts

Here is a link to a CNN article about the administration's proposed tax cuts and who will profit from them. 70 percent of the tax savings on investment income would go to the top 2 percent. Stephen Entin, president of the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation, told the Times that the tax cuts will produce jobs. Really! The investments of the wealthiest Americans would have to trickle down pretty far before anyone in my neighborhood would benefit from them. And while we wait for the trickle programs for the most disadvantaged are being cut.

The Victory of Justice

Tony Campolo really nails it in this 10 minute message.

"The Bible deals with the poor over and over again. Beyond that, the word “righteousness” in the Scripture. If you were a Greek scholar you would know that that word which was translated “righteousness” could better translated “justice.” Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice. That’s what Jesus said because they are the ones who are going to live satisfied and fulfilling lives. The Bible just overwhelms us with all of this stuff about justice, about helping the poor, about standing up for the oppressed, about being a voice for those who have no voice. And I’ve got to tell you this: if you think that being religious, being Christian, being spiritual is getting ready for the next world, you’ve missed the message of Jesus. Jesus didn’t come here to get you ready for the next world, he came into this world to transform you into people through whom he could do his work in this world."-- Tony Campolo

Obesity and Advertising

At our BUILD class on Saturday we met at the Lawndale Christian Health Center with their COO/CFO, Bruce Miller. He presented a power point slide that showed the increase in obesity in America. It is astounding. It generated interesting discussion about obesity among the poor. We discussed theories such as healthy food being more expensive, the lack of good grocery stores in distressed communities and the convenience and affordability of fast foods. Today the Chicago Tribune published an article that claims that Black-oriented TV has more fast-food ads.

CEO Pay - Why does this bug me so much?

According to the Chicago Tribune, Mark Hurd of Hewlett-Packard got $23.2 million last year, 29 times what Carly Fiorina made in the same post just four years before. CEO compensation in the U.S. has tripled from 1990 to 2004. CEOs of eleven companies received $865 million over five years while presiding over a loss of $640 million in shareholder value.

There is also evidence that CEOs are lining their pockets through the glut of corporate mergers.

So why does this bug me so much? I guess as the Executive Director of Breakthrough, I feel the weight of the struggle to provide a living wage with decent benefits for all our employees all of the time. God provides and our staff are doing heroic work with very little.

Are these CEO's really worth that much money, that much more than people who assist the elderly to find housing, or teach kids to read?

Affordable Housing Shortage Likely to Get Worse

A new study released by the Voorhees Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago reveals a huge mismatch between the demand and supply of affordable housing in Chicago. Small low-income households increased over the last decade by 11,970 while rental housing affordable to their price range declined. The projected shortage in rental options is a serious concern because few low-income households can afford to buy a house in the city. The gap between demand and supply of rental housing is likely to widen further with the potential loss of existing units because of expiring contracts, condo conversion, and public housing transformation. The full 54 page study is available at this link.

Growing Dental Care Needs Among the Poor

Sunday's Tribune contained an interesting article highlighting a problem that we encounter often in our work among people who face economic challenges. Affordable dental care is very difficult to find, so many, with looming needs, remain untreated. 1.8 million state residents are uninsured; of those with medical coverage, as many as 40 percent don't have dental insurance. Stroger Hospital (formerly Cook County Hospital) gets 7,000 calls a month from people who want to see a dentist, but its clinic has only 777 monthly appointments. Fortunately, a dental van from Advocate Health Care, makes a monthly stop at our women's shelter in East Garfiel Park so our homeless women can be treated. But even our staff struggle to maintain adequate dental care. Our salaries are relatively low, our health insurance doesn't cover dental care, and we are not allowed to use the dental van.

Biggest Rent Hikes in Five Years

The Chicago Sun Times reported yesterday that rents will rise by 3% to 11% this year. The years of the renters are over and we are moving into a landlords' market as landlords pass on to renters the increases in housing values and taxes. Condo conversions are making rental units more scarce, pushing up the prices. This is another hit for those who cannot afford to own their own homes. Isaiah 65:17-25 describes God's vision for the "New Jerusalem".

"They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat." (verses 21 and 21)

My FitDay stats

I've made some progress, but have a long way to go to get back into shape. I ran three times this week. According to my FitDay stats I took in an average of 1261 calories per day and burned an average of 2524 calories. That means I am burning about 1263 more calories than I am eating. Since there are 3500 calories in a pound, in the course of a week I should have lost two pounds, and I did! Amazing!

Almost there with my DMin

I passed my oral reviews for my Doctorate of Ministry in Global Transformational Leadership on Monday! Praise God! I just have to make a few adjustments to my dissertation and send it off to Seattle to the Bakke Graduate University. Graduation is in June, but I will be in Israel, so Dr. Ray Bakke came to Chicago for my own little graduation! I am so blessed! This is me and Dr. Bakke...

The Plight of African American Men

Thanks to Westy for this link to a New York Times article about the struggles of African American men.

Living in East Garfield Park (Chicago)

In January I moved into East Garfield Park, just a few blocks from the Breakthrough Joshua Center. Living here has been something that I have wanted to do for several years. I love my apartment and feel that it is clearly a gift from God.

As I walk through the neighborhood and talk with my neighbors I have been saddened by the difficult stories I have heard. Life in East Garfield Park is a struggle for many. The despair is evidenced by the liquor bottles and empty crack bags strewn along the streets and in the parks. It seems there is broken glass and rubbish everywhere.

While I know we could bring in busloads of people from outside the neighborhood to clean it up, I recognize also, that the sight of outsiders coming in to work for a few hours and then leaving to go back to better neighborhoods can add to the sense of powerlessness of the residents. The issues we face are complicated and difficult.

So, we join in the struggle in small ways and we begin to see rays of hope.

Kids who would otherwise be roaming the streets are eager to participate in our Starfish studio film production classes. The reading levels of the participants of the Nettie Bailey Student Achievement program are continuing to rise preparing them for entrance into college and gainful employment. The mothers of our Breakthrough Beginners want to join the community of support developing around their children. Homeless men and women are engaging passionately with our Bible studies and devotions.

I think we all want to participate in something that is bigger than us, something worthy of our best effort, something that will truly transform the lives of those who live amidst the hopelessness. For me, that is Breakthrough. I love what involvement in this ministry does in me. My prayer life is enriched. My heart is made tender. I meet real heroes day after day. Jesus is at work here and I am so glad to be in the middle of it.

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time ... But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." Lilla Watson, A Brisbane based Aboriginal educator and activist.

Working the streets

Where do you turn to find hope? Maybe you turn to your family . . . your church . . . your friends. For Tyra,* there seemed to be no one . . . and no hope.

At the age of fourteen, Tyra began doing drugs. At fifteen, her family kicked her out of the house, and she began doing “tricks” to support her lifestyle. By 19, she didn’t have a home, and she was sleeping on the couch in an acquaintance’s apartment . . . just making ends meet to support her drug habit. That was when we met Tyra.

It was a cold Friday night when Brenda, our coordinator of street outreach, invited Tyra into the Breakthrough RV. Tyra was immediately suspicious. Why was someone being kind to her? But Tyra was so cold she agreed to come in for a cup of coffee. She and the staff member talked. Tyra left. We prayed. Over the course of the next year, we saw Tyra once or twice a month. Each time we listened. We provided safety. We talked about people and programs which were available to help her get over the drugs. We shared the gospel message, and we told her about the Breakthrough Joshua Center. Then last week one of the girls doing tricks on Tyra’s street was beaten to death. Tyra was scared and ready to get help.

Today Tyra is living at the Breakthrough Joshua Center and enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program. I am so grateful for God’s beginning work in Tyra’s life, but I am so concerned about the other girls and women on the streets. Some estimate 16,000 girls and women in Chicago are involved in prostitution. The streets are not safe. Within the last few weeks, three of the women we ministered to have died. Two were murdered. The other died of Aids.

The recent deaths of these three women from the street have been hard on our staff, especially Brenda. Please pray. Our hearts are broken.

Breakthrough Director of Women's Services, Yolanda Fields and Street Outreach Coordinator, Brenda Williams

"Nickel" pot bags in Garfield Park

I thought they were crack or cocaine bags but have been told they are $5 pot bags, mini ziplock bags. There are lots of them on the ground in the park...

Two times around the lagoon... feeling better

It seems God always gives me waterfront to jog near. In Keokuk, it was the Mississippi River; in Andersonville, the Chicago lakefront; in Plainfield, the pond behind our house, and now, the Garfield Park lagoon. The geese were there to cheer me on and join me in praising to God. I'm feeling much better. No more excuses.

Gotta get back into shape

I have excuses... I live alone now and eat out of boredom. I need to find a new routine since I moved. I did a full court press to finish my disseration in the last three months and binged. I have to get back into my exercise routine. It's going on my prayer rope today. I found a helpful link and will begin entering my activities and everything I eat into my Fitday software.

My Prayer Rope

OK, this may seem weird, but after reading about the ancient use of prayer ropes in Tony Jones' book, The Sacred Way, I designed a rope of my own and it has really helped me to remember to pray throughout the day. Don't worry, I don't think there is special power in the rope, or in my case, a shoe string, but holding it in my hand as I drive or sit in boring meetings (at city hall) it reminds me of the top ten things I have felt led to pray for during my morning reflections. Ten knots, ten reminders. I spend as much time as I want at each knot, pondering the person or situation, trying to listen to what God is telling me about it or them, asking how to pray, communing, praying. Every once in awhile I need something fresh to refocus my spiritual disciplines. This week it is the prayer rope... not to be confused with remote control beads!

Hemant, the ebay atheist, may be coming your way on Sunday

Several weeks ago, Hemant Mehta, a DePaul graduate student and an avowed atheist, sold his soul on ebay. He declared that for each $10 bid he would attend an hour of church. The winning bid of $504 came from Jim Henderson on February 3rd. Henderson manages the web site www.off-the-map.org. Instead of the 50 hours he had purchased, Henderson contracted with Hemant to visit 10 to 15 church services of Henderson's choosing and write about his experiences on the off the map web site.

So far, Hemant has visited Old St. Pats, Park Community, Parkview Christian, Willow Creek and Salem Baptist. All of them are in the Chicago area. You can read his commentary on the off-the-map web site.

Michael Gerson, Bush's Speech Writer

Here is a link to an interesting article in the New Yorker about Michael Gerson, Bush's speech writer. Gerson seems like a man who is serious about his faith and really cares about issues of justice and poverty.

Jim Towey, who directs the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which steers government funds to religious groups that provide social services, explained Gerson’s role in the Bush Administration this way: “There are some people in the White House who are more conservative than compassionate, and some who are more compassionate than conservative. Mike is more compassionate than conservative.”

Sometimes I feel like Rocky Balboa

I relate to the Rocky image when it comes to ministry in the city. I'm not very smart and I'm pretty beat up. But as Rocky says, "It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. You've got to be willing to take the hit." Here's a great clip.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms". Ephesians 6:12

Tom Fox

A few days when they showed some of the Peacemaker captives in Iraq I feared the worst for Tom Fox as he was not among them. Today I read the sad news that they have found his body. Tom was a Quaker who joined the Chicago-based Peacemaker Team out of his concern for demonstraing the love of Christ and standing firm against evil. Here is a quote from his blog...

“If an attacker inspires anger or fear in my heart, it means that I have not purged myself of violence. To realize nonviolence means to feel within you its strength--soul force--to know God. A person who has known God will be incapable of harboring anger or fear within him [or her], no matter how overpowering the cause for that anger or fear may be.” (Gandhi speaking to Badshah Kahn’s Khudai Khidmatgar officers; “A Man to Match His Mountains” by Eknath Easwaran, pg. 157.)

When I allow myself to become angry I disconnect from God and connect with the evil force that empowers fighting. When I allow myself to become fearful I disconnect from God and connect with the evil force that encourages flight. I take Gandhi and Jesus at their word--if I am not one with God then I am one with Satan. I don’t think Gandhi would use that word but Jesus certainly did, on numerous occasions. The French theologian Rene Girard has a very powerful vision of Satan that speaks to me: “Satan sustains himself as a parasite on what God creates by imitating God in a manner that is jealous, grotesque, perverse and as contrary as possible to the loving and obedient imitation of Jesus” (“I Saw Satan Fall Like Lighting”, R. Girard, pg. 45).

If I am not to fight or flee in the face of armed aggression, be it the overt aggression of the army or the subversive aggression of the terrorist, then what am I to do? “Stand firm against evil” (Matthew 5:39, translated by Walter Wink) seems to be the guidance of Jesus and Gandhi in order to stay connected with God. But here in Iraq I struggle with that second form of aggression. I have visual references and written models of CPTers standing firm against the overt aggression of an army, be it regular or paramilitary. But how do you stand firm against a car--bomber or a kidnapper? Clearly the soldier being disconnected from God needs to have me fight. Just as clearly the terrorist being disconnected from God needs to have me flee. Both are willing to kill me using different means to achieve the same end. That end being to increase the parasitic power of Satan within God’s good creation.

It seems easier somehow to confront anger within my heart than it is to confront fear. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right then I am not to give in to either. I am to stand firm against the kidnapper as I am to stand firm against the soldier. Does that mean I walk into a raging battle to confront the soldiers? Does that mean I walk the streets of Baghdad with a sign saying “American for the Taking”? No to both counts. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am asked to risk my life and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they were when murdered by the forces of Satan. I struggle to stand firm but I’m willing to keep working at it.

Tom was called to face his fear and to give his life as a marter. "Greater love has no man than this." He gets the white robe. Well done, good and faithful servant.

Malcolm Gladwell Radio Segment

On 2/21/06 I presented a link to an article in the New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell entitled "Million Dollar Murray" which articulated the cost to society of not concentrating services and housing opportunities on the chronically homeless. Here is a link to a National Public Radio interview with Gladwell on the subject.

The Woman at the Well

In preparing a Bible study for a women's group in Barrington I learned some new things about the story of the Samaritan woman that met Jesus at Jacob's well.

The well was in Shechem, which is where Hamor's son, Shechem, raped Dinah, Jacob's daughter, and then her brothers came and slaughtered all of the men of Shechem's family.

God instructs Jacob to bury all of his foreign gods under the oak of Shechem and get out of there and go to Bethel, the "House of God".

It is also the place where Joseph's brothers were herding sheep when Joseph was thrown into a cistern and then sold into slavery.

Bad stuff happened there.

"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."---(Jeremiah 2:13)

Then along comes a despised Samaritan woman. Too filled with shame to draw water with the other women in the early evening, she comes alone at noon and finds Jesus waiting for her there. Disregarding barriers of gender and ethnicity, Jesus humbly asks her to draw water for him because he is tired and thirsty.

She had experienced bad relationships with men. Five times she had entered into marriage, surely feeling each time that this would be the relationship that would bring her happiness, but each time she was either dumped, or things got so bad that she walked out, or perhaps the men found someone they liked better, or maybe there was abuse... we don't know, but five times something happened, and her dream of ever finding happiness was shattered. She finally gave up on marriage completely and just shacked up with another guy.

Then she meets Jesus and he talks to her of living water, the kind that flows from within, the spring of living water that satisfies all thirst forever, the cleasing fountain that washes away all guilt and shame, and she was transformed. Her "Valley of Trouble" becomes a "Door of Hope" and she is so excited about her new relationship with Jesus that she runs back to town and brings the entire village to meet Jesus.

There are several examples in Scripture of women going about their daily chores of drawing water when they are surprised to meet their husbands. Rebecah found her husband, Isaac, at a well. Rachel met Jacob at a well. Zipporah met Moses at a well.

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor (ie. "Trouble") a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth... "In that day", declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'."---(Hosea 2:14-16)

There is healing, cleansing, forgiveness and true happiness at the well. Jesus is waiting for me to call him "my husband".

American Charity Short Changes the Poor

Thanks to Nathan Kaufman from my Saturday morning BUILD group for this link to a very interesting article from the Stanford Social Intervention Review entitled, "A Failure of Philanthropy: American Charity Short Changes the Poor and Public Policy is Partly to Blame" . The paper is written by Robert Reich who was U.S. Secretary of Labor during President Clinton's first term.

He brings up a point that I had never considered. I'll try to summarize, but you really should read this eleven page article.

Most of the philanthropic giving in America goes to fund education, the arts and religion (to pay for facilites and internal church operations) rather than to organizations and institutions that help the poor. Social welfare groups receive only 2% of charitable gifts and social service organizations, 9%. Since people with wealth get the largest tax deduction for those gifts, charitable giving really mostly benefits rich people!! Ouch!!

Here's an example...

A school district in a wealthy community collects ten million dollars for its local school. The rich contributors get 35 cents on every dollar back in their pockets in tax deductions and their kids have a terrific school. This takes three and a half million dollars away from the tax base that could have helped to fund the nearby school in a poorer neighborhood.

Since the qualifications to be considered a 501c3 organization are quite loose, a $1,000 donation to support baldness research is considered as valuable to the IRS as your gifts to fund feeding hungry people through Breakthrough Urban Ministries.

The author, Rob Reich gives some ideas for changes in social policy that would redirect funds to help the poor.

"We should stop kidding ourselves that charity and philanthropy do much to help the poor," says Reich.