Thanks Anita...

...for mentioning my blog on the radio today. Here's back atcha!

Under Bridges

Paul Luikart read the lyrics to the song, Under Bridges, by Brave Saint Saturn, today during his devotional at our Breakthrough Staff Development Day today. I downloaded their album, So Far From Home, on iTunes.

Here are the lyrics to "Under Bridges"...

Yesterday while walking,
Beneath an overpass,
I saw the figure of Jesus,
Standing barefoot on broken glass.
His beard was graying,
The smell of urine filled the air,
Asking if I had some change,
Anything that I could spare.

Emaciated,
His shaking fists balled up,
Influenza and pneumonia,
Begging God to take his cup.
So different from his pictures,
Breathing air through yellowed tubes,
Jesus Christ, dying of AIDS,
Can look right through you.

And all have hated,
Crucified and walked away,
The Savior of the prostitutes,
Drunkards, rapists, and the gays.

Under bridges,
With hands raised,
From the ghettos they praise his name.
Broke and crippled in the dark of night,
Raise your voices to Jesus Christ,
Hallelujah.

I love this heart touching story of friendship

Carl Ellis on the Breakthrough Stories Podcast

If you missed our Breakthrough Breakfast Symposium with Carl Ellis on January 17th you can listen to or view a podcast of the event on the Breakthrough Stories Podcast. Those of us who attended agreed that we could have listened to him for hours and want to get him back for a longer class.

Bill Shereos' Sermon on the Economy

Yesterday, Bill Shereos, pastor of the First Evangelical Free Church in Chicago, preached a sermon that I think is very helpful as we navigate as Christians in the present economic crisis. Here is the audio blog...

A live birth aborted

Did you hear about the teenager who went to get an abortion and while waiting for the doctor gave birth to a live baby girl? The clinic staffers cut the cord, stuck it in a plastic bag and dumped it in the trash. Ugh!

Pornography in the Chicago Library

I had lunch with my friends Don and Amanda Bratschie yesterday and they told me about a crusade they have launched to try to get the Chicago library to block porn on their internet computers. It is really a shocking story. Check out this link to see Don and Amanda on WGN TV and this one to read Amanda's blog.

The economic mess and what we trust in

Hat tip to Jim Wallis and his facebook status update for linking me to this New York Times editorial by Thomas Friedman from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He says everyone is looking for "the guy" who will tell us how to get out of our economic mess and how to protect our savings, but there is no such guy! We are going to have to live with more uncertainty and with a lower level of trust.

So what does it mean to live with a lower level of trust? Perhaps we have been misplacing our trust. Hmm. I think we need to trust now more than ever, but in our Provider, Jehovah-Jireh. Remember this old song?

Dr. Peter Cha on Social Justice

Dr. Peter Cha (Ph.D., Northwestern University/Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) is a friend of mine and has had a huge influence on me. He is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Here is a portion of a message he gave to an Intervarsity group in which he describes the historical split of the Christian church over social justice. You can watch his entire message on youtube.

Bill Gates on Aid to the Poor

The NY Times posted a video today of an interview by Nicholas Kristof with Bill Gates. Gates explains why aid to the poor is more important now than ever. He suggests you pick a cause and get more in depth knowledge about it, and that you visit great nonprofit organizations that are successfully making a difference. Seeing what is going on will draw you in to action. May I suggest Breakthrough?

Carl Ellis at Breakthrough Tomorrow Morning

You can still get in on the Breakthrough Breakfast Symposium with Carl Ellis. It's tomorrow morning at 9:30 until noon at 402 N. St. Louis in Chicago. See you in the morning!

ALIVE!!

Last Sunday, our pastor, Daniel Hill, of the River City Community Church, started a new series called Alive, so the worship team led us in this rousing song by Rebecca St. James. Love it! You can purchase it on iTunes here.

The Sheep and the Goats Revisited

Heather Wax wrote an article for the Ooze that I am pondering.

Jesus answered, "In as much as you were not a brother to your sister, you were not a friend to me either. However, since this is the revised story, and I'm just a caricature of the real Jesus, I'm not going to sentence you to fire or anything. But I am going to sentence you to think long and hard about the heart of both sheep and goats - when you lay in bed at night, when you're in the shower,and driving to work...and ask you to read the real story over again. That way, when you meet the real Jesus, you'll hopefully be a little more ready. Watch and pray."

Homelessness on the rise

It is not surprising in light of the current economic climate in the US that the latest survey by the US Conference of Mayors shows that homelessness is on the rise. Most US cities are reporting double digit increases in the demand for homeless services and emergency food assistance. This trend is reflected in the requests for assistance that we are seeing at Breakthrough. We have always had waiting lists for people who are seeking to enter our shelters, but now we have a waiting list to get on the waiting list. At a time when some donors do not have the ability to give at the capacity they once did, we are experiencing an increasing demand for our services. Those of us who can will need to step up to even higher levels of compassionate care.

Prayer and Praise Night at Breakthrough - January 10th

At 6:00 PM on January 10th at the BMC (Breakthrough Ministry Cernter) at 402 N. St. Louis, Von Matthews is going to lead anyone who wants to show up in a time of prayer and praise at Breakthrough. We hope this will become a regular event that will unite our guests, staff and volunteers in a time of worship and prayer. Please come.

Mark you calendar for Carl Ellis on January 17th

I mentioned before that we have invited Carl Ellis to join us at Breakthrough for a breakfast symposium on January 17th. I have quoted Ellis often in my own teaching about the centrality of social justice to the message of the gospel. He has a way of describing what I have called the "righteousness window" and the "gospel gap" that has transformed my theological understanding of racial and social justice. Click here to learn more about the symposium and to register, and click here to listen to one of Carl Ellis' messages. You won't want to miss this event!

Chicago: A city divided by race

Check out this article in today's Chicago Tribune.

US Senator Dick Durbin visits Breakthrough

We were honored today when Kate Maher and her staff at the Greater Chicago Food Depository brought Senator Dick Durbin by for a visit to see the front line of food service and distribution. Senator Durbin has been influential in supporting a farm bill that will help to make more food resources available for communities like ours. The Senator ate lunch with us and stayed for more than an hour in spite of a ferocious blizzard. In this picture he is discussing the needs of the people served at Breakthrough with Breakthrough's Associate Director of Interim Housing, Cheron Massonburg.

What the experts have to say about being homeless when it's cold

I sat in the Breakthrough Ministry Center with a group of guys who are residents at Breakthrough and asked them about their experiences. Here is the Breakthrough Stories podcast. You can subscribe to Breakthrough Stories here.

Woman's body found frozen on sidewalk

This is the kind of headline that makes me cringe. I literally feel pain over it. God help us not to let anyone near us experience this kind of neglect.