In the last three days I have been reminded by a series of unconnected people and circumstances of the importance of showing love to my neighbor. It seems like such a straightforward thing, really. And it is not a difficult concept to grasp or remember! And yet it continues to be the thing we fail… Continue reading What must I do to be saved?
Category: South Central
A good reminder
Last night I left Doug in charge of bath and bed, and I hurried off to the post office to pick up our held mail, and to Ralph’s to buy soy milk. As I stood in line at the post office, I marveled at how there could be so many employees present in the service… Continue reading A good reminder
Who are my mother and brother?
I am struggling right now with the wave of suffering that has struck our families recently. I am struggling with my role, once again, as a long-distance family member. I am struggling with reconciling Jesus’ words about who we are and how we are to be as family to one another and my own emotional… Continue reading Who are my mother and brother?
When you get what you want
Our first day back, we got a call from our good friends who live around the corner from us. They invited us over for cupcakes and trampoline jumping (much to Mercy’s complete delight), and as we walked to the corner we were both caught off guard by the appearance of our street. Directly north of… Continue reading When you get what you want
A Simeon New Year
I was supposed to preach this last Sunday at my home church in Seattle, however on Friday I was struck with a pretty horrible flu that kept me mostly in bed for two days. I made the call at some point Saturday evening that there was no way I could stand up and speak coherently… Continue reading A Simeon New Year
Home
We have officially landed–back into life here in Los Angeles. Mercy and Aaron are running around completely enamored by the toys they have not seen for six weeks; Mow Mow met us at the door, obviously happy to have us back; we were picked up at the airport by Juan and Stacie and Mercy got… Continue reading Home
Priorities
At our Servant Partners staff meeting yesterday, we spent some time discussing how community organizing and church-planting can relate to one another. We talked about a holistic view of people and salvation; we talked about redemption that is both physical and spiritual; we shared stories about how our work in community organizing in urban poor… Continue reading Priorities
“Truly worthy?”
Doug and I found ourselves sitting in our living room yesterday afternoon with some good friends from our church. They are a couple that has been on a journey of healing and restoration in both spiritual and very tangible physical ways. Since we have known them, there have been maybe a handful of times where… Continue reading “Truly worthy?”
How do we deal with Cinderellas in church planting?
One thing I have learned about parenthood is this: you have to pick your battles. When you have a baby, you likely have in your mind a set of ideals for how you, and your child, will relate to one another and to the world. Then you discover that your child is human. And you… Continue reading How do we deal with Cinderellas in church planting?
Bullet holes and breast augs
There is a van that sometimes parks in front of our house. It is your typical ghetto minivan, and I say typical for two reasons. One is that, in the back window, there is a large sticker proclaiming: “Jesus es Dios. Lea la biblia” (this is a bumper sticker campaign from one of the largest,… Continue reading Bullet holes and breast augs