Yesterday was a good day. It was one of the reasons that I love our church. Relational. Laid back. Family like. We all gathered at our house for a game, children's story, singing, and a word about the importance of God's gift. The house was packed. Now I remember why we have two house groups.
Then everyone headed to another families home. We packed gift boxes for everyone to take and give to their neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. It was great to see everyone working together. Then we ate and played games.
The day was full. The house was full. Really full. The shoes by the door told it all. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes.
As we all left with boxes to share the good news of God's gift, I thought of Romans 10:15.
"How beautiful are the feet of them who bring good news".
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Disney's first black princess
Welcome Tiana! Disney now has a black princess. My wife and daughter got to be a part of a big celebration. 5th 3rd Bank donated a princess party to the after school program that they are a part of for over 50 mothers and daughters. Tiarra's and make-up. Red carpet and stretch limos. They made a big deal of it for them. Three different local news channels covered the story.
So is this a big deal? I mean the Obama's are in the White House. I believe it is for young African-American girls who have never quite seen themselves in Cinderella or Jasmine.
I read an article today in the Chicago Tribune which talked about why this is meaningful to African-Americans.
I was actually suprised that co-director John Musker said "he never knew African-American women may have been waiting for decades for a black princess". This is how disconnected we often are from the experience of others.
I have not seen the movie. I have already heard some of the criticisms, but I am glad that in 2009 Disney is now offering a princess story that features a princess with black skin.
Do you think this is a significant event?
So is this a big deal? I mean the Obama's are in the White House. I believe it is for young African-American girls who have never quite seen themselves in Cinderella or Jasmine.
I read an article today in the Chicago Tribune which talked about why this is meaningful to African-Americans.
I was actually suprised that co-director John Musker said "he never knew African-American women may have been waiting for decades for a black princess". This is how disconnected we often are from the experience of others.
I have not seen the movie. I have already heard some of the criticisms, but I am glad that in 2009 Disney is now offering a princess story that features a princess with black skin.
Do you think this is a significant event?
David Warren
Another person in my life who has been a tremendous influence is David Warren. Dr. Warren was a professor of mine at Cedarville College. He stood out to me. One thing I noticed was his ability to answer almost all questions with verses from the Bible that applied to the situation. During my junior year, I asked him to take time to disciple me. He agreed. He said that to him that meant that we could get together once a week and grab a Coke and talk. That was what I had in mind.
Over the next two years of school, I came to treasure this hour each week. At the time, Dr. Warren was the only faculty in the Bible department that did not have his Ph.D. He lacked the academic credentials that often mark a person with knowledge, but he was(is)a man of great wisdom.
We would talk about theology. We would talk about life. We would talk about relationships. Mostly, I would asked questions and then listen.
When Lisa and I married, we asked Dr. Warren to speak at our wedding. We rarely keep in contact any more, but as I consider people who lead me today I still think of David Warren.
Much of who I am and seek to be as a leader comes from things that I learned and admired about Dr. Warren. I desire to be a person of sound practical wisdom. I desire to be a person who is willing to sit and discuss life with people. I desire to know the scriptures and use them to impact real life. I desire to make an impact on people that lasts beyond the time and proximity of our earthly relationship.
Dr. David Warren is a leader and he has marked my life. Thank you David Warren for taking time with a young college student who was seeking wisdom.
Over the next two years of school, I came to treasure this hour each week. At the time, Dr. Warren was the only faculty in the Bible department that did not have his Ph.D. He lacked the academic credentials that often mark a person with knowledge, but he was(is)a man of great wisdom.
We would talk about theology. We would talk about life. We would talk about relationships. Mostly, I would asked questions and then listen.
When Lisa and I married, we asked Dr. Warren to speak at our wedding. We rarely keep in contact any more, but as I consider people who lead me today I still think of David Warren.
Much of who I am and seek to be as a leader comes from things that I learned and admired about Dr. Warren. I desire to be a person of sound practical wisdom. I desire to be a person who is willing to sit and discuss life with people. I desire to know the scriptures and use them to impact real life. I desire to make an impact on people that lasts beyond the time and proximity of our earthly relationship.
Dr. David Warren is a leader and he has marked my life. Thank you David Warren for taking time with a young college student who was seeking wisdom.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Ruth Brown
I have been reflecting on ways that the sovereign God has used people to help allow me to be who I am today. One such person is Ruth Brown.
My maternal grandmother, Venita Misner, met Ruth as a young adult living in Chicago. Ruth was renting a room from my grandma's family and they became friends. Ruth was a committed follower of Christ and began to share her faith with my grandma. My grandma came to a faith in Christ as well. My grandma married and moved back to Grand Rapids, MI.
Ruth never married. She took on my grandma's family as her own. She was "Aunt Brownie" to us growing up. She prayed for our family as her own. Although Ruth lived her life in relative obscurity to most, she was a warrior for the kingdom. She was very involved in her local church in Chicago. She was close friends with many leaders of long time ministries based out of Chicago including the founders of AWANA and Sunshine Gospel Ministries. She had a passion for Christ and a passion for Chicago.
Fast forward many years. God was calling me as a college student to explore a life of full time ministry. During my sophomore year, I made a decision to spend the summer in Chicago serving with Inner City Impact. No one was more excited than "Aunt Brownie". She dropped me off at the beginning of the summer. Her health was so bad, that she could hardly climb the stairs to the third floor of the building. That summer God began to prepare my heart for His calling me back to Chicago after graduation.
Ruth Brown died in the fall of that year.
In March of the next year, I was struggling financially and contemplating dropping out of college until I could find a way to pay for it all. I got a call informing me that Ruth's unsaved sister Marge, felt that God wanted her to use what earthly possessions she had to pass on to help me pay for college. Ruth had no real wealth of her own, butshe had convince her sister Marge to invest what she had in me. Marge said that Ruth was so excited that God was calling me to Chicago and it was only right for her money to help make it happen.
Over the next three years, I was given $30,000 towards finishing my college degree. I took no loans after that point and ended college with only the debt from my first two years of school.
Jehovah-Jireh- God our provider!
God used a faithful servant of God who lived life unnoticed by the world to begin a spiritual heritage in my family many years ago. And then in her death, He used her again to help make it possible for me to be who I am today.
It is only by the grace of God that I now lead a scholarship program called PURSUE to help support other Christian young people as they go to college. Without this faithful women, I don't know that I would serve Lighthouse Christian Fellowship in shepherding our young community of faith on the west side of Chicago.
Aunt Brownie, thank you for being a part of my great cloud of witnesses. (Hebrews 12:1,2)
My maternal grandmother, Venita Misner, met Ruth as a young adult living in Chicago. Ruth was renting a room from my grandma's family and they became friends. Ruth was a committed follower of Christ and began to share her faith with my grandma. My grandma came to a faith in Christ as well. My grandma married and moved back to Grand Rapids, MI.
Ruth never married. She took on my grandma's family as her own. She was "Aunt Brownie" to us growing up. She prayed for our family as her own. Although Ruth lived her life in relative obscurity to most, she was a warrior for the kingdom. She was very involved in her local church in Chicago. She was close friends with many leaders of long time ministries based out of Chicago including the founders of AWANA and Sunshine Gospel Ministries. She had a passion for Christ and a passion for Chicago.
Fast forward many years. God was calling me as a college student to explore a life of full time ministry. During my sophomore year, I made a decision to spend the summer in Chicago serving with Inner City Impact. No one was more excited than "Aunt Brownie". She dropped me off at the beginning of the summer. Her health was so bad, that she could hardly climb the stairs to the third floor of the building. That summer God began to prepare my heart for His calling me back to Chicago after graduation.
Ruth Brown died in the fall of that year.
In March of the next year, I was struggling financially and contemplating dropping out of college until I could find a way to pay for it all. I got a call informing me that Ruth's unsaved sister Marge, felt that God wanted her to use what earthly possessions she had to pass on to help me pay for college. Ruth had no real wealth of her own, butshe had convince her sister Marge to invest what she had in me. Marge said that Ruth was so excited that God was calling me to Chicago and it was only right for her money to help make it happen.
Over the next three years, I was given $30,000 towards finishing my college degree. I took no loans after that point and ended college with only the debt from my first two years of school.
Jehovah-Jireh- God our provider!
God used a faithful servant of God who lived life unnoticed by the world to begin a spiritual heritage in my family many years ago. And then in her death, He used her again to help make it possible for me to be who I am today.
It is only by the grace of God that I now lead a scholarship program called PURSUE to help support other Christian young people as they go to college. Without this faithful women, I don't know that I would serve Lighthouse Christian Fellowship in shepherding our young community of faith on the west side of Chicago.
Aunt Brownie, thank you for being a part of my great cloud of witnesses. (Hebrews 12:1,2)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Influences in my life
Writing my spiritual autobiography for a class and thinking about so many people who have helped make me who I am.
Thinking of a few right now:
Ruth Brown, Dr. David Warren, David Woodier. So many others. I will write more about each of these in the coming days.
Glory to God for such a cloud of witnesses.
Thinking of a few right now:
Ruth Brown, Dr. David Warren, David Woodier. So many others. I will write more about each of these in the coming days.
Glory to God for such a cloud of witnesses.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Dr. Benjamin Mays
I am working on a project for my grad program on Dr. Benjamin Mays. I am learning so many interesting things about this man who was committed throughout his life to the training of men. It has been encouraging and inspiring.
Mays served for 27 years as the president of Morehouse College. He coined the phrase "Morehouse Men", which is still spoken with honor to this day. He impacted scores of leaders in politics, business, and ministers of the Gospel. Dr. King is probably his most famous student.
As I search, I find more and more that is intriguing about this man who grew up in poverty in South Carolina and went on to get his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago.
These words tell of his perspective:
"I have never done anything for the purpose of being honored, to have my name on the front pages of the newspapers,I have done what I believe I was sent into the world to do: worship my God and serve my fellow man."
Julian Bond,Morehouse graduate and former president of the NAACP, summed him up by saying: "First he built himself, then he built Morehouse Men."
God uses people to impact people. But it starts with personal formation of ones character.
Mays served for 27 years as the president of Morehouse College. He coined the phrase "Morehouse Men", which is still spoken with honor to this day. He impacted scores of leaders in politics, business, and ministers of the Gospel. Dr. King is probably his most famous student.
As I search, I find more and more that is intriguing about this man who grew up in poverty in South Carolina and went on to get his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago.
These words tell of his perspective:
"I have never done anything for the purpose of being honored, to have my name on the front pages of the newspapers,I have done what I believe I was sent into the world to do: worship my God and serve my fellow man."
Julian Bond,Morehouse graduate and former president of the NAACP, summed him up by saying: "First he built himself, then he built Morehouse Men."
God uses people to impact people. But it starts with personal formation of ones character.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Christian Community
"Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Life Together
To often, we frustrate ourselves with what "our church community" is not instead of marvelling at what it is: a display of the tapestry of God's grace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Life Together
To often, we frustrate ourselves with what "our church community" is not instead of marvelling at what it is: a display of the tapestry of God's grace.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Dreaming big
“THE TRAGEDY OF LIFE DOESN’T LIE IN NOT REACHING YOUR GOAL. THE TRAGEDY LIES IN HAVING NO GOAL TO REACH. IT ISN’T A CALAMITY TO DIE WITH DREAMS UNFILLED, BUT IT IS A CALAMITY NOT TO DREAM. IT IS NOT A DISGRACE NOT TO REACH THE STARS, BUT IT IS A DISGRACE TO HAVE NO STARS TO REACH FOR, NOT FAILURE, BUT LOW AIM, IS SIN.”
Dr. Benjamin Mays - ordained minister, educator, orator, mentor to Dr. King, and president of Morehouse College for 27 years
Dr. Benjamin Mays - ordained minister, educator, orator, mentor to Dr. King, and president of Morehouse College for 27 years
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Repairer of broken walls
Thinking about Isaiah 58 today.
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 [a] 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.
I think of fasting as one of the spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are important to transformation. Does our fasting look like this?
Do our lives look like this? Do we care for our neighbors in this way?
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 [a] 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.
I think of fasting as one of the spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are important to transformation. Does our fasting look like this?
Do our lives look like this? Do we care for our neighbors in this way?
Monday, November 2, 2009
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