By thy mercy, Oh deliver us

I know it's been a while, and I apologize if you have been kept waiting. There's been tons going on recently, and so I decided I should let you all in on what been going on.

Today, for the third time in about 10 days, our house was broken into and burglarized. The first time, I was in the house and managed to prevent them from getting much, though they stole a laptop and my cell phone. There were three kids, around the age of 15. I chased them out the back, but let them get away. That happened to be the second time where I was the only one in the house during a burglary. Anyways, figuring that wouldn't be the last time we saw them, we kept the house locked, and our dog in the yard. Unfortunately that didn't deter a second robbery while we were all gone, during which time they made out with six laptops, and two game systems among other things (although 3 laptops and the xbox were broken, so the joke is partly on them). That was two days ago. Today I walked in to find the TV gone along with several other items, and our sense of safety and 'home-ness' trampled on once again. Obviously, these events have spurred innumerable emotions, among which are anger, fear, morbid curiosity, and certainly the need to protect what's "ours." These reactions, you may have noticed, do not include love, forgiveness, compassion, and prayer for the young men who have thrice sinned against us. 

And there is where I've been convicted. All throughout the scriptures we find references to loving those who seem unlovable. Matthew five is packed with convicting verses, such as "love your enemy" or "when someone takes something from you, don't demand it back" or "pray for those who sin against you." I think the reason that we feel so violated is because we have an attachment to our things. And while to an extent this is normal, I've been reminded of Matthew 6:19: "Don't store up treasures on earth.. where thieves break in and steal." In my incredibly limited knowledge, I've realized several things: our stuff really isn't ours; our identity is in Christ our foundation, not our possessions; thieves DO actually break in and steal; often I value a PS3 more than young men made in the imago dei. 

But another challenge that I've been wondering about his: where does justice play a role in this situation? We want to be people that love mercy, but we also act justly, and doesn't this situation deserve justice? How does doing nothing uphold justice? I am turned to Romans 12:19: "Don't take revenge, but leave room for the wrath of God." Honestly, I think that God can exact better, and more just revenge than I can. 

What about forgiveness? I mean lets be honest, how many times should we forgive these kids? The first time, it's like ok, we're in ministry, stuff happens, I forgive you for stealing from me because you didn't really get much and no one got hurt. The second time? Alright, this is really stretching it- you got several thousand dollars worth of stuff and trampled our sense of security, but I tell people that they gotta love the unlovable, so I forgive you. But don't do it again, or else. The third time? Three strikes and you're out, right? I mean you can really ask us to forgive them again, seriously? 

Right about there is where Matthew 18:21 steps in, with Peter asking this exact question. Jesus' answer is mindblowing: he essentially says QUIT COUNTING.  

But how is this even possible? Really, we've been robbed 3 times and we're supposed to forgive them, AGAIN?

I recently watched a video of the story of how a Christian hip-hop artist/pastor and his wife overcame an affair, and one thing that his wife said has been impressed into my memory. She said "I can forgive him because he has not done more to me than I did to my Savior." 

Wow. Deep.

I think that is exactly the heart of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 18; and subsequently is the reason that I need to forgive these kids; they have not done more to me than I have to my Savior. 

Partly, this is me digesting what's going on, and partly it's me wanting you to be connected to this crazy summer. I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. I'll try to post with more regularity, but forgive me if I don't! 

I think it would be easy to ask you to pray for justice, but I'm going to ask you to pray for mercy for these young men. Pray that God's will would be done; pray that they would learn what it means to walk humbly with God. 

#Micah6:8on'em

Soli Deo Gloria

How great is our God!

In the midst of the nitty gritty, it is easy to lose sight of how great our God truly is. Who else can change people’s hearts in a mere week? In the middle of schedules, organization, and efficiency we must continue to remind ourselves and each other to look to the Cross which is the source of our joy and sustenance. Undoubtedly during a week such as the week we throw at our students, there is a level of spiritual warfare going on, and this certainly affects us. We can get bogged down or find ourselves struggling to maintain our well-being. It is important to restore our vision; or rather to have it restored by Christ. And in the midst of all of this, we must search to see the glory of God in all things. From the staff at sunshine, it is most prominently seen each week by the students who join us in ministry here for the week. It is put on display by all of the children that we work with, and the kids running around the neighborhood. It is displayed through our attempt to restore Shalom in our community. This isn’t to say we are perfect; far from it. However we must be reminded why we do what we do, and who we do it for. Christ is our sustainer, our joy and our hope, and without him we cannot do what we do. It is wonderful to see stereotypes broken, presuppositions undone, and lives opened to what the gospel has to say about the poor, justice and mercy. Our goal is to see people who act justly, love mercy and walk humbly and through the grace of God we weekly see students take up the challenge: How great is our God!

Soli Deo Gloria

You could say I'm fresh to death; I'm eternally clean!

Throughout my extensive travels, I've found that transportation can be the most entertaining portion of the entire trip!

Whoever invented the megabus certainly held this philosophy. Cram a whole bunch of tired, angry people into a small space and you have a recipe for entertainment. I happen to be a frequent traveler on such vehicles of exploration, and I decided to share a few of my stories with you all.

It was one dreary morning, and the tension was high. In fact it was so thick you could cut it like butter. Angry mothers, slap-happy children, and one apathetic bus driver combined for numerous linguistically colorful outbursts. After finally getting checked into the bus, next comes the most awkward 45 seconds known to man; find a seat next to the least creepy-looking stranger. If you are one of the lucky few that manages to find a seat all to yourself, count yourself lucky. This awkward musical musical chairs goes on for about 25 minutes as each disgruntled passenger finds their seats.

If you can manage to not fall asleep, you will undoubtedly find a story or two in the midst of the madness. As any good public transportation student would do, I plugged in my headphones and began pretending like I was shutting out the world. After about 20 minutes, out of the corner of my eye I notice an older woman take off her hat.. No big deal right? My first thought, however, was "wait a second, she wasn't wearing a hat." I take a second look and realize that she has just pulled off a wig, leaving her completely bald. The wig itself looked like a WW2 replica Soviet bearskin cap. Perhaps the most entertaining encounter I've had, ever. 

On the same trip, there happened to be a very large, thugged out gentleman in front of me. His equally thugged out woman friend was sitting next to him and about 30 minutes into the trip, went berserk. Why you ask? The large, 50-cent like gentleman was snoring. I mean he was cutting trees. With a hedge trimmer. It was the single most spectacular example of snoring I have ever heard. Imagine a car engine that simply won't turn over coming out of a pimped out Fat Albert.  Several people in the back began to laugh, and that set off the "I love New York" impersonator. Who needs cable when you have the megabus?

I hope to have brightened your day slightly by sharing some of my more humorous interactions...

If not, Jesus still loves you. 

Soli Deo Gloria