Tuesday, November 25, 2003

C & R and the car

Pray for my friends Chris & Roxy. Chris just had his car stolen this afternoon. Every time they seem to be financially just about stable another reality kicks in and this just kind of sucks like evil always does.

On the Show today

Today I am spinnig two old favorites of mine.

U2, War

Kerry Livgren, Seeds of Change.

I am caught as a person between the questions of a need for a cry for Justice and the need for personal Transformation. My favorite Old Testament book is Amos, and my Favorite New Testament book is I John. Don't sit there and think Oh the Bible... or yeah I've heard of them... Read them. I guess I am frustrated with people who want me to keep an open mind but refuse to look outside their comfort zone. Dialogue and sharing is a two way street.

Monday, November 24, 2003

A poem I wrot e for Wil's 5th grade Class

I find it interesting that we live in a time where there is soooo much knowledge available and soooo much boredom. This I believe is the natural result of what happens when knowledge is disconnected from personhood and purpose. Children need an expanding answer to the question

"Why"



I go into Wil's 5th grade class to help them understand why we are asking them to work so hard at learning. To get them to own it. Helping people make sense and make meaning out of their lives is part of ministry. Part of the journey of people connecting with God's call on their lives.

I saw a parent wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "DON'T JUST DO IT".

Recover for your heart's sake the wonder in the question why that ultimately is only satisfied in God.

A poem for Wil's 5th Grade class:

Learning is for me
I am going to learn
Everything I need to learn...
So I can be free
Free to be me.

jaw1

Sunday, November 23, 2003

Up late and sending a quick note out.

Well... Friday i had the privelege of teaching at Wil's fifth grade class. I have developed a motivational piece for kids to encourage them to own the learning process.

Saturday Valerie and Raymond got married. They are both committed to Victory outreach and are a witness to their families. It is a privelege to witness this.

Friday Pm some of the members of LA St. prod had a last minute carne assada.

Thursday we got help from John stokes about a lot of our Technicle computor questions.

There are many details I have missed these last few days... i hope to say more...

Thursday, November 20, 2003

from a song that I love that haunts me in a good way.

"No one gets a second chance to be the friend they meant to be."
(Mark Heard)

Gratitude

I wrote this while reflecting on Luke 4 with our InnerChange community.

It is a gift to taste of heaven
It is a gift to taste of hell
It is a gift to taste
of life -- to exist.

It is a gift to taste and witness
--- Our time
--- Our place

It is a gift to give thanks
and not take what is, for granted.

(by Jaw1)

"Some taste of heaven
Some taste of hell
some lose their taste and cannot tell"

(Mark Heard)

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

The MTA is Back

At least for now the MTA is back. This has hampered the life of soo many in LA including myself. Here is a cry from the little people of LA... Work it out and help us survive... Be reliable so we can keep in touch with our families, our schools, and our jobs. We do not handle desparation very well in LA land.

Streaming Mo Leverett Today.

My wife went to the CCDA conference this Nov. in New Orleans. Mo was a speaker there and shared a talk on redemptive suffing that I had to share and discuss. Good fodder for the fire. He is also a good singer. So between the heat sweat tears and stories of Desire street ministies we are going to rock this show. Take up the cross... for the joy of it... and if you can't for the joy of it... then go learn more of what it is about. Learn what it really means to give and recieve love. Ther is no way to do this without sharing in suffering and resurection life.

Friday, November 14, 2003

Staind Concert and other Ramblings

Well I went last night to the Hollywood Palladium to see Staind with a young friend in the neighborhood who invited me to go with him. I will be reflecting on the over all experience for some time.

Some came to the concert in every day dress... quite plainly in fact... normal Joe's and JoAnna's out to see a show...

Others were dressed in the Black attire uniform of non-conformity...
Others were dressed to impress...

There were a few T-shirt Quotes worth sharing:

Do Not Hate the Player
HATE THE GAME!!!!"


Everyone Has Issues

I was struck by the range of ages at this concert... mid-teens to late forties...

I did not like the opening bands much at all...

Stained on the other hand ... their music is about the human condition and the pain in simply trying to live life. Authentically shared and artistically delivered (if you like melodic metal/thrash as a style of music). There are moments when I felt like this was the closest some of these folks have ever experienced something like church in a good sense. A kind of confession to each other about life... missing the prayer for healing part though... maybe missing the hope for healing part.

There was also a deep sadness in the air. Many people seemed to have come to the concert hoping to feel alive for a few hours before retreating back into their various forms and levels of depression. Staind does not sing "happy fun or silly playful kind of music". It is all about looking hard at the condition of the soul.

I think some of their material could be used to stimulate deeper dialogue if we would take the time to listen and then talk to each other. If you have a friend who is already a fan... try it out... ask them to play their favorite tune for you and then to talk... honestly about it...

My Friend Freddy Loved the concert and the Mosh Pit dancing. He worked hard to get as close to the front as possible. I enjoyed watching the crowd as much as the show.

Freddy reminded me that I said I would help him learn to write poetry. We had a great time of sharing after the concert at Denny's.

Two souls were brought a lot closer together as friends through this concert and I woke up wanting to pray more, reflect on life more, and to do more of my own art... I also woke up more determined than ever to share the hope and joy I have been gifted with in this life... and to share it's source...

God Bless,
JTW

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Sharing the journey...

There is an emerging housing crisis for the poor in LA. i have witnessed the seperation of families, the eviction of other families, and the overwhelmed state of those trying to serve those who might become homeless.

I know people who are now homeless.

I have a friends about to come out of jail in a few months who will need work and a place to live.

I have another friend who needs help moving her stuff into storage.

We will be getting new neighbors... The new Rampart Police Station is going to be built accross the street from where Jude and I live.

I wish I was more gifted at working with and through systems. My gifts are more creative and interpersonal.

I do not pretend to have the answers.

I will share the journey... and what we need is a lot more affordable housing and those with the vision and the skills to make this kind of thing happen.

This is a cry and a prayer in the LA Urban Jungle...
Mercy, Lord have Mercy on us..
peace out,
John TW

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

This Past Weekend

This weekend feels like a blur because so many realities happened. Most significant for me was a prayer meeting for the persecuted church around the world. I lead the prayer time for Latin America.

We prayed for those who have paid the price for being peace makers when so many divisions have been sown among the people.

We prayed for those who have paid the price for not compromising the truth as part of exercising their faith.

We prayed for those who have found the strength to forgive. And for others who wish they had the strength to forgive.

In prayer we found common ground in the midst of our differences of political views... this too was grace.

Sunday eve. I took a friend to pick up his car. My life is often filled with a lot of little helpful tasks and trying to share the love of God all along the way.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning was about helping my friends Tonya and Walter move. A Job promotion and the lack of safe parking in our neighborhood is what made the move inevitable for them. They need a palce of rest to come home to when the day is done. I think they have found a better home for themselves.

We lose more potential leaders in our neighborhood to a better quality of life and opportunities elsewhere far too often. We have a friend who wants to plant a church in this neighborhood in part to work on healthy Christian Leadership of the Community for the Community. He was hoping that Tonya and Walter would be part of this... Yet they really do need to do what they need to do to survive and grow. Pray for us as we seek to partner with Alberto's efforts in this reguard.

Friday evening I got to hang with Boy, Laura and boy's two brothers. We went to the new matrix movie... and then Boy, Luara, and I hung out at I Hop on 6th St. and talked about Life. This is what friendship is about... growing together.

Thursday, November 06, 2003

Went to the new Matrix Movie

Chris and I went opening night to the new Matrix movie. Brave ending in my opinion. I liked it and will see it again.

What is more important is the conversation that Chris and I had before and after the movie. We talked about values and truth and life. We are determined in and through our lives to love God and People while learning the appropriate place for things. Friends help each other in keeping their priorities right. We agreed that we would support each other in being faithful to our wives... This is the real stuff of life.

2 hours at the movies... this dream landscape provided a reference point for conversation to unfold. Now if we could only have the same level of open conversation over the scriptures... we might find not just inspiration, but God given guidance.

I am greatful for a movie that makes it clear that winning isn't everything. Do we need a common enemy before we can make peace???

I am not a big fan of Hegel... and the series is true to Hegel's categories of...

Matrix 1: Thesis
Matrix 2: Anti-thesis
Matrix 3: Synthesis

What is concerning to me is the lack of prayer and reflection that is going on when people consume media. Everything we witness, real and unreal impacts us at some level. To be aware of what is going on in our souls takes intentional time and space. See my link to "Space for God", and try the "Online Prayer Guide".

Media is a given in our current culture. What I find young people want from adults is not so much rules about what is good and bad in it. But the tools to understand it and the means to understand how it is effecting them. Often if they can get beyound the addictive elements of our own culture... they will begin to self select a healthy diet. Model this... Don't just consume media... reflect on it... deconstruct it... and build tools for insight... Don't just tell the kids... show them!!!!

Both Chris and I have cut down our TV consumption a lot. I watch less than 4 hours of TV a month now including the news. Take a fast from some of these things and let your soul breathe... maybe even pray a little bit more.

Chris and I went early to the theator and we felt abused by the manipulative advertisements before the movie started. I will have to figure out a strategy of skipping the hype before movies... find my own exit out of "the Matrix" "To see it for what it really is".

(Their is a little book by Soren Kierkagaard that I really like... called "This Present Age" where he explores the necessity of a religious stance that is necessary for us to become fully ourselves... I have heard that C.S. Lewis explored a similar theme in his novel "Till We Have Faces".)

Be the fingerprint in this world and history that God intended you to be.

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

Ramblings about today and other stuff

Well you probably noticed that my feedback link is out of commission. I found a statement that my feedback service is supposed to be moving to another server. so we will see if it comes back in a little bit. If you have something you really want up with my stuff... email it to me and I will consider it.

Well after the war with Iraq started... my Financial support for what I do here in LA has gone down a lot. I will either need to raise more funds or will need to become tri-vocational... One of my mentors from CRM, Steve Hoke, thinks that my time with people is worth investing in. I think so too. I have never done the asking for money thing very well. I guess I will have to start learning. Questions about this are welcome...

On my 2 hour internet radio show I played Stained and Barry Taylor. Stained is interesting because they are a group that is quite honest about their own emotional pain... something very important to understanding youth these days. I have started borrowing a CD a week to listen to from my neighbors. Music resonates deep within the soul and often gives insight to realities that we might otherwise miss. Have you ever thought about sharing CD's as a way of sharing with a friend some special part of your life story??? Have you ever thought of it as another kind of listening to others???

I met with steve Hoke today and we are working on learning to pace myself for the long haul. I have already cut out all TV after 10 PM. Now the computor is to be shut down after 10:30 on week days. For a stimulation addict... these are big adjustments. You can hold me to them.

Peace Out,
John TW

Saturday, November 01, 2003

Dear John,
I have to reply to this.

See Tues. Oct. 28th Post

You sound so much better. I'm appreciating
what you have to say much more because you sound healthier, your
spelling and grammar and contextualization are so much more readable
and your light side is shining through. (example- kind of shuts up your
mouth) I love the part about being "thrust into a history of God's
making". (That's where you and Sunday came from, a history of God's
making.)

And AMBER Too!!! (see below)

I was thinking I needed to send you a book called "Margins"
about avoiding overload but now I don't think it's necessary. Love, Mom

Mom I think I could still use that book on Margins ; ) I still got to learn about not over packing my life... there is soo much to do and sooo much wonder in it alllll !!!
I find myself speachless today. Today I held a little newborn baby in my arms. It gave me pause for thought and more perspective about life than a book with a thousand words. Her name is Amber and she is the child of Joe (Cisco) and Daniela. Life goes on... Are we ready for the generations to come?

I can only imagine the joy that our friends the Rundles are also feeling... They wrote:

Dear friends,

We wanted to send you the announcement that our daughter, Zoe Galloway Rundle, arrived into our expectant arms on Friday October 17th at 12:56pm. She weighed 8lbs.7oz. and was 21 3/4" long.

The birth was a beautiful experience, very hard work for Catherine but she did amazingly well - tribute in a large part to the birthing method we chose which allowed Alastair to take a very large role in the labor, encouraging and supporting her. Zoe came out alert and happy, long enough for us to say "Hi" then promptly went to sleep and gave us chance to eat a big meal to recharge ourselves.

Her Apgar results were 9 after 1min and 10 after 5min!

Our birthing team was amazing, Melanie, our mid-wife and Diana our nurse were just wonderful.

A thumbs up all around.

Well done Catherine, well done Zoe.


Life is Huge!!!