Eat, sleep, and do nothing! Dedicated to my mum

During the Thanksgiving break we had my mum come and join us from London. We don't have Thanksgiving in the U.K for obvious reasons, even though I get asked all the time whether we do or not. My mum came out here for one sole purpose: To eat, sleep, and do nothing. And that's exactly what she did. She deserved a few weeks to rest since she works so hard as a nurse back in London. 

We spent Thanksgiving day with Stephanie's  family and ate from the moment we got there. I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I know my mum loves it also. 

On Monday I took my mum to the airport and hugged her goodbye. It was so good to spend time with her, while she was here, even though my schedule was a little crazy with work and class. She even taught Stephanie how to make fried dumplings!!! She's a pro now.
Thanks mum, we love you.

In memory of Stephanie's Grandfather (Kenneth Greening)

Last week Stephanie's grandfather went home to be with Jesus. He was 90 years old and was a veteran of WWII. Since he had fought for his country he was given a 21 gun salute, and buried at a veterans cemetery.
He was a man that loved his family, loved God, and left a great legacy. On Thursday we gathered for his funeral and celebrated his life. My favorite memory of Ken was when he stole the show at our wedding in June. During the father and daughter dance he got out of his wheel chair, pulled out his oxygen tubes, and took Stephanie by the hand for one final dance. We were all in shock!
He will be greatly missed.

 

NLP Graduation

I (Stephanie) am working at City Union Mission now. I am about to start my 2nd month there and I love it. I am still getting accustomed to everything but I am really enjoying getting to know all the people in the program.  I am the case manager for the New Life Program. It is a long term residential and recovery program that uses life skill classes, counseling, discipleship and case management to help people to wholeness in Christ and stability in life. It takes about a year for individuals to complete the program and it is a huge accomplishment. Last week we had a graduation for 4 of our participants. It was awesome to celebrate with them on their success. All 4 of the graduates are now in the Advanced level of the program and are currently in job search.  Please pray for them as they are looking for employment and then will be looking for their own housing.  I am really looking forward to the next graduation that should take place in the spring as the next graduates will be the first class that I will get to walk through this journey with. Please pray for me as I support these individuals in their goals and in their relationship with Jesus.

I am CCDA

A few weeks ago Stephanie and I had the opportunity to go to Indianapolis for the annual Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference. There were 3000 other practitioners and partners there from around the country, and world. This year's theme was "Education in under resourced communities". It's sad, but the truth is close to half of the kids who begin high school will not graduate and some who do graduate are not able to read at a high school level. We heard about one student who graduated from high school as the valedictorian but was not able to read! The education system is broken and the church must step up and get involved. In fact, right here in Kansas City the schools are not accredited so we have to ask what we can do to help. At the conference we were challenged to be innovative in our ministries to tackle this issue for the sake of our youth and the glory of our God.

This past April Stephanie and I were able to go to Chicago for a week long intensive on the 8 key components that make up CCDA's philosophy. After finishing the required reading and writing a paper our group was acknowledged at the conference and given certificates.

I feel right at home when I am at a CCDA function because I don't have to explain why i do what i do, or why i moved one of the poorest areas of the city. Its all love. We are a group of people who love God and want to see the poor and marginalized come to a place of wholeness in Christ. This is only done through wholistic ministry. On the final night we prayed for one another, we hugged, and we wept. Reminded me of the community seen in the Bible. Here were a group of passionate Christians who have moved into the poorest areas of the country to show the least that God loves them. We all left that conference understanding that we are CCDA.

If you are interested in learning more about this movement go to www.ccda.org

My little faith

I am a believer that any good lesson must first be learned by the teacher. A good teacher must first be a good student, and once this happens they will teach in a way that connects both the mind and heart of their audience. It will be like a cup that overflows. The teacher will teach from the inside out. Today I stand before you as a young teacher who has been schooled by the Holy Spirit.
Stephanie and I have recently begun leading the high school group at our church. We are all excited to see what God will do with us as we look at His Word and humbly ask "What does this mean for our group?" and "How can we be used where we live?"
This week I will be teaching on the subject of 'Living in today' from Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus is teaching his sermon on the mount and he challenges his listeners not to worry about tomorrow but simply seek first his kingdom and you will be taken care of. This is a very familiar passage for most of us who have been in the Church for any amount of time. I have taught this passage many times but this time as I prayed through it and thought about my teens, Jesus' words hit me as though I had never heard them. It wasn't only this passage that messed me up, it was Jesus' prayer in the chapter before. In a simple sentence Jesus ruined my whole afternoon. In Matthew 6: 11 Jesus says in his model prayer "Give us today our daily bread". Now, again, this is a prayer that we have all read and studied but I couldn't help but notice this sentence because this is not a prayer I or many of the Christians I know personally would pray regularly. And if we would pray this prayer it would be without thinking about the implications. What if God only gave you your daily bread? Better yet, what if God wanted you to only and always be content with your daily bread? Don't worry about tomorrow?!
In this Western Christian culture are we really OK with getting our daily bread from God? I would have to say no based on our lifestyles and our prayer life. We always want more blessings, our homes are full of stuff and our fridges are full of food. I want to be clear here, I'm not saying blessings from God are bad. I'm just saying when I really look at my life and read Jesus' prayer I have to admit that I am scared and I do worry about tomorrow especially when other people around me seem to have so much. I think in some ways we all do. So the questions have to be asked: "Where is my faith?" and "What would it look like if we really put God's kingdom first, and trusted Him for our daily bread?" 


"Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30:8-9

I don't fit!

On Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at my church in North Kansas City, which is 5 minutes away from the government housing projects I worked in while I worked for Freedom Fire Urban Ministries. I invited BJ who i met through Freedom Fire and have known for over a year. He started of as one of the teenagers that I taught each week and our relationship has transitioned into us having one on one meetings where we talk about God and life. I love hanging out with BJ.

On Sunday BJ went with Stephanie to our small group for the second service. I didn't go with them because I was preaching both services but I asked BJ during lunch how he felt about the group. He told me that he enjoyed the discussion but he felt like he didn't fit. There was nobody in the room that looked like him or talked like him. There was nobody in the room who could relate to his struggles or understand how he feels. BJ was in a room full of Christians, and was all alone. After thinking about what he had said I told him that I have felt the same way many times and in many churches. I also told BJ that this group needed him there as much as he needed to be there himself. We all need each other.

In the church it would seem as though we have done the easiest thing. We have decided that we will only welcome people that look like us, dress like us, live in the same type of homes and are in the same economic and social class. The question I want us all to ponder is: Is this biblical? If this way of doing church is biblical then i have nothing to say, but if this is not biblical then what steps can we take to make people of all colours, nationalities, and backgrounds feel welcome and have a place in the church without telling them that they should go start their own for their own people?
Change will not happen until we begin to talk about this. We need to admit when we feel uncomfortable, we must come face to face with our prejudices. Isn't acceptance one of the steps to healing???
My prayer today is that we will begin to look for ways to break down the dividing walls that separate us, and fight for unity as we recognize our common need for God's grace.

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:2-3

"So how does it feel to be married?"

I did it. I never thought I would see the day, but on June 4th, 2011 Stephanie and I got married. We shared the day with friends and family. My family was able to be here from London, my cousin Odel made it from LA, and we had some of our friends from Boise make it.
I have heard a lot of people talk about how stressed they were on their wedding day, but I can honestly say that I had a great time celebrating our big day with loved ones. After the wedding we spent a week in beautiful Palm Desert, CA.
Since our wedding day the question i get asked the most is "how does it feel to be married?" I am learning very quickly that it doesn't really matter how i feel. As a married man i am now committed to Stephanie when times are good or bad, whether we live in a house or under a bridge, whether we are both healthy or close to death, and whether we have jobs or not. I am committed.

I don't want to have a marriage that is built on feelings, but i will work to have a marriage built on love and commitment. I will work to have a marriage that reflects Christ and His Bride.