To All My Friends who are tempted to think with the wrong Head... This is a letter 4 U.
History is in the making. Mothers and Fathers... Who will or will not have self-control. Children need Faithful Fathers and Mothers...
Choices and consequences. There is life after the big wow. A history to live with...
Porn feeds off of the lack of the real in terms of intimacy and relationship. It can also leads to a very lonely life... If one can not trust oneself... Why should anyone trust you??? No Trust = No real Intimacy.
I don't want to be pimped nor do I want to see my friends pimped... nor my family, nor my Culture.
As KRS One Says, There is no such thing as just making love, instead we should say... "making life"...
both history and the children that become part of it through our actions are real and can never be earased.
Fantasy is just that. There are no actions without consequences. Our thought life will lead to actions.
Like I have always said... God made us male and female and knows all about Sex... It was God's idea... God made what is good in Sex good. Then he gave us some guidance aboout what good looks like... If you ignore this advice and try to use Sex beyound what it intended for... you will suffer the consequences of your thoughts and actions.
Like in bowling there can be a significant time gap between a choice and the consequences. Sometimes a 9 month or more time gap...
Do not tell me I am against good sex. Have you ever read... "Song of Solomon"? Some of you will never know real romance because you became a slave to lust... and never learned what true love is about. Time to go back and learn before it is too late.
Real friends tell the truth to real friends. When they get burned they do not lie about it... Keep it real people.
Keep the Love Real,
Jaw1
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Please Help find my friend's Uncle!!!
If you live in LA ... take a good look at this picture and help us find Mr. Romero.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Teach the Real
Warning, "Jude says that this should be cut up into parts... that some will find these too much to digest in one sitting". So I am publishing it here with the hope of Each of these points will be a good beginning for future surmon topics... I would love to preach on these themes...
Things we Usually do not teach our Kin... and maybe we should:
1. "Lord teach us to Number OUR days". If you are 15 years Old... In 3 years you will be a "Legal Adult" making adult decisions that will set the course of the first part of your life... In 10 years you will have full adult responsibilities and will need to be able to lead others...(Possibly including your own children)... In 20 Years you will be shaping within the sphere of your influence "The Content and Quality of life" for both yourself and those within your sphere of influence... In 40 Years (which may seem a long ways away... but in truth will come sooner than most of us think...) Your Satisfaction will be based on the history you have made... both for yourself and those around you... In 80 Years the next generation will either bennefit from how you Lived or Not... They will have a reason to name you in hisotry with a sense of thanks and gratitude... or Not. Reguardless, Each of us will answer to God for the life that we have lived.
2. "Every Generation has to choose what is of value to pass on to the next Generation." This is not automatic. Whole civilizations rise and fall on the Content and Quality of What they pass on and what the present Generation learns and discovers rooted in their inheritance. See II Timothy 2:2
3. We Are born lost and not knowing our way into a world that is lost in both confusion and "Sin"... this is both personal and public.
The state of confussion is easy to see. We all struggle with it to some degree every day. Confussion simply is not knowing what we are doing and why we are doing it. Only by facing bravely this state of mind does one mature and rise above it... Sometimes for short momments... and sometimes for longer periods of time. (Humility is learned in this cloud of Unknowing when we can say we do not know... only then is discovery possible.) Groups only rise out of their own confusion when they can wrestle honestly with humility the real questions that impinge on life.
The reality of being stuck in Sin is hard for the modern/post-modern mind to see. And if the adults will not see it for what it is then that makes it even harder for the youth who are growing up to see what is going on. (Hebrew 3:12-13) Sin hides itself in our pride and without honesty it does us and the next generation real damage. The most productive word picture that I have found so far is "taking the trash to the trash can". I know in my head what I am doing. I do it any way. Much of what is in there is not good for the earth and will end up in this place called a landfill. Generations after me will suffer for and from my actions. It is really hard to stop... Recycling to the extent that I do it only eliminates some of it. Yet anything I do not address is toxic for the next generation.
(The reason why this generation finds the language of the church about sin hard to understand is because of the pride and arrogance of our times... We have spent far too much time accusing others of evil and sinfull acts while ignoring our involvement with sin ourselves... In contrast if God can through the Holy Spirit convict us daily of the sin in our own life... it will be natural that those around us will bennefit from our humility and find themselves also convicted by the same loving and gracious Holy Spirit. Currently we live in a world that wants justice done to somebody else... rather than the more hopeful view that Mercy can triumph over justice.)
4. Understanding our Times. Currently we live at a time where we are being consummed by consummerism. Materialism has lost any anchor to meaning and reason. Many desire to posses things and in turn secretely find themselves possed by them as a way of being "Cool", Comfortable, Entertained, or Significant. More simply put we know that we should love people and use things; Yet, the current dominant culture teaches us to love things and use people. In fact the way we use the worlds resources shows us to what extent we value power and things over the value of a life. Our times are very far away from the values lifted up by Jesus... who said, "Whatever you have done to the least of these my brothers you have done it to me." (Matthew 25)
Things we Usually do not teach our Kin... and maybe we should:
1. "Lord teach us to Number OUR days". If you are 15 years Old... In 3 years you will be a "Legal Adult" making adult decisions that will set the course of the first part of your life... In 10 years you will have full adult responsibilities and will need to be able to lead others...(Possibly including your own children)... In 20 Years you will be shaping within the sphere of your influence "The Content and Quality of life" for both yourself and those within your sphere of influence... In 40 Years (which may seem a long ways away... but in truth will come sooner than most of us think...) Your Satisfaction will be based on the history you have made... both for yourself and those around you... In 80 Years the next generation will either bennefit from how you Lived or Not... They will have a reason to name you in hisotry with a sense of thanks and gratitude... or Not. Reguardless, Each of us will answer to God for the life that we have lived.
2. "Every Generation has to choose what is of value to pass on to the next Generation." This is not automatic. Whole civilizations rise and fall on the Content and Quality of What they pass on and what the present Generation learns and discovers rooted in their inheritance. See II Timothy 2:2
3. We Are born lost and not knowing our way into a world that is lost in both confusion and "Sin"... this is both personal and public.
The state of confussion is easy to see. We all struggle with it to some degree every day. Confussion simply is not knowing what we are doing and why we are doing it. Only by facing bravely this state of mind does one mature and rise above it... Sometimes for short momments... and sometimes for longer periods of time. (Humility is learned in this cloud of Unknowing when we can say we do not know... only then is discovery possible.) Groups only rise out of their own confusion when they can wrestle honestly with humility the real questions that impinge on life.
The reality of being stuck in Sin is hard for the modern/post-modern mind to see. And if the adults will not see it for what it is then that makes it even harder for the youth who are growing up to see what is going on. (Hebrew 3:12-13) Sin hides itself in our pride and without honesty it does us and the next generation real damage. The most productive word picture that I have found so far is "taking the trash to the trash can". I know in my head what I am doing. I do it any way. Much of what is in there is not good for the earth and will end up in this place called a landfill. Generations after me will suffer for and from my actions. It is really hard to stop... Recycling to the extent that I do it only eliminates some of it. Yet anything I do not address is toxic for the next generation.
(The reason why this generation finds the language of the church about sin hard to understand is because of the pride and arrogance of our times... We have spent far too much time accusing others of evil and sinfull acts while ignoring our involvement with sin ourselves... In contrast if God can through the Holy Spirit convict us daily of the sin in our own life... it will be natural that those around us will bennefit from our humility and find themselves also convicted by the same loving and gracious Holy Spirit. Currently we live in a world that wants justice done to somebody else... rather than the more hopeful view that Mercy can triumph over justice.)
4. Understanding our Times. Currently we live at a time where we are being consummed by consummerism. Materialism has lost any anchor to meaning and reason. Many desire to posses things and in turn secretely find themselves possed by them as a way of being "Cool", Comfortable, Entertained, or Significant. More simply put we know that we should love people and use things; Yet, the current dominant culture teaches us to love things and use people. In fact the way we use the worlds resources shows us to what extent we value power and things over the value of a life. Our times are very far away from the values lifted up by Jesus... who said, "Whatever you have done to the least of these my brothers you have done it to me." (Matthew 25)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
II Timothy 2:2
I am asking for prayer as I am glowing with a sense of joy mixed with sadness. My friend Roxy teaches 6th grade at a local grade school. She is having her baby dedicated to God this Sunday at our church. She took a personal day today to help a friend...
My Friend Chris has helped his wife Roxy get through school. Supported her all along the way. Now it is his turn to go back to school and get his education. He is a loving and tender father... Supportive of Roxy their baby and now Roxy's efforts to help her friend in this time of need.
When the family network fails to be the support network... Where can people turn... "Who is our Neighbor?"
Families... Valued or thrown away... Roxy's friend needs to escape an abusive addicted boyfriend/father who says he does not want or need her and their kids anymore. So her friend takes a step towards freedom and hope for her children without their father. Roxy's desire is that the love and life that has impacted her life will be passed on to others... A love rooted in God (Ephesians 3:14-21).
What we live and teach is intergenerational. It all is about the quality of lives we live. We need to entrust the best we have learned to those who will pass it on as a heritage -- II Timothy 2:2.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Dreams and Jacob's Ladder
I am struck by how Jacob in Genesis 29 responds so profuondly to a dream. His world view connected what he dreamed to reality. This became a doorway for his relationship with God to grow.
These days I am staying up to late to dream... taking in too many images in the form of movies, TV, and Advertisments... Lacking the stillness to dream...
There is a connection to dreaming, hope, and praying. When our deepest desires get burried in the imeadiate we forget to pray. Satisfaction is so different than entertainment. Sifted desires... to be left to long for holy longings and then to pursue those longings -- this is the true fruit of prayer.
The integrity of my life is bound up with the integrity of my dreams and my prayers.
Dreams are only as reliable as the soul that has them. Initiative can come from God and even very tainted souls can be touched by the devine in their dreams. The integrity of our response.
Anywhere where we can dream is Holy ground.
These days I am staying up to late to dream... taking in too many images in the form of movies, TV, and Advertisments... Lacking the stillness to dream...
There is a connection to dreaming, hope, and praying. When our deepest desires get burried in the imeadiate we forget to pray. Satisfaction is so different than entertainment. Sifted desires... to be left to long for holy longings and then to pursue those longings -- this is the true fruit of prayer.
The integrity of my life is bound up with the integrity of my dreams and my prayers.
Dreams are only as reliable as the soul that has them. Initiative can come from God and even very tainted souls can be touched by the devine in their dreams. The integrity of our response.
Anywhere where we can dream is Holy ground.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Genesis 23
Today I have the joy to have my first full day of a two-week vacation. Jude and I are currently at her brother Peter’s house near Santa Barbara. The hospitality here is incredible because, Thea, Peter’s wife is so fond and gifted at hosting.
Tube… They have cable and by choice Jude and I do not… Last night I watched some of the history channel about the history of the Ottoman Empire, Some Japanese Animation, and the military channel on some of the history of tanks… plus the tail end of the godfather III…
This morning…
I Watched the US women’s soccer team play China… left off from that when they were winning 4 to 1… and watched Farscape flicking back and forth from these two programs. (This habit of channel flicking drives Jude crazy). Farscape left some very good questions about addictions. The best of fiction and the best of theology – as I see it -- raises the questions that matter about life and really living. Questions, not just to float with… but rather to press into the gift of life for what it is…
My Old Testament scripture for this day… Genesis 23 is sobering for me literally… having been intoxicated for a short time by the tube. Genesis 23 is about the death of Sarah and the work of honoring her life through burial… including purchasing a field with a cave for that purpose…
The existentialists are right a this point. Death forces us to consider the meaning of our life and the ways in which we spend it… Reading this encourages me to move away from the tube and to sit and enjoy the patio of my brother-in-laws house with Jude… To again appreciate her in life rather than staying self absorbed.
I could stay self absorbed and morbid. Since 2000 I know 26 people who have all gone to their grave. Visiting Gravesites of those whom I have loved has really begun to inform my soul not to take the times and days I have for granted. The gift of this space for reflection and prayer has also been more fruitful than I like to admit.
So much of our current culture ends in dissipation and various forms of “drunkenness”. Pain buried and sensitivity to joy diminished for the sake of ???
As a Christian, poet, and artist… I want to remain awake and alive… yet swim in the current culture.
I have started a myspace… / jawpoetry I find it quite a flesh market. It will take real accountability not to get sucked in. I have started this space at the request of various friends. If I have a burial site will it feed the souls of others the way visiting the burial site of Dr. James Loder has fed my soul? The unexamined life is not worth living or remembering… Maybe that is why those who are disconnected from hope and vision are so given over to addictions and dissipation?
Jude sits here reading The Chamber, by Grisham… good story plots she says… good vacation reading… Brueggemann says we live in a multi-storied universe. The existentialists say that it is the personal story that ultimately matters. I have come to believe it is what God would say about our story that really matters. Some lives deserve to be memorialized. Sarah has a sacred life and a sacred tomb. The scriptures choose a very different slice of humanity than what typical historians would choose… both to praise and to vilify. Don’t try to make Abraham and Sarah into super human people. Abraham questioned the promises of God at times and Sarah laughed… They schemed, lied, tried to figure things out their own way, and loved each other in their lifetime. What set them apart literally and figuratively is that when God asked them to go on an undefined journey they were willing to go…
So Sarah was buried in a foreign land away from much of her family and at a very high price… (Compare 400 shekels with 17 in Jeremiah 32:9…) Having Inter-generational hopes, visions, or dreams will mean that when we die some… if not many / or most of our hopes and dream may remain unfulfilled. Like MLK Jr’s, “I have a dream”. Tombs are meaningful when the hopes, visions, and dreams of those we visit have the power to continue to inspire us. Relevance comes from the choice of those who reference the past intermingled with the divine that anchors the past with sacred meaning.
LA is filled with a culture that works at forgetting and starting over. HipHop thrives on the triumph of the present moment. In contrast, Judeo Christian roots and the Scriptures as well as our history continues to give us a lot to reflect on and remember. This invites us to our own journey with God where ever it will lead.
I hope that either the core visions, hope, and dreams that I have will be lived out in my lifetime… or what is more likely the case… that it will be worth while for some living souls for me to have a tomb, gravesite or grave marker. Yes I crave significance… and the existentialists are partially right, “nothingness haunts being”. Yet the stories of the scripture are not a tease where only others get to have a relationship with God and we get to watch and read about it… In the midst of life we get to go on our own journey of faith, doubt, and laughter… until we too are gripped by dreams and visions that have intergenerational vision.
Jude reminds me that true meaning comes from our being part of God’s story and that gives us meaning in life… and that I like most of us forget that and get sucked into a more ego-centered perspectives.
Tube… They have cable and by choice Jude and I do not… Last night I watched some of the history channel about the history of the Ottoman Empire, Some Japanese Animation, and the military channel on some of the history of tanks… plus the tail end of the godfather III…
This morning…
I Watched the US women’s soccer team play China… left off from that when they were winning 4 to 1… and watched Farscape flicking back and forth from these two programs. (This habit of channel flicking drives Jude crazy). Farscape left some very good questions about addictions. The best of fiction and the best of theology – as I see it -- raises the questions that matter about life and really living. Questions, not just to float with… but rather to press into the gift of life for what it is…
My Old Testament scripture for this day… Genesis 23 is sobering for me literally… having been intoxicated for a short time by the tube. Genesis 23 is about the death of Sarah and the work of honoring her life through burial… including purchasing a field with a cave for that purpose…
The existentialists are right a this point. Death forces us to consider the meaning of our life and the ways in which we spend it… Reading this encourages me to move away from the tube and to sit and enjoy the patio of my brother-in-laws house with Jude… To again appreciate her in life rather than staying self absorbed.
I could stay self absorbed and morbid. Since 2000 I know 26 people who have all gone to their grave. Visiting Gravesites of those whom I have loved has really begun to inform my soul not to take the times and days I have for granted. The gift of this space for reflection and prayer has also been more fruitful than I like to admit.
So much of our current culture ends in dissipation and various forms of “drunkenness”. Pain buried and sensitivity to joy diminished for the sake of ???
As a Christian, poet, and artist… I want to remain awake and alive… yet swim in the current culture.
I have started a myspace… / jawpoetry I find it quite a flesh market. It will take real accountability not to get sucked in. I have started this space at the request of various friends. If I have a burial site will it feed the souls of others the way visiting the burial site of Dr. James Loder has fed my soul? The unexamined life is not worth living or remembering… Maybe that is why those who are disconnected from hope and vision are so given over to addictions and dissipation?
Jude sits here reading The Chamber, by Grisham… good story plots she says… good vacation reading… Brueggemann says we live in a multi-storied universe. The existentialists say that it is the personal story that ultimately matters. I have come to believe it is what God would say about our story that really matters. Some lives deserve to be memorialized. Sarah has a sacred life and a sacred tomb. The scriptures choose a very different slice of humanity than what typical historians would choose… both to praise and to vilify. Don’t try to make Abraham and Sarah into super human people. Abraham questioned the promises of God at times and Sarah laughed… They schemed, lied, tried to figure things out their own way, and loved each other in their lifetime. What set them apart literally and figuratively is that when God asked them to go on an undefined journey they were willing to go…
So Sarah was buried in a foreign land away from much of her family and at a very high price… (Compare 400 shekels with 17 in Jeremiah 32:9…) Having Inter-generational hopes, visions, or dreams will mean that when we die some… if not many / or most of our hopes and dream may remain unfulfilled. Like MLK Jr’s, “I have a dream”. Tombs are meaningful when the hopes, visions, and dreams of those we visit have the power to continue to inspire us. Relevance comes from the choice of those who reference the past intermingled with the divine that anchors the past with sacred meaning.
LA is filled with a culture that works at forgetting and starting over. HipHop thrives on the triumph of the present moment. In contrast, Judeo Christian roots and the Scriptures as well as our history continues to give us a lot to reflect on and remember. This invites us to our own journey with God where ever it will lead.
I hope that either the core visions, hope, and dreams that I have will be lived out in my lifetime… or what is more likely the case… that it will be worth while for some living souls for me to have a tomb, gravesite or grave marker. Yes I crave significance… and the existentialists are partially right, “nothingness haunts being”. Yet the stories of the scripture are not a tease where only others get to have a relationship with God and we get to watch and read about it… In the midst of life we get to go on our own journey of faith, doubt, and laughter… until we too are gripped by dreams and visions that have intergenerational vision.
Jude reminds me that true meaning comes from our being part of God’s story and that gives us meaning in life… and that I like most of us forget that and get sucked into a more ego-centered perspectives.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Firsts and a reminder to pay attention!
Yesterday, for the very first time, I won a game of scrabble. I am at CRM's Missions conference that happens with staff once every 4 years. I don't play Scrabble very often. Spanish is the dominant language in Westlake - Pico Union Los Angeles neighborhood. They do not play scrabble... They do play soccer!!! Yet almost every week I do something new or have a first. It is the nature of being alive to God, to the city, and to my neighborhoods. I have forgotten to notice and take note. I want to get back to blogging again more often. Short is sweet. I will use firsts as another way to get me blogging more often. So if you are tired of not hearing from me... You can have hope that this will change.
My friend is free for now.
Free yet not free. Addiction creates blindness. If fines are not paid then it will mean another trip into the system. If community service is not served it means another trip into the system. It woulld be more helpful if real guidance was offered. If we have no self-control. We will have no control. The momentary desire to escape pain could rob my friend of life. Pray for grace in whatever form it may come.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Prayer for a Friend now down for the counts...
Today a friend of mine lost it in my nieghborhood. He got taken off the streets by the police... I hope I get to see the day when this will just be a bad memory or even better yet something to laugh about... Remeber that crazy day when...
Was it the size of the questions rolling through his mind?
Was it the need to be seen, heard, somehow noticed?
Was it the drugs that he had added to the mix?
Was it a cry for help deep within the soul?
Was it the deception of an evil spirit?
I saw a group of friends hanging together by the some steps. A bong set up ready to smoke... and the general uneasiness of those who are anticipating getting high when confronted with those who don't.
I invited everyone to the donut shop with us. They cleared out and followed a different direction... following the bong...
After hanging at the donut shop for a while...
Two of my friends, who I saw earlier, showed up and were headed to the local liquor store. I hoped they had come to join us. I called out and noticed that one of them seemed almost posessed by a spray can. He walked up to a parked van and spray painted a big bright orange "Why?" on the back of it. I tried to stop him and said', "Do you know what you are doing?" He said, "Yes, i know exactly what I am doing"....
He walked right into the liquor store, spray painted a name on the door and an F@#$^% on a sign, got a bottle of beer and tried to walk out of the store. I intervened and the owner fo the store got his bottle of beer back and while they left. I then helped the owner clean up the paint hoping that the police would not have to get involved. (I never know that WD-40 could clean up freshly painted spray paint). I did this to try to spare him from ending up in jail... but I had saved the beer bottle for the store owner, and failed to get the spray can.
I was shocked to see other cars marked with strange questions or tags... Why?, Really?, ___ Oner, an Anarchy sign,... etc.
When the police caught up with him his statements to them were not defiant but rather those of a soul trying to grasp at the last straws of reality: "It should not be like this... I have a right to exsist... We should all be family and love one another... Can I go home now or do I have to come with you... Ok let's go then... or let me go... then let's go then..."
The soul needs an anchor or it becomes lost. When family doesn't know how to help... Friends are not trying to help... and no one is going to acknowledge the deep scream for meaning, purpose, and identity...
Spray paint can make your neighbors hear you silently scream... until the police arrive to take you away.
If God anchors your soul... pray for us.
Was it the size of the questions rolling through his mind?
Was it the need to be seen, heard, somehow noticed?
Was it the drugs that he had added to the mix?
Was it a cry for help deep within the soul?
Was it the deception of an evil spirit?
I saw a group of friends hanging together by the some steps. A bong set up ready to smoke... and the general uneasiness of those who are anticipating getting high when confronted with those who don't.
I invited everyone to the donut shop with us. They cleared out and followed a different direction... following the bong...
After hanging at the donut shop for a while...
Two of my friends, who I saw earlier, showed up and were headed to the local liquor store. I hoped they had come to join us. I called out and noticed that one of them seemed almost posessed by a spray can. He walked up to a parked van and spray painted a big bright orange "Why?" on the back of it. I tried to stop him and said', "Do you know what you are doing?" He said, "Yes, i know exactly what I am doing"....
He walked right into the liquor store, spray painted a name on the door and an F@#$^% on a sign, got a bottle of beer and tried to walk out of the store. I intervened and the owner fo the store got his bottle of beer back and while they left. I then helped the owner clean up the paint hoping that the police would not have to get involved. (I never know that WD-40 could clean up freshly painted spray paint). I did this to try to spare him from ending up in jail... but I had saved the beer bottle for the store owner, and failed to get the spray can.
I was shocked to see other cars marked with strange questions or tags... Why?, Really?, ___ Oner, an Anarchy sign,... etc.
When the police caught up with him his statements to them were not defiant but rather those of a soul trying to grasp at the last straws of reality: "It should not be like this... I have a right to exsist... We should all be family and love one another... Can I go home now or do I have to come with you... Ok let's go then... or let me go... then let's go then..."
The soul needs an anchor or it becomes lost. When family doesn't know how to help... Friends are not trying to help... and no one is going to acknowledge the deep scream for meaning, purpose, and identity...
Spray paint can make your neighbors hear you silently scream... until the police arrive to take you away.
If God anchors your soul... pray for us.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Snapshot of a Neighborhood Yard Sale
My husband John loves yard sales. I have always been more cautious – they are a lot of work, and I have wondered if they are worth the effort. But our neighborhood yard sale yesterday was a truly remarkable event, and was about so much more than buying and selling stuff.
To be accurate, it is not really a yard sale, since we don’t have yards in our neighborhood. It was more of a sidewalk sale. These sidewalk sales are found wherever there are people trying to make a few extra dollars to survive. Near our apartment, on 6th street, the sidewalks are transformed into a market every weekend – families come for the day with some things to sell, hoping to make enough to pay the rent, or feed their families.
Thus our yard sales are an appropriate place to practice redistribution, sharing the wealth of one neighborhood with another less affluent neighborhood. We also like that they are eco-friendly, and things that might have gone into a land-fill find a new life.
This particular yard sale began with my colleague Dan Shaw, whose precious wife died suddenly in October. He asked if perhaps we could use her clothes. It then turned out that Dan’s neighbor, from La Canada Presbyterian Church, had collected 300 pairs of shoes that needed to find new owners. When John found out we would receive these 300 pairs of shoes, he was ecstatic. Truly. He gets that excited about the possibilities. Seeing him so excited, I decided to join in the fun.
At 7:00 am, our team joined in and helped unload the truck of shoes. Within an hour, various people had filled up a bag of clothes and shoes to send to relatives in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala (redistribution across borders, even better!).
My favorite part was the box of barely used children’s books – we love to see books go into the homes of the local children, and these were really nice books, of the kind that people here cannot afford to buy. We kept some of the books for our community room, to be used for our activities there or for kids to borrow.
Throughout the day, neighbors hung out together in the area of the yard sale. Two girls were able to connect with Miriam, who works at a tutoring center at a local church, and were able to go with her in the evening to a fun Christmas event on a boat in Long Beach. Other kids were able to buy shoes they really liked for $2.00.
Why do we sell the shoes instead of giving them away? Our neighbors are not homeless. They are the working poor. They have some resources, just not enough. To give the shoes away would be to turn our friends and neighbors into “charity cases.” Buying the shoes gives them choice over what to buy, and retains their dignity. It is a reciprocal exchange, they benefit, and so do those selling.
At the end, there were still plenty of shoes, and clothes. Some went to another yard sale, to support a youth ministry of a local church. Thirty pair went to the St. Francis Center, where our colleague Kathy works with the homeless as a Physician’s Assistant on Mondays. Two bags were given to a neighbor going to Mexico at Christmas. Beyond the sale itself, we wish we could convey the substance of the relationships that were nurtured and the tangible sense of love and community that has grown in our neighborhood through these kinds of events.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
John and Jude Tiersma Watson
InnerCHANGE LA
To be accurate, it is not really a yard sale, since we don’t have yards in our neighborhood. It was more of a sidewalk sale. These sidewalk sales are found wherever there are people trying to make a few extra dollars to survive. Near our apartment, on 6th street, the sidewalks are transformed into a market every weekend – families come for the day with some things to sell, hoping to make enough to pay the rent, or feed their families.
Thus our yard sales are an appropriate place to practice redistribution, sharing the wealth of one neighborhood with another less affluent neighborhood. We also like that they are eco-friendly, and things that might have gone into a land-fill find a new life.
This particular yard sale began with my colleague Dan Shaw, whose precious wife died suddenly in October. He asked if perhaps we could use her clothes. It then turned out that Dan’s neighbor, from La Canada Presbyterian Church, had collected 300 pairs of shoes that needed to find new owners. When John found out we would receive these 300 pairs of shoes, he was ecstatic. Truly. He gets that excited about the possibilities. Seeing him so excited, I decided to join in the fun.
At 7:00 am, our team joined in and helped unload the truck of shoes. Within an hour, various people had filled up a bag of clothes and shoes to send to relatives in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala (redistribution across borders, even better!).
My favorite part was the box of barely used children’s books – we love to see books go into the homes of the local children, and these were really nice books, of the kind that people here cannot afford to buy. We kept some of the books for our community room, to be used for our activities there or for kids to borrow.
Throughout the day, neighbors hung out together in the area of the yard sale. Two girls were able to connect with Miriam, who works at a tutoring center at a local church, and were able to go with her in the evening to a fun Christmas event on a boat in Long Beach. Other kids were able to buy shoes they really liked for $2.00.
Why do we sell the shoes instead of giving them away? Our neighbors are not homeless. They are the working poor. They have some resources, just not enough. To give the shoes away would be to turn our friends and neighbors into “charity cases.” Buying the shoes gives them choice over what to buy, and retains their dignity. It is a reciprocal exchange, they benefit, and so do those selling.
At the end, there were still plenty of shoes, and clothes. Some went to another yard sale, to support a youth ministry of a local church. Thirty pair went to the St. Francis Center, where our colleague Kathy works with the homeless as a Physician’s Assistant on Mondays. Two bags were given to a neighbor going to Mexico at Christmas. Beyond the sale itself, we wish we could convey the substance of the relationships that were nurtured and the tangible sense of love and community that has grown in our neighborhood through these kinds of events.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
John and Jude Tiersma Watson
InnerCHANGE LA
Saturday, November 26, 2005
On 10 of the Ten
This was something I hadn't thought of before.
Susan
From: Francis Schaeffer's _True Spirituality_ ON THE GIVING OF THANKS
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's
wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or
anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17)
"Coveting is never an outward thing, from the very nature of the case. It is an
intriguing factor that this is the last command that God gives us in the Ten
Commandments and thus the hub of the whole matter. The end of the whole thing is
that we arrive at an inward situation and not merely an outward one." (TS, 7)
"Does this mean any desire is coveting and therefore sinful? The Bible makes it
plain this is not so -- all desire is not sin. So then the question arises,
when does proper desire become coveting? ...desire becomes sin when it fails to
include love of God or men. Further, I think there are two practical tests as to
when we are coveting against God or men: first, I am to love God enough to be
contented; second, I am to love men enough not to envy." (TS, 9)
"A quiet disposition and a heart giving thanks at any given moment is the real
test of the extent to which we love God at that moment."
(TS, 9)
Susan and Mark serve with InnerChange in Cambodia.
Susan
From: Francis Schaeffer's _True Spirituality_ ON THE GIVING OF THANKS
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's
wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or
anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17)
"Coveting is never an outward thing, from the very nature of the case. It is an
intriguing factor that this is the last command that God gives us in the Ten
Commandments and thus the hub of the whole matter. The end of the whole thing is
that we arrive at an inward situation and not merely an outward one." (TS, 7)
"Does this mean any desire is coveting and therefore sinful? The Bible makes it
plain this is not so -- all desire is not sin. So then the question arises,
when does proper desire become coveting? ...desire becomes sin when it fails to
include love of God or men. Further, I think there are two practical tests as to
when we are coveting against God or men: first, I am to love God enough to be
contented; second, I am to love men enough not to envy." (TS, 9)
"A quiet disposition and a heart giving thanks at any given moment is the real
test of the extent to which we love God at that moment."
(TS, 9)
Susan and Mark serve with InnerChange in Cambodia.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Thanks Giving.
At the core of my heart has been a growing grattitude.
I have never created one day of life.
Each day comes to me as a gift... and the fact that I get to make a difference with my life is an amazing gift.
There is a joy that comes from embracing the gift of life in the midst of pain. We have a choice to either accept and embrace the challenges of life... or to complain about them.
Today I am reminded that joy comes mixed with sorrow... and that sorrow can not be eliminated, yet it makes each choice that I do have radiate with more Joy... because today is another day I get to embrace the love of God and share it with others. Ephesians 3:14-21
Those who know me know the love I carry in my heart for each of you.
Those who don't know me... there is a greater love waiting to embrace us all if we are just willing.
Joyful Thanks Giving!
I have never created one day of life.
Each day comes to me as a gift... and the fact that I get to make a difference with my life is an amazing gift.
There is a joy that comes from embracing the gift of life in the midst of pain. We have a choice to either accept and embrace the challenges of life... or to complain about them.
Today I am reminded that joy comes mixed with sorrow... and that sorrow can not be eliminated, yet it makes each choice that I do have radiate with more Joy... because today is another day I get to embrace the love of God and share it with others. Ephesians 3:14-21
Those who know me know the love I carry in my heart for each of you.
Those who don't know me... there is a greater love waiting to embrace us all if we are just willing.
Joyful Thanks Giving!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Another Request for Prayer
Jude Writes:
Hello All — I am inviting you all to join me in prayer for my younger brother Ben, his wife Jeanine, and their three little ones. (This is the brother who is now on the family farm).
Last week Jeanine was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy this past Friday, and today the results are back. It is not the result we were hoping for. They removed the malignant lump, and several lymph nodes, but there are residual cancer cells that they were not able to remove. So on December 8, she will again go into surgery and have her breast removed. After that she will have a season of chemo and radiation.
Right now they need wisdom about treatment. Some are suggesting they go outside the San Joaquin Valley for treatment, but with three kids aged 3, 5 & 6, and Ben’s 14 hour work days on the dairy, it is not that easy to leave.
Also pray for me (us) to know how about my (our) time, when I (we) need to go be there with them. Ben and Jeanine are the family that live next door to my mom and have been looking out for my mom, so obviously this will impact what they can do for her as well.
Thanks for your prayers.
Jude
Hello All — I am inviting you all to join me in prayer for my younger brother Ben, his wife Jeanine, and their three little ones. (This is the brother who is now on the family farm).
Last week Jeanine was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy this past Friday, and today the results are back. It is not the result we were hoping for. They removed the malignant lump, and several lymph nodes, but there are residual cancer cells that they were not able to remove. So on December 8, she will again go into surgery and have her breast removed. After that she will have a season of chemo and radiation.
Right now they need wisdom about treatment. Some are suggesting they go outside the San Joaquin Valley for treatment, but with three kids aged 3, 5 & 6, and Ben’s 14 hour work days on the dairy, it is not that easy to leave.
Also pray for me (us) to know how about my (our) time, when I (we) need to go be there with them. Ben and Jeanine are the family that live next door to my mom and have been looking out for my mom, so obviously this will impact what they can do for her as well.
Thanks for your prayers.
Jude
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Learning to Say Good Bye
Since 2001 over 27+ people who were somehow tied in to my conscious world have died. Some have died from violence, some from cancer, a few from old age... this has rocked my world in some ways. Growing up in a culture that was good at denying the reality of death -- in Princeton NJ. Has left me with a gap in my ability to embrace life and death for what it is...
I find myself with this quezzy feeling that I have begun to recognize as anger... but what am I angry about...
The Bible does not lie about the shortness of life itself...
slowly it has dawned on me the roots of a very dangerous spiritual toxic poison.
I live in a culture that keeps trying to get me to love things and use people rather than Loving People and using things; Death puts the value of things in perspective.
A friend of mine, has had cancer removed from his brain... He has two kids and a loving wife... he has set in front of himself the hard work of contemplating what it means to care for their life span and it's journey... even if he may not be there... he has started to write them letters for their birthdays and for their hoped for life stages... like marriage... etc.
Half the world is 15 years old or younger.
We have created a world that is extremely indulgent and does not care much about the world we are passing on to these kids. Even normal life is more twisted than we like to imagine... visit your local land fill and contemplate your contribution to it... if you think that your life is just a little messed up...
I am going to a grief group tonight because I have never really learned how to be angry in a healthy way. I am angry because we as a culture do not value life as we should... It has taught me all the wrong priorities... What thing would I not sacrifice if it meant that I could have just one more hour of quality time with Dr. James Loder, or Satoe One.
If we valued life we would honor it much more than we do... and we would struggle with what is of real value and significance much more than we do...
"NO One Gets a Second Chance To Be the Friend they Meant to Be" Mark Heard
I find myself with this quezzy feeling that I have begun to recognize as anger... but what am I angry about...
The Bible does not lie about the shortness of life itself...
slowly it has dawned on me the roots of a very dangerous spiritual toxic poison.
I live in a culture that keeps trying to get me to love things and use people rather than Loving People and using things; Death puts the value of things in perspective.
A friend of mine, has had cancer removed from his brain... He has two kids and a loving wife... he has set in front of himself the hard work of contemplating what it means to care for their life span and it's journey... even if he may not be there... he has started to write them letters for their birthdays and for their hoped for life stages... like marriage... etc.
Half the world is 15 years old or younger.
We have created a world that is extremely indulgent and does not care much about the world we are passing on to these kids. Even normal life is more twisted than we like to imagine... visit your local land fill and contemplate your contribution to it... if you think that your life is just a little messed up...
I am going to a grief group tonight because I have never really learned how to be angry in a healthy way. I am angry because we as a culture do not value life as we should... It has taught me all the wrong priorities... What thing would I not sacrifice if it meant that I could have just one more hour of quality time with Dr. James Loder, or Satoe One.
If we valued life we would honor it much more than we do... and we would struggle with what is of real value and significance much more than we do...
"NO One Gets a Second Chance To Be the Friend they Meant to Be" Mark Heard
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Thinking about my small network.
There are a few blogs that are from some friends who have come alongside InnerChange in ministry for a season. Some have continued their blogs. And some have left theirs as a record of their journey with us.
Julia an APU student will be the third APU student who has joined us and served with us as part of their studies at APU. She has just started her journey and her blog: OneUno.
Shauna & Alisha were with us last year. (Alisha’s entry on February 24, 2005 has a link to some great pictures of our neighborhood.)
Ben W served all of Innerchange through his technical skills while living with our San Francisco team.
Kathy is a Companion to InnerChange and has served with us in LA for many years. We are ever so grateful for her presence, giftedness, and passion to serve in this community.
Darren is our fearless editor of InnerChange’s quarterly publication The Inner Voice.
I could Go on and list Ginny the Poet, and JC, Jrod, and others… but my main point is to encourage you to explore my little network here. Some have just started… others have been at this blogging thing longer than I have. Not all are in the same circle of faith and works of Faith that I am in. But all have a voice worth listening to… I will clean up the list in a few weeks. If you have a favorite let me know.
Let’s keep doing this thing called life and learn to center it in the love of God. That’s what I will be seeking to do.
Julia an APU student will be the third APU student who has joined us and served with us as part of their studies at APU. She has just started her journey and her blog: OneUno.
Shauna & Alisha were with us last year. (Alisha’s entry on February 24, 2005 has a link to some great pictures of our neighborhood.)
Ben W served all of Innerchange through his technical skills while living with our San Francisco team.
Kathy is a Companion to InnerChange and has served with us in LA for many years. We are ever so grateful for her presence, giftedness, and passion to serve in this community.
Darren is our fearless editor of InnerChange’s quarterly publication The Inner Voice.
I could Go on and list Ginny the Poet, and JC, Jrod, and others… but my main point is to encourage you to explore my little network here. Some have just started… others have been at this blogging thing longer than I have. Not all are in the same circle of faith and works of Faith that I am in. But all have a voice worth listening to… I will clean up the list in a few weeks. If you have a favorite let me know.
Let’s keep doing this thing called life and learn to center it in the love of God. That’s what I will be seeking to do.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
The Book of Common Prayer
Today like most Tuesdays, I have the privelege of praying for all of InnerChange and our work around the world. All InnerChange missionaries take some time on Tuesdays to pray for our larger movement. Today only two of us could make it to the sceduled time of prayer. Many are away, traveling, on a much needed vacation, or had pressing work this morning.
Since neither Paul nor I had time to prepare for our time of prayer... I thought since he likes "The Book of Common Prayer" as a helpful guide for prayer... I might be able to find it online. Here is a link to what I found...
Mission St. Clare seems to be an Orthodox group who have organized the daily prayers and other helpful resources for the bennefitt of those interested. We found the Morning service helpful today... even though I still prefer the Online Prayer Guide put together by England's branch of Youth for Christ.
What do you do to feed your soul???
Since neither Paul nor I had time to prepare for our time of prayer... I thought since he likes "The Book of Common Prayer" as a helpful guide for prayer... I might be able to find it online. Here is a link to what I found...
Mission St. Clare seems to be an Orthodox group who have organized the daily prayers and other helpful resources for the bennefitt of those interested. We found the Morning service helpful today... even though I still prefer the Online Prayer Guide put together by England's branch of Youth for Christ.
What do you do to feed your soul???
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Sunday, July 24, 2005
I got to share my testimony with Evelyn's "Skater" Youth
After sharing my testimony and my relationship with the God of the Bible... these youth recieved these Bibles with a lot of joy and enthusiasm.
Thanks to those who donated special extra resources in order that we could give these Bibles out to friends like Evelyn's Skater kids. Bibles and other christian resources are always useful.
I hope to speak again to this group in the fall.
Spiritual hunger often comes up to the surface when young people are talked with rather than talked at.
Friday, July 15, 2005
My first Wedding as the Pastor
Willie & Gennell... I have known them since 1993... here they are playing a little cards with my friend Steve...
It is a joy to be able to see them make this kind of committment to each other. It is the promises that we make and keep that builds honor and courage into our lives.
Pray for me. I am supposed to keep my sermon to only 12 minutes...Thank you For your prayers!!! my 10 minute sermon based on 1 John 1. Thanks!!! I will say more about this...
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Still Digging up tears from July 2001.
Sunday July third, 2005 Robert a young man that I hardly knew was gunned down a block from where I live. At first I find myself numb to these kind of realities. Then there comes the car wash on the weekend to help pay for the funeral. Seeing the signs advertising a car wash for Robert and getting a call from Jude on her cell telling me that she was at the car wash, sent my soul on a journey towards the next layer of release. (Witnessing trauma can often delay and extend the grieving process; I have not only witnessed trauma, but know over 20 people who have died since 2001.)
My soul stayed troubled all day. All things are not right with the world. Explosions in London highlight this fact. This deep sense of tension between what is and what ought to be starts to boil up in my soul. I have trouble sleeping and decide to watch a movie. I have the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy and decide to select scenes out of “The Return of the King”. After an hour of skipping forward to some of my favorite scenes I come to the end when the company must truly part and say goodbye for the last time. I sob for half an hour. Finding the release I needed, finally I could rest. This seams to be a healing door for me. “Blessed are they that Mourn for they shall be comforted.” I am like a lot of guys who have been taught not to cry. The themes in Tolkien’s, “Lord of the Rings” have helped me since I first read the novels in sixth grade. I have read them so many times that I am sure my mind fills in gaps in the movie. Meaning and sacrificial love go hand in hand; the way we give our lives away every day... that is what becomes the meaning of our lives.
Anyone who wants to watch a good movie and cry with me sometime – let me know.
Hopefully I will get the freedom one day to not need the aid of Movies to dredge up the past but will be free to cry and rejoice and release my true feelings in a friends embrace, in seasons of parting, in celebrations of life and death, and in the communion of the saints – through prayer.
My soul stayed troubled all day. All things are not right with the world. Explosions in London highlight this fact. This deep sense of tension between what is and what ought to be starts to boil up in my soul. I have trouble sleeping and decide to watch a movie. I have the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy and decide to select scenes out of “The Return of the King”. After an hour of skipping forward to some of my favorite scenes I come to the end when the company must truly part and say goodbye for the last time. I sob for half an hour. Finding the release I needed, finally I could rest. This seams to be a healing door for me. “Blessed are they that Mourn for they shall be comforted.” I am like a lot of guys who have been taught not to cry. The themes in Tolkien’s, “Lord of the Rings” have helped me since I first read the novels in sixth grade. I have read them so many times that I am sure my mind fills in gaps in the movie. Meaning and sacrificial love go hand in hand; the way we give our lives away every day... that is what becomes the meaning of our lives.
Anyone who wants to watch a good movie and cry with me sometime – let me know.
Hopefully I will get the freedom one day to not need the aid of Movies to dredge up the past but will be free to cry and rejoice and release my true feelings in a friends embrace, in seasons of parting, in celebrations of life and death, and in the communion of the saints – through prayer.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Urban Jungle and the Young at Heart
Today on the way back from Pasadena a young man desperate for help begged me to help him with directions. He was on the way to a rehab home in North Hollywood. I tried pointing out the maps available... he said I can't read maps. His anger at not being able to understand the world of words and directions fueled his desperation and undermined his sense of dignity.
Half the world is young... under 15 years old... and the modern world is a challenge to understand and navigate ... even for adults...
He carried religious books with him... but what he wanted both now to get to the rehab and in life was... "Don't tell me, show me".
I am more and more struck by how much change is happening on how the young percieve things... "The Medium is the Massage"... The youth I work with do not remeber much without a visual reference to go along with what I am talking about.
We need a lot more adults not only willing to give directions... but willing to give directions in a manner that the young can absorb. The youth I know and many of the adults are on stimulation overload. They are at the point where they say... I can't figure it out... don't tell me... show me.
I am glad that Jesus said,
"Come and Follow Me"
because I needed tangible demonstrations of
Ways to live, How to live, and Truth to live out of...
... so I can't complain when I am asked... don't just tell me ... Show me...
Half the world is young... under 15 years old... and the modern world is a challenge to understand and navigate ... even for adults...
He carried religious books with him... but what he wanted both now to get to the rehab and in life was... "Don't tell me, show me".
I am more and more struck by how much change is happening on how the young percieve things... "The Medium is the Massage"... The youth I work with do not remeber much without a visual reference to go along with what I am talking about.
We need a lot more adults not only willing to give directions... but willing to give directions in a manner that the young can absorb. The youth I know and many of the adults are on stimulation overload. They are at the point where they say... I can't figure it out... don't tell me... show me.
I am glad that Jesus said,
"Come and Follow Me"
because I needed tangible demonstrations of
Ways to live, How to live, and Truth to live out of...
... so I can't complain when I am asked... don't just tell me ... Show me...
Monday, June 13, 2005
A quick Update
Thuis week IC has it's annual conference. Pray that we grow as a community in mission... both in wisdom and strength.
Pray for Valerie as her mother Theressa has passed on to the next life. We praise God that the last year of her life she walked with Jesus and her family was strengthened because of this.
July we have Melony & Julio's Wedding -- July 9
and then we have Willie & Gennell's wedding -- July 16 (I will be the pastor for this wedding)
Thank you for your prayers for us...
Pray for Valerie as her mother Theressa has passed on to the next life. We praise God that the last year of her life she walked with Jesus and her family was strengthened because of this.
July we have Melony & Julio's Wedding -- July 9
and then we have Willie & Gennell's wedding -- July 16 (I will be the pastor for this wedding)
Thank you for your prayers for us...
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Why I am a Christian
The Good Book says that both rain and sunshine fall on the just and the unjust. I have come to believe that the brokenness of the world also remains at this time for the just and the unjust.
This being so, I for a time have been wondering what advantage in this life is there to being a Christian. Heaven has never been the big appeal to me. I am much more passionate about the here and now… “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth…”
This past Sunday when I had the privilege of serving communion, an early childhood memory came back to me. I remember encountering a love manifested through my aunt and uncle that I did not have. This brought me to tears (I cried in my room for over an hour under the conviction that I did not have within me this kind of love); they told me that Christ was the source of this love. I remembered a time in my life when I was a stranger to the source of this kind of love.
In fourth grade I encountered Christ for myself, though I really came to appreciate Christ’s love much more in high school. This for me is the enduring gift of God. I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without Christ’s love. A love that has not always been mediated through others -- yet witnessed in others; a grace and a gift that in truth is nothing short of God extending God’s very Spirit or breath to us.
No one gets to keep their life and each of us uses it or give it away daily.
Some might say that we can love without Christ; I would say that the love we could love with would be much deeper and more profound with Christ. This is why I am a Christian to this day and this is why I wish that others would become like me at this one point – Ephesians 3:14-21.
I Cor. 13
I John 1
Matthew 24
This being so, I for a time have been wondering what advantage in this life is there to being a Christian. Heaven has never been the big appeal to me. I am much more passionate about the here and now… “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth…”
This past Sunday when I had the privilege of serving communion, an early childhood memory came back to me. I remember encountering a love manifested through my aunt and uncle that I did not have. This brought me to tears (I cried in my room for over an hour under the conviction that I did not have within me this kind of love); they told me that Christ was the source of this love. I remembered a time in my life when I was a stranger to the source of this kind of love.
In fourth grade I encountered Christ for myself, though I really came to appreciate Christ’s love much more in high school. This for me is the enduring gift of God. I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without Christ’s love. A love that has not always been mediated through others -- yet witnessed in others; a grace and a gift that in truth is nothing short of God extending God’s very Spirit or breath to us.
No one gets to keep their life and each of us uses it or give it away daily.
Some might say that we can love without Christ; I would say that the love we could love with would be much deeper and more profound with Christ. This is why I am a Christian to this day and this is why I wish that others would become like me at this one point – Ephesians 3:14-21.
I Cor. 13
I John 1
Matthew 24
Monday, May 23, 2005
Urban Youth Workers Institute
Jude and I presented two talks this weekend at the UYWI conference. Our material on the "Use of public Space" and "A Missional View of HIPHOP in the Latino context" was well recieved by those who came. It was the very first time I have used Power Point on my new (1 week old) Mac Power Book. Thanks to the Tech support that they had... and the great youth and youth workers that came to our seminars!!!
I promised a book list that would help folks in their journey of navigating their faith walk in this fast world of ours... I will post this latter this afternoon... peace...
Here is a Start... and this is still in progress...
The books listed here are in response to the different people that I met at the UYWI please note the reason that each resource is mentioned and pursue those that are of interest to you:
Life in Christ references:
*Disciple by Juan Carlos Ortiz – Years before the book, “40 days of Purpose” by Rick Warren, Juan Carlos Ortiz helped orient me to becoming a true disciple and follower of Jesus Christ. It is written on a sixth grade reading level without being simplistic and is still inspirational to me even though I have read it over more than 10 times.
*The Celebration of Discipline, By Richard Foster – When I got to the place where I said OK I know the truth but give me something to do with it that will bring life into my soul the church that I was attending started working through this book as a community. It Rocked my world.
*Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith by Richard Foster
*Loving God, by Chuck Colson
*Space for God, by Don Postema – this is where I turn when my prayer life or poetry life gets old and dry.
HipHop and Youth Culture References:
* National Geographic Vol. 196, No. 2 August 1999 “Global Culture” – The cover picture and it’s contents ate worth contemplating if we are going to be ready for tomorrows world of missions.
*Code of the Streets:Dececy, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City by Elijah Anderson
*The HipHop Generation by Bakari Kitwana
*Fight the Power by Chuck D
*It’s not About a Salary: Rap, Race, and Resistance in Los Angeles by Brian Cross
*Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King -- the Power of his oratory and the wisdom of the words are often still relevant to us today. The reason why his wisdom is not taken up by this HipHop generation is because my generation only half-stepped to what he was calling us to rather than fulfilling the dream. I sometimes read some of his words over beats.
Bring it together:
*Mustard Seed Versus McWorld: Reinventing Life and Faith for the Future, by Tom Sine
*Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing it Together and Doing it Right, by John Perkins
Other thought Provokers and Helps:
*Dedication and Leadership, by Douglass Hyde – sometimes our discipleship is not working because we are not doing what can and should be done in terms of good basic leadership development and God may be blessing us in spite of our weak organizational structures and training patterns.
*Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey – a great read for those of us who struggle with our faith a times.
I promised a book list that would help folks in their journey of navigating their faith walk in this fast world of ours... I will post this latter this afternoon... peace...
Here is a Start... and this is still in progress...
The books listed here are in response to the different people that I met at the UYWI please note the reason that each resource is mentioned and pursue those that are of interest to you:
Life in Christ references:
*Disciple by Juan Carlos Ortiz – Years before the book, “40 days of Purpose” by Rick Warren, Juan Carlos Ortiz helped orient me to becoming a true disciple and follower of Jesus Christ. It is written on a sixth grade reading level without being simplistic and is still inspirational to me even though I have read it over more than 10 times.
*The Celebration of Discipline, By Richard Foster – When I got to the place where I said OK I know the truth but give me something to do with it that will bring life into my soul the church that I was attending started working through this book as a community. It Rocked my world.
*Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith by Richard Foster
*Loving God, by Chuck Colson
*Space for God, by Don Postema – this is where I turn when my prayer life or poetry life gets old and dry.
HipHop and Youth Culture References:
* National Geographic Vol. 196, No. 2 August 1999 “Global Culture” – The cover picture and it’s contents ate worth contemplating if we are going to be ready for tomorrows world of missions.
*Code of the Streets:Dececy, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City by Elijah Anderson
*The HipHop Generation by Bakari Kitwana
*Fight the Power by Chuck D
*It’s not About a Salary: Rap, Race, and Resistance in Los Angeles by Brian Cross
*Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King -- the Power of his oratory and the wisdom of the words are often still relevant to us today. The reason why his wisdom is not taken up by this HipHop generation is because my generation only half-stepped to what he was calling us to rather than fulfilling the dream. I sometimes read some of his words over beats.
Bring it together:
*Mustard Seed Versus McWorld: Reinventing Life and Faith for the Future, by Tom Sine
*Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing it Together and Doing it Right, by John Perkins
Other thought Provokers and Helps:
*Dedication and Leadership, by Douglass Hyde – sometimes our discipleship is not working because we are not doing what can and should be done in terms of good basic leadership development and God may be blessing us in spite of our weak organizational structures and training patterns.
*Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey – a great read for those of us who struggle with our faith a times.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
One of the best B-days ever...
I want to thank everyone who joined in celebrating my birthday...
What made it such a good day for me is that I enjoy watching people -- especially my friends... What was moving to me was to watch how much love and care was in the mix. It matters to me that my friends are good to each others and for each others... and that is the way it was and is... All thanks to God for this...
Roxy, Chris, Lance Mark, & Salvador... for setting up the decorations at Magee's Donut Shop.
Sal, Jose, and Rikki... for bringing my two favorite cakes to share with everyone.
Wil, Glen, and Nate... for Gifts of sharing Art... Keep up the Creativity!!!
Willie & Gennell... We are looking forward to you Wedding this summer...
Carmen... for her encouraging words and for encouraging her son in his creativity...
Barbie & Yoshi... for sharing your cullinary arts and the largest havest of lemons I have ever been blessed with...
Miriam, Nate... for hanging out with me for a whole day of musings and conversation...
Jesika... for spreading love wherever you go...
Paul, Kathy, Mel, Julio, Rikki, Kristin, Steve & Sandra... for so often going the extra mile for us throughout the years...
Jude with great love made a trip to the Farmers Market on Mariposa Street and brought 8 baskets of our favorite fruit / Strawbarries...
Miguel, Ramiro... for freindship over the years
Reina, and Kathy for being such good neighbors...
Natalie, and Melissa for their friendship, Paitience with questions about La Cultura Aqui, and the years of hair cuts...
LA Street Productions... Remembering our beginnings at Maggees... Active members: Wil, Miriam, Nate... Innactive Members: Sal, and Rei (by phone), and Potential new members Glen, and Yoshi...
For special guests... Kim, Alexi, and Kathy
Maria, Frank, and Ronald also came through...
Kathy also reminded me of John 13 and Jesus washing the feet of the disciples... and our care for the feet of the poor... and our shared history of sharing something of the love of God in this way... thank you for blessing my feet for my birthday... may we extend this blessing to others... may we carry the grace implied by such a blessing...
Mike & Mona...For the best breakfast I have ever had...on my real B-day... at the House of Blues Sundays Gospel Brunch.
What made it such a good day for me is that I enjoy watching people -- especially my friends... What was moving to me was to watch how much love and care was in the mix. It matters to me that my friends are good to each others and for each others... and that is the way it was and is... All thanks to God for this...
Roxy, Chris, Lance Mark, & Salvador... for setting up the decorations at Magee's Donut Shop.
Sal, Jose, and Rikki... for bringing my two favorite cakes to share with everyone.
Wil, Glen, and Nate... for Gifts of sharing Art... Keep up the Creativity!!!
Willie & Gennell... We are looking forward to you Wedding this summer...
Carmen... for her encouraging words and for encouraging her son in his creativity...
Barbie & Yoshi... for sharing your cullinary arts and the largest havest of lemons I have ever been blessed with...
Miriam, Nate... for hanging out with me for a whole day of musings and conversation...
Jesika... for spreading love wherever you go...
Paul, Kathy, Mel, Julio, Rikki, Kristin, Steve & Sandra... for so often going the extra mile for us throughout the years...
Jude with great love made a trip to the Farmers Market on Mariposa Street and brought 8 baskets of our favorite fruit / Strawbarries...
Miguel, Ramiro... for freindship over the years
Reina, and Kathy for being such good neighbors...
Natalie, and Melissa for their friendship, Paitience with questions about La Cultura Aqui, and the years of hair cuts...
LA Street Productions... Remembering our beginnings at Maggees... Active members: Wil, Miriam, Nate... Innactive Members: Sal, and Rei (by phone), and Potential new members Glen, and Yoshi...
For special guests... Kim, Alexi, and Kathy
Maria, Frank, and Ronald also came through...
Kathy also reminded me of John 13 and Jesus washing the feet of the disciples... and our care for the feet of the poor... and our shared history of sharing something of the love of God in this way... thank you for blessing my feet for my birthday... may we extend this blessing to others... may we carry the grace implied by such a blessing...
Mike & Mona...For the best breakfast I have ever had...on my real B-day... at the House of Blues Sundays Gospel Brunch.
Friday, April 22, 2005
10 Years of Marrige
There is the gift of being loved for over 10 years by someone you know as, "unique in all the world".
There is the gift of support, challenge towards growth, and encouragement through the hard times.
Free but lonely nights are forgotten and have given way to interdependence...
Then there is the gift of being loved for just who you are... including the imperfections...
This is what 10 years of marriage has meant to me... this and much more...
This morning I got a phone call from a good friend saying thank you for being a role model... I have always wanted to stand up straight and tall and point to the love of God in all things... It is a gift to know that I may have succeeded at least in part...
It is a gift that once again draws me to my knees in prayer... Ephessians 3:14-21.
There is the gift of support, challenge towards growth, and encouragement through the hard times.
Free but lonely nights are forgotten and have given way to interdependence...
Then there is the gift of being loved for just who you are... including the imperfections...
This is what 10 years of marriage has meant to me... this and much more...
Thank You Jude!!!
This morning I got a phone call from a good friend saying thank you for being a role model... I have always wanted to stand up straight and tall and point to the love of God in all things... It is a gift to know that I may have succeeded at least in part...
It is a gift that once again draws me to my knees in prayer... Ephessians 3:14-21.
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