Another example of one small groups efforts to put feet to the gospel in their neighborhood

as told by one of the small group members at this Seattle area church.....

So how did we find out that the Phinney Neighborhood Center needed help landscaping their park? We asked. They informed us that their park was in need of some spring cleaning, which included weeding, removing overgrown bushes, planting new trees, bushes, and plants AND spreading a huge truck load of bark. Unbeknownst to us, this work party actually marked the ten-year anniversary of the Heart of Phinney park which was built a decade ago by volunteers just like us.

We, as the Green Lake/Phinney Community Groups, felt this was the perfect way to utilize the MicroMission funds to love and serve our neighborhood. It was a privilege for our community groups to partner along side neighbors, university students, and Phinney Neighborhood Association members to beautify a park that acts as a popular gathering space for the entire community. And it was an honor to provide the funding for all the supplies, materials and even the burgers for our work party BBQ.

Our heart in this MicroMission was simply to love our neighbors, which is what Jesus commands us to do (Matthew 22:34-40). It’s encouraging belonging to a church that desires not just to preach the gospel, but to live it out as well. Thank you elders for providing us this MicroMission fund and for helping us to utilize it.

An atheist's encounter with a believer, in his own words

Impacting a community for the sake of the gospel

Here is the story of one group of believers in Seattle who took advantage of a small service grant provided by their church and transformed a portion of their neighborhood. This and other similar stories can be viewed here.Some of the values that undergird this church’s provision of these funds are as follows.

• Relationships. Serve who you know; know who you serve (Mk 12:31).
• Compassion. Concern for both the spiritual and physical well-being of all beneficiaries (Mt 25:40).
• Sacrifice. Demonstrate commitment, accountability, and sincerity through tangible contributions of time, money, and effort (2 Cor 8:8).
• Humility. Those meeting needs are also being served as they serve, growing closer to Jesus, cultivating greater compassion for people, and bringing him glory in the process (Mt 9:13).

Jason, a community group leader for less than three months, lives in the Rainier district. He has a love for the people in his neighborhood and deeply desires to care for them. This community is mired in gang violence and marred with graffiti. He knows that Jesus has removed the stench from his past and he desires to symbolically do the same in his neighborhood by physically cleaning it up.

He is building a community group dedicated to cleaning graffiti and the neighborhood they live in. Last week they took MicroMission funds and funded a cleanup of four traffic circles. He chose this project because he was involving women and children on this project. (Jason believes that when they clean up graffiti there are some risks, so he plans to do that just with the men.) Little did he know that this was not quite as safe as he thought.

They set out removing trash, weeds, and anything that distorted the beauty of the area. They clothed the newly cleaned ground with fresh bark that they paid for. As they were cleaning up one of the traffic circles, one of the members found a gun hidden in the bushes. One does have to wonder what that gun was used for if it was disposed of. Coincidentally, there was a gun fight in the area just days before. It is a blessing that it was discovered by Jason’s team before a child found it.

As they removed the last of the garbage and carefully placed the last of the bark, they gazed upon how much the area was transformed. As Jesus is in the business restoring each of us despite our brokenness, Jason’s group reflects this truth by cleaning up their neighborhood. Afterward, they celebrated with several other teams in the park enjoying Vietnamese sandwiches–pondering what the next project would be like.

In the following days, the city sent them a letter thanking them and giving them an award “The Best Road Rage Killer” for their hard and persistent work.

There are likely thousands of opportunities like this to show the love of Jesus in our neighborhoods. How could we learn from Jason’s example to allow God to use us in such restorative way?

Think. Engage. Impact.

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God
When their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood

*Chorus*
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

Regina Spektor is a Russian born Jewish singer songwriter who moved to New York at age nine with her photographer father and music professor mother. Her songwriting skills seem to only be surpassed by her astute gift for observation and an uncanny ability to marry her razor sharp wit with her unique and haunting vocal abilities. This is an artist. She is also, coincidentally, the voice singing the final song in the second Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian.

In her new single "Laughing With" from her latest release “Far” she offers up a beautiful (and somewhat painful) double sided critique both of the church, who often presents God as “a genie who does magic like Houdini” as well as the culture at large who laughs “at a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke” but would never think to laugh “when the doctor calls after some routine tests” or “when it’s gotten real late
and their kid’s not back from the party yet”.

It is a helpful thing to have our ear to the ground and be aware of what the culture at large is saying, particularly when they are pointing to things that are true. By no means am I stating that Spektor is a believer. I am saying, however, that as the rain falls on the Christian farmer and non-christian farmer alike, allowing their crops to flourish so that populations can be fed and blessed by their labors, in these lyrics we find truth present.

We also find a unique conversational bridge with those who follow her music. There are message boards discussing the meaning behind these lyrics all over, from the benign Yahoo Answers to blogs and sites with titles like songmeanings.net and thinkatheist.com. What more effective method of evangelism than to simply join in conversations people are already having? With our hearts pointed outward in love for a people who are on the heart of God, with our minds informed, thoroughly sharpened and prepared to engage, with our feet firmly planted upon the truths of Scripture let us…..

Think. Engage. Impact.

God is concerned about economics?

So what does the above illustration from a recent Brookings Institution finding tell us about our city? At first glance it tells us two things at a minimum. First, the economy in our area has done a good job of expanding and adding jobs. Hooray. That is certainly something to be applauded. There are many areas of our nation that have not fared nearly as well. (I'm feelin' ya' Detroit.)

Second, these findings tell us while our economy has done relatively well, the benefit has not been felt proportionally throughout the area's population. If you live within 3 miles of the city center, you are living under very different circumstances than the rest of the area. What we basically see is that, in comparing a resident of downtown Birmingham and one from an area in Northern Shelby County particularly when it comes to issues of economic opportunity, we might as well be looking at two different countries. Many of these residents are then hit with a myriad of issues which snowball out from jobs moving further and further from where they live.

Elizabeth Kneebone, researcher for the Brookings Institute study, listed some of the following adverse effects of having a job market sprawling over a larger geographic area.

• Infrastructure. In diffuse, low-density development, the cost of water and sewers may be 20 to 40 percent higher than for high-density development. And the urban core may be left with a depleted tax base that cannot support existing infrastructure and services.

• Transportation. Growth without limits along interstates and commercial corridors like U.S. 280 fails to integrate residential and business uses, and leads to longer commuting times and road congestion. It also prevents efficient and profitable public transportation.

• Access. Decentralization separates under-employed workers from better job opportunities.

• Innovation. Lower-density development means less interaction between businesses and may reduce idea sharing and innovation.

• Energy consumption. Lower-density development increases the overall number of vehicle miles driven each year, making the per-person "carbon footprint" of a metro region greater.

How do we live out the implications of the gospel in such a way that it impacts not only what we do on Sunday mornings, but also how our local job market looks? How can we strive to take the Bible's words about the poor, the orphan, the widow, the alien and actually live it out in such a way that a watching world sits up and takes notice? People expect the church to talk about "spiritual things", but when the church stands up and begins to speak with Biblical authority on issues like economics, job creation, and social justice people likely will truly begin to pay attention, even if it at first it is only out of shock!

May we be a church that redeems shock value for the purposes of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

La Quemada Day 2

Day 2, whew! What a day! The changes to this formerly empty lot are dramatic in just the past two days. Today the playground equipment was delivered and almost completely installed. The shade arbor got rafters started and should be finished up by tomorrow as well. We were also able to the main posts for a fence along the street up and ready for fence slats tomorrow (maybe). We started off digging the holes with pick axes and post hole diggers until someone had the bright idea to rent an auger attachment for our bobcat. Technology is an AWESOME thing.

The Bible Club went well today also. Yesterday there were a little over 30 kids there. Today there were around 50. There are kids everywhere. Some of the children actually came to Oak Mountain’s VBS last week and were excited when we told them we were coming to their place this week, although they didn’t fully understand why.

When they were leaving the church after VBS one day last week some of the kids asked if they could play on our playground there before returning home. We had promised the parents that we would have the children back by a certain time every day, and there just wasn’t time. They were sad and made the comment that there wasn’t anywhere to play where they lived. Octavio, who works with Oak Mountain’s Hispanic ministry mentioned to them that we were coming to build a playground just for them at their home. They still didn’t understand. They went home telling each other that we might come in for one day with a bunch of inflatables. That would be great for a day, but it’s still not the same thing as a permanent playground. Octovio said they just couldn’t bring their little minds to believe that we would come in and build a permanent structure. Makes since when you think how so little in their lives are permanent.

Parents leave, either to find better employment or to return to their home country, often leaving the children behind with a spouse or another relative. Friends leave, either moving with parents, or to get a job in another city, or sometimes with the older kids, their friends leave permanently because of gang violence, moving to the nearest cemetery. Why would a group of wealthy people (and no matter what we may think about our own economic status, we are WORLDS apart economically from the people we are serving here) leave their manicured lawns and well kept houses (all of which their families do for us by the way) and build anything permanent for them?

It’s actually a good question for them to be asking, as long as we are willing to give them an answer that communicates an ongoing, gospel influenced, relational presence in their lives and their community. If we are simply here for one week to build a shiny tribute to ourselves so that we can pat ourselves on the back for our “good deed”, then we have only reinforced what these residents already fear about themselves. That they are unimportant and that their value to us is only a temporary value based upon our use of them in helping us feel good about ourselves. This would not only be condescending and incredibly self-centered on our part, it would set up a clear contrast to what the Creator of the individuals in this community says about them.

These “poorest among you”, the fatherless, the widow and the alien, are dearly loved by the One who repeatedly calls us to love boldly and to serve humbly. Their value rests in the fact that they are created in the image of the One whom we call LORD. In recognizing His image in them, however dim we might say it is, we bring honor to God and communicate true worth and value to those Jesus himself calls “blessed”.

La Quemada Day 1

Day 1 at La Quemada went well. The team met at the church for a morning orientation and devotional to set us up for the day. One of our elders, Ben May, spoke to the team and encouraged us both from the Word as well as with poetry put to music by Allen Levi. In Allen’s song, “Children Need a Place to Play”, he is speaking of his brother building a playground in the city of Sarajevo just after the end of the war there. (You can read more of the story of this song and also listen to Allen perform it at his website here.)

He basically speaks to the question of why in the world we would go to a poor, gang ridden neighborhood and build, of all things, a playground. Why not a church? Why not a school? Why not something more “spiritual” or more “holy” than a simple play structure on an empty lot in the ‘hood? I can only allow Allen’s words, written from the heart of a poet, to answer in his own eloquent way.

Children Need a Place to Play

by: Allen Levi

It's an angry town, full of dangerous streets
And there's fear in the eyes and revenge in the hearts
Of the people you meet
It's a cruel war, sharp as a tight strung wire
And the children learn to hate caught in the crossfire

But someone's bringing them a truck of sand
Someone's bringing them a jungle gym
Somebody's coming from a foreign land to play with them
Cause they know children need a place to play
Don't the children need a way to get away
A stranger comes with a sandbox and a see-saw
Cause he knows children need a place to play

Across the great Atlantic, from the outside looking in
Madness seems to rule the hearts of ordinary men
But in the angry widow and the one-armed boy and soilders can't we see
Somewhere in that line-up are you and me

But Someone's bringing us a truck of sand
Somebody's bringing us a jungle gym
Somebody's coming from another Land to play
Cause He knows children need a place to play
Don't the children need a way to get away
A Stranger comes with a sandbox and a see-saw
Cause He knows children need a place to play

There among the small ones is the secret of true laughter
The wisdom and the worship of the playful
Cause we need a place to play
In this hard world we need a way to get away
Christ Jesus comes with peace and joy and laughter
And He calls children, children come and play
Come and play

La Quemada

Oak Mountain's vision is....

to exalt Christ by equipping every member to....

Seek Grace from God;
Share Grace in Community;
Show Grace to All.

Next week a team of people from Oak Mountain Church will be going downtown to the "La Quemada" neighborhood near the Birmingham Airport. Right now, a vacant lot sits covered with trash, weeds and broken glass. By this time next week our hope is that a new park and playground will be taking shape in this space. From the genesis of an idea, flowing out of, not an attitude of "us helping the poor people down there", but rather from an ongoing relationship between members of Oak Mountain's Hispanic ministry and the residents of this neighborhood, our desire is that the light of the gospel of Christ will shine through the sweat and labor of next week so that Christ might be glorified and the Kingdom expanded. Please pray for this team as they seek to bring joy and hope to a people who are dearly loved and highly valued by the Creator. Pray that they will truly glorify God by "showing grace to all".
.

Patron of the Arts?

Are you a patron of the arts? Does it really even matter? This is Denis Haack's question in the attached essay. It is intriguing to think of all of the creativity God employed in the creation of all around us, and yet often times we scoff at the arts community as a village of immoral and un-redeemable oddballs that do not fit into "proper society's" mold. Read and engage.

Great thoughts from greater minds than my own

From Matt Adair, teaching pastor at Christ Community Church in Watkinsville, GA

Collin Hansen writes about the uncertainty that surrounds the relationship between a struggling economy and people's desire for community. Optimistically, Christians believe that an economic unraveling will go a long way to convincing people that they need each other. Pessimistically, it appears that we're not looking to share our struggles but to hide from each other and watch a different favorite TV show every night in isolation from our friends and neighbors. The church has an opportunity to cut against the grain of culture and learn how to live in community. But let's be careful - because far too often, community in the church is disconnected from mission and has no intention of gathering in people who don't know Jesus into our life.

Quoting Robert Putnam, who wrote Bowling Alone, Hansen writes:

As Putnam observes in Bowling Alone, the demands of private piety and church-based service can insulate evangelicals from the needs outside their homes and churches.

"Most evangelical volunteering, however, supports the religious life of the congregation itself—teaching Sunday school, singing in the choir, ushering at worship services—but does not extend to the broader community as much as volunteering by members of other faiths," Putnam writes.

Worshiping God is a worthy priority, of course. The very act can even attract outsiders to investigate what marks our faith communities as unique. But if we depend on this outreach method alone, our churches become safe havens for respectable Christians. We give alms, but we do not give ourselves. And our neighbors will never learn what kind of life-giving community they could find inside.