Again Unexpected

Well, I certainly didn't expect that. 

This evening after dinner, Stacy and I went outside to toss frisbee in the street. Little did we know that this evening, things would turn out a little different. Not only did we throw frisbee; we ended up rolling out the grill, pulling out the chairs, and having a mini grill-out in the front yard. For the first time in the summer, we were able to hang out with most of the neighbors all at the same time. THAT is rare for this street. 

This is quick tonight because it's late and I'm tired, but again, God always works through the unexpected. During the course of conversation, spiritual matters came up as we talked about Bible stories with the kids. This was a good step as our time here starts to wrap up; doors are opening, and hopefully these last two weeks will be filled with gospel-centered conversations. 

This time, pray for conversations instead of a specific place. Please pray that our neighbors on Lee Avenue will see Jesus for who He really is!  

A Great Creator

On Friday, Stacy, Marlee (a summer intern for another church who we know from last summer), and I went to Niagara Falls for the day. Never have I seen such a beautiful flow of water! The last time I remember seeing a sight of nature that truly left me literally breathless was when I was in Ecuador two years ago. The viciousness of the torrent, the gale of the mist, and the vastness of the cliffs took my breath away and left me awestruck. Early in the day, we took the famous "Maid of the Mist" ship, which took us near the bottom of the falls. One thought stands out in my mind: As I gazed up at the majesty of Niagara, I thought, "Man, we know the God who made this..."

How great the Creator's grace! That we should know Him and know Him personally. The God of the universe, who crafted and created such a powerful and majestic force would care to love me, one mere human among billions. Really, it makes no sense. 

But that's the astounding message of the Gospel. The Creator desires to know His creatures intimately-every last one of us. He didn't just create a giant mass of water. He made human hearts so that He could show us His love.

I'm amazed. And forever in love with our Creator-Redeemer-Savior. Jesus, Jesus who forgives my every stubborn mistake and takes my messy, clumsy efforts and somehow uses them to glorify God. The Jesus who made the mighty Niagara is the same who offers forgiveness and redemption and life as it is meant to be. 

Today's Prayer Place: Starbucks, 11302 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106. I hang out in here quite a bit. Lots of students frequent the place-please pray for chances to share Christ with them. 

Also, a side note, I will be cutting down to writing two times a week for my last three weeks here in Cleveland, merely for time's sake. Stacy and I now go to an event every Wednesday that goes until late in the evening, so I'll just write on Mondays and Fridays.   

Do What? Humble Faith

In the last "Do What?" teaching of Jesus, we saw Jesus illustrate the extent of forgiveness that His followers are to extend to their brothers. Soon after this teaching, Jesus proved His point by making ultimate forgiveness of sin possible through his suffering and death on the cross. Jesus was a man of integrity. He lived by His words because His words came from His Father.

The next teaching that caught my eye as I read through Luke 17 was Jesus’s instructions on faith and humility (Luke 17:5-10). When the disciples asked the Lord to “increase our faith,” Jesus responded with one of the most well-known statements in the Bible: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (17:5). Perhaps the disciples generally understood this teaching; after all, Jesus’s emphasis on faith spanned the entire period of His ministry. Jesus simply once again reminded the disciples of the necessity of faith in doing the work of God.

What comes next, however, is what I see as the “Do What?” statement in this passage. Jesus talks of how a slave responds to his master. After doing the master’s will, Jesus said, a slave should simply say “We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty” (Luke 17:10). The main issue at hand is the slave's response to the completion of a task. Rather than demanding thankfulness or reward, a slave rests in the assurance that he has done his lord’s will.

If a follower of Christ acts in faith and a achieves a great goal or accomplishes grand task (such as commanding a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea), the natural human response would be to expect recognition and thanks from all those who benefited from the work. However, Jesus immediately checked that response at the door. The point, Jesus said, is to respond to the father’s will in the same way that a good slave responds to the master’s will: simple obedience and humble submission.

Does this mean that we are in fact good-for-nothing or that no thanks or recognition should follow faithful service? Absolutely not. To claim such would contradict the Bible’s clear teaching on God’s love for His children. Instead, Jesus highlighted that we as God’s people are not to bring or seek glory for our own names, that we should not manufacture our own recognition. The acts we do, we do in faith and in devotion to the Lord. Humble faith is a keystone of Christian service. To increase in faith, we act in faith and humility.

Today’s Prayer Place: Lee Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106. Continue to pray for our neighbors and the children on this street. In about three weeks, a mission team will come and do a kid's camp for us.      

Running with a Reason

I wasn't able to write "Do What?" Part 2 today, so that post will have to wait until Wednesday. In the meantime, however, I'll just give a quick update. 

This weekend was ripe for conversations, especially Saturday. After watching a two-hour arts parade in the afternoon, I rode the bus over to Ohio City and ran in the Ohio City Run. That was my first run since high school, and I had a blast! More fulfilling than the run, however, were the conversations that flowed as a result. Though none were explicitly gospel-conversations, all had some kind of spiritual focus. Running with a reason, I was able to find common ground with those around me. 

Yesterday, I was able to have a Bible study with a young guy and play frisbee and read/act out the story of Zacchaeus with Jordan and Ed. I was thankful for the opportunities, and I'm praying for many more! 

Today's Prayer Place: Wade Oval Park, Cleveland, OH 44106. This is a park that we hang out in quite often, and occasionally we're able to meet people through our interactions there.    

Do What?

     “Do what?” I find myself saying these words in a couple of situations. 1) I didn’t hear what someone said. 2) What they said made no sense to me. In the second situation, my “Do what?” means that I need them to explain exactly what they meant by that answer. It’s like situational irony—what they said is not at all what I expected to hear. If you’ve ever played the board game Apples to Apples, you know exactly what I’m trying to say. In that game, “Do what?” answers are the norm.

     Jesus would have been a fantastic Apples to Apples player. He was always throwing off everyone who thought they knew what He was up to—disciples, crowds, and religious leaders alike. Whatever 1st century Jews said to mean “Do what?,” I can imagine that they said it every time Jesus came around. He was the master of irony.

     Luke chapters 17-18 records several of Jesus’s most stunning teachings. Addressed to a diverse crowd of people, Jesus delivered these teachings during the time immediately preceding His coming to Jerusalem. While traveling to that fated city, Jesus prepared the hearts of His listeners (including, by way of Luke’s gospel, the hearts of all who read His story) to understand His purpose, but to do that He deconstructed and eliminated many of their preconceived notions about the Kingdom of God, the identity of the Messiah, and even the nature of salvation. As I read these two chapters, I could almost hear the crowds muttering, “Do what? What on earth does Jesus mean by THAT?” I muttered it quite a few times myself.

     I’ll walk through some highlights of these teachings. Starting in 17:3, Jesus delivered a profound insight on forgiveness. “Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4 HCSB). That probably wasn’t the answer that his disciples were looking for following Jesus’s assertion that “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one they come through! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble” (17:1-2).

     A question we always have to ask is “What’s the point?” Jesus’s point here is not that the people of God be docile and naive church-mice who allow worldly evil to run us over unopposed. Instead, his challenge is even more intense. If “your brother”—suggesting that the individual is a fellow believer, a member of the family of God—sins against you, address the issue and forgive him. Now, if this happens even seven times IN ONE DAY, we are STILL to forgive him. Is there any wound more scarring than a wound at the hands of family? If our enemies hurt us, ok. We’ll pick up and go on. But if brothers, the people we’re supposed to be able to trust with our lives, if they hurt us, how much deeper is the pain? What an issue to address! Yet Jesus again chooses to portray the way of love. Forgive them. So Jesus’s main point was to illustrate unconditional family love, love which covers “a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

     Before Jesus’s death on the cross, could people truly understand the unconditional love of God? Likely not. They could know God’s love partially, such as in the common graces and blessings of life and in the writings of the prophets; however, the intimate, personal death of the Messiah as a substitute for their own sin fully portrayed the limitless nature of God’s love for them. Therefore, in this passage in Luke, the unconditional love that Christ teaches about is a shadow and a model for the love that He was quite soon to fully demonstrate. Did people really understand what Jesus meant at that moment? Likely not. Once Jesus’s redemptive act on the cross was finished, however, I imagine people going, “Oh, THAT’S what He meant. We’re to love like THAT.” This teaching set the stage for people to understand that God offers chance after chance—seven times in one day, if need be—for us to repent from sin and turn back to His love.

     When learning something new about God, we should always stop and ask two basic questions: What is Jesus telling me? What am I going to do about it? (Credit goes to Gateway Church Cleveland for that idea). Otherwise, the temptation is to learn a lot about God but never draw near to Him. I cannot answer these questions for you; I can only say that keeping them in mind will likely lead to personal conviction if you’re a Christian. When we pray those questions, as in ‘Jesus, what are you telling me? What should I do about it?,” we can never be sure of the answer!

     Wow. I’ve written almost 1,000 words on this one teaching. Forgive my long-windedness, but I think I’ll have to divide this post into parts. What I’m learning and seeing from these teachings are just too good to rush! [TO BE CONTINUED] :)

     Today’s prayer place: Phoenix Coffee. 1700 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 44114. This is a coffee shop that I’m sitting in right now, and I plan to begin coming regularly. Please pray for good contact. Also, I met a Saudi Arabian guy named Thamer today, and hopefully I’m going to help him practice English. Please pray that God will provide a chance for me to share the gospel with him.                      

10 Seconds of Bravery

Stacy said something a few days ago that I thought profound. "All it really takes is 10 seconds of bravery." We were discussing moments of decision, when we're trying to work up the courage to speak to a stranger. The first 10 seconds are really all it takes; after that, the conversation starts rolling.

10 seconds of bravery. I wonder how many lives have been saved from a fireman's, a soldier's, a police officer's, or a good Samaritan's 10 seconds of bravery. The most critical moment is between when a person recognizes an opportunity and when he/she decides to take it or to ignore it. After that, the mind swings into action mode and everything is a bit easier; sometimes, it's even natural. After those first 10 seconds.

My point is that when sharing the gospel, it often only takes 10 seconds of courage to get the conversation going. I wonder how many souls have been saved from times when God used a missionary's, a pastor's, a coworker's, a friend's (the list goes on and on) 10 seconds of bravery. Yes, those initial moments are frightening and often awkward. A thousand thoughts run through our heads: What if we mess it up? What if they ask a question I don't have an answer to? What if they're offended? What if they're busy? There are a thousand unknowns, and very rarely do gospel-conversations go exactly the way we want them to go. But that's not the point. The point is obedience and faithfulness. No, there is no reason why God should naturally trust us with His message-we mess even the simple things up quite often. I think that's God's point. In His grace, in His love, in His desire to know us closely, He chooses to use us and our efforts to advance His kingdom. And that's a humbling and exciting place to be. We haven't earned our place in the Lord's service-we've been freely given it.

Recently, I read Luke 3: 18-20. Twice, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to something small that grows into something large. At first, a seed seems useless. One little speck placed in one little hole in the ground. But that one little speck, when given life and grown by God, flourishes into a mighty tree. Rarely does the Lord use the huge moments in life to dramatically grow the kingdom. Seldom do moments happen that we can point at and say, "Wow! That's a huge deal!" No, God chooses to use the little, everyday moments in life-the 'ordinary' moments of faithfulness-to one day grow into something that we can point at and say, "Wow! Jesus made that from that!?" 

You never know what God is going to do with a mere 10 seconds.

Today's prayer place: Case Western Reserve University Bookstore.  11451 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106. This is one of my hang-out places, and I met an unbeliever here yesterday who is living a lifestyle that he knows does not please God. Stacy and I are going to meet him and do a gospel-centered bible study with him, so please pray that he will come to know Jesus as his Savior.

     

God of the Unexpected

Until this afternoon, today was a typical free-day. Sleeping late, running, reading, and throwing frisbee typically make up my free days. So around 3:00 this afternoon, Stacy and I went down to Wade Oval to throw some frisbee, unwind, and enjoy this cool Lake Eerie air. 

Of all of the days of the week, I expect the least of Monday, ministry-speaking. But God is a God of the unexpected. Apparently, He doesn't take Mondays off in Cleveland. :) 

As we were throwing the frisbee, a kid on a bicycle came careening down the sidewalk, yelling "Ooh, me, throw me the frisbee!!!" I was thinking, 'If I throw this kid the frisbee, he's going to fall off of his bike, break an arm, and I'll get sued. I probably shouldn't do this.' And then I threw the frisbee. Well, he didn't fall off and break his arm, but he did get off of his bike and ask to play. 

Jordan was his name, a smart and energetic third-grader. Ed was an older friend with him, a man who lives on his street. For about an hour, we played frisbee in the park and had a great and fun-filled time. 

An hour after Jordan and Ed went their separate way, I was walking back from the store when I heard a "bang-bang-bang" on the window of the restaurant beside me. A bit startled, I turned and looked, and what do you know but there's Jordan sitting in the restaurant with his mom. I thought, good grief. You have to be kidding me! 

So I went inside and we chatted for a good while. Once I explained what Stacy and I were doing for the summer, Jordan's Mom (Shawanna) became really excited and wanted to be a part. And so we found another person of peace; rather, a person of peace found us. 

Only God can do crazy things like throw a person of peace our way on our day off. Praise be to Him!  

A Few Updates

Because of the late hour, I'll keep this post to a short ministry update. Between Thursday and today, we had a number of good conversations. In particular, a Case Western student named Robert shows promise for being a person of peace or at least connecting us with other persons of peace. I ran into him in the Law building of the university yesterday afternoon. He has obligations on Sunday evenings during the summer, but he was interested in coming next year and may even talk with us more soon. 

Today, we were able to pass out a good number of "Good News For You" Bible study guides, which helped us to start several conversations. Hopefully seeds planted will take root sooner or later! 

Tomorrow, we're gearing up to survey Lee Ave, asking people if they'll let us plant flower boxes in their yards. We'll also hand out free "Good News For You" Bible study guides with invitations to begin Bible studies in their homes if they so desire. Please pray for all that we'll talk to, for open doors, and for receptive hearts! 

Today's Prayer Place: Continue praying for Vision House since we'll be surveying Lee Ave tomorrow. 10726 Lee Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106

Sweat and Onion Juice

This morning and afternoon, the Cleveland Mobile Food Bank came to a nearby church. Stacy and I volunteered all day, carrying people's grocery bags to their cars and doing any job that the ladies in charged deemed appropriate for "these strong young men." After several hours of lifting and carrying, we finally began to tear down and close up shop. That's when we noticed: we had leftover onions. Lots. And lots. Of onions. I'm talking in the 1,000s. 

I had two thoughts once I realized what was happening. 1. What in the world are we going to do with all of these? 2. Oh,  boy. Someone is going to have to tote these somewhere. 

The onions were stuffed into giant bags, like the pecan bags they use at the pecan processing places back at home. After almost an hour of figuring out who in the world to give a ton (almost literally) of onions to, we started loading the sacks into the backs of cars, SUVs, and a pickup truck. If you've never been covered the entire length of your arm and down your side in onion juice, you might not really understand what it means to "reek." I felt like you could smell me from a mile away. Actually, I'm still not sure that you can't right now.

Eventually the onions found a new home, in the loving arms of the downtown Cleveland Salvation Army chefs. I'm sure that they'll be put to good use. 

Why do we do all of these crazy things? Why can't everyday in a missionary's life be filled with the "big things" or the "God-moments" that we seem to hear so much about? Yes, these things can happen, do happen, and have happened in our time here, but most days aren't full of grandeur and undeniable miracles. Some days we just end up covered in sweat and onion juice. But in the life of a servant of the King, such days are just another way of giving Him glory. When we're satisfied in glorifying Christ, we can find peace and contentment because we are fulfilling our purpose. If we're all honest, that's what each of us seeks; to fulfill our purpose in life, to live a life that really means something. Through a relationship with Jesus, by living in His grace and in obedience to the Spirit, we find our purpose. And then, whatever we're asked to do, we can find joy in doing it. 

That last paragraph doesn't mean that we will always recognize the joy and the glory of God in the moment. Probably the last thing in my mind when I was throwing sacks of onions over my shoulders was "Man, carrying these onions is an awesome way to glorify God!" It's not awesome, really. But allowing ourselves to follow Jesus in His humility and in His servanthood is. Thank God for His everyday grace, for being with us even when He's far from our thoughts. What is grace, really? It's His presence with us. And that never fails.  

Today's prayer place: Vision House. 10726 Lee Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106. Please pray for more conversations. I don't mind having difficult or bad conversations, but I hate not having any conversations at all. This week has felt like we've tried to fish without casting any lines. Pray that we'll see and take opportunities to engage the community around us.

Working the Food Bank

      

  

First Gathering

Last night was our first gathering at Barnabas Church! Our time was full of encouragement and fellowship as we studied the scripture together, prayed together, and brainstormed how to share the gospel within our spheres of influence. We started with a grill out and then moved into our time of encouragement. In all, there were 7 of us there, including two people who are not part of the core group. We were happy with that!

The more we refine the vision of Barnabas (AKA get into Kevin's head and figure out what he really wants to do and feels God is leading him to do), the more we realize that this will always be a small group. The point is intentional discipleship and encouragement focused on developing leaders who will take the mission to their own neighborhood and begin more discipleship groups. For this reason, we felt it necessary to revise our mission statement; now, the 'official' mission of Barnabas is "to impact lostness in Cleveland by empowering disciples to develop and train other disciples."

The last person didn't leave until 9:45 last night-that's four hours and 45 minutes after we began! Such was the fellowship and love even at this first meeting. It was encouraging and motivating, and already we are looking forward to what God is going to do through these brothers and sisters in Christ.

Also, we passed out nearly 100 'Good News For You' evangelistic Bible study guides at a parade on Saturday. This parade was an interesting experience. The theme was "emoji," the Swahili word for 'unity.' There were many diverse groups represented: many Muslims, several African spiritual religions, and vendors who were connected to various African worship systems. Because of our table and our offer of a free book, we were able to engage in several good conversations. We even connected with some people from a game of Frisbee!

Next week, pray for us as we continue to search for persons of peace. The task is difficult given the amount of people in Cleveland, but we trust the results to God as we simply try to be faithful to the Mission.

Today's Prayer Place: Playhouse Square, Cleveland, OH. This is a public square in downtown where we will set up a prayer table tomorrow and simply try to engage people in conversation.