Much appreciated: A loyal partner over many years!

What Jesus might inspire. . .

Where's the ministry?

Preach the Gospel

Arise—go! Sell all you possess. Give it directly, personally, to the poor. Take up my cross (their cross) and follow Me, going to the poor, being poor, being one with them, one with Me. Little—be always little. Be simple, poor, childlike. Preach the gospel with your life.

Catherine Doherty

Source: The Little Mandate

Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Prayer list. . .

Here's my first prayer list for the first Sunday of 2014:

• Minimum wage adjustment so that people who work can live above poverty line
• Comprehensive immigration reform so that thousands of my neighbors can receive documentation needed to remain in the US "legally"
• Housing for thousands of homeless persons living on Dallas streets on this cold, cold morning
• Aggressive/progressive city policy to incent developers to build needed permanent supportive housing units in our city
• The children who will go back to school tomorrow--that their  educational experience would be adequate for their coming lives
• Churches in Dallas to "connect the dots" between the Christian message and God's love for the world and the poor
• Strength to live life with less talk and more action
• Justice in the US economy and in the Dallas expression of same
• Those left out, left behind and kicked to the side to know their real status in the heart of God
• Mercy, Lord, mercy

Church and Culture

So, where is radical faith today, especially in light of the call of Jesus to live counter to culture with unrelenting care for poor, the left out, the left behind and the marginalized?  Does the church reflect more of the popular culture of media, society and consumerism than it does a vision of the "out there" notion of the kingdom of God?  Check this out from Marcus Carlson's blog.

Is Culture Leading the American Church?

The church today resembles culture more and more, and unfortunately, instead of changing the world, the church has been changed by the world. This is backwards, and while we must minister to the culture we live in, the church is losing its identity.

Here are five of the ways I believe the church has been changed by the world:

The church has become overly corporate.

The church has become too corporate. In fact, most churches in the United States today look and act a lot more like a business than they do the body of Christ. Certainly the corporate world can teach the church much about systems, processes, policies and how to handle finances; however, the church has not used discernment as to which corporate values should be applied to the life of the church and how those values should be applied. We treat our ministries and programs as products, look at our congregation and community members as customers, and seek to please rather than to lead.

To read the entire essay click here. 

A simple thought for a new year

Poverty provides context for much/most of Chrisitan "revelation." Embracing the struggle versus poverty is a faithful option that connects us to God.

Offended?

Interesting reading for this Sunday:
Jesus and John the Baptist

John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”


When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

Luke 7:18-23

New International Version (NIV)

"Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me"--that statement has always been intriguing to me. 

Why would anyone "stumble" or take offense (meaning of the phrase) at someone taking care of the physical needs of people as a front-and-center, core proposition of one's faith vision? 

I mean really, now. 

Jesus' "action list" presents quite a resume of relief, doesn't it? 

Blind people regaining sight.

People who can't walk now able to walk on their own.

Those with no hearing now able to receive and process sounds.

The dreaded lepers now cleansed of their physical and social maladies.

Even those who've passed on and over brought back to life.

And, get this, good news is being proclaimed to the poor.

The list ascends to the most surprising outcome of all that Jesus did:  he included the poor at the center of his mission and his kingdom. 

Hmmm.

Maybe now I'm understanding this idea of "taking offense" or stumbling over the acts, agenda and engagement of Jesus. 

You can still see the "offense," the "stumbling" today, can't you?  Much of the time the most deeply offended claim to be followers of the person who creates the surprising offense.

For some it is downright offensive to make or to regard "the poor" as a priority.  It's too social, too worldly, too "liberationist" to understand that the heart of God's program contains a radical commitment to those who are poor and, as a result, left out, marginalized, kicked aside and easily forgotten.  Forgotten, and not just by secular forces, but also by people who
claim to follow Jesus, the great offender. 

Surely, this is not what Jesus made central to his life, work and teaching?  So it seems, and just there we face up with the offense!

So, today around the world, preachers will call out his name, the name of Jesus. 

I wonder, will anyone be offended?  Will anyone stumble over the real nature of his life and work?  I hope the spokespersons today will be clear enough to create some much-needed tension in the heart of the church.